Bringing Japanese Swords into Japan

[paul tsubadotinfo]

*if there exists a thread regarding this topic, please let me know and I will share there*

Dear Friends and Collectors,

 

I have finally arrived back in Japan and am spending some quiet days in my quarantine hotel. It was the first time for me carry three Japanese swords to Japan and I would like to share my experience for those of you who are interested.

I used ANA to fly from FRA to HND which has its advantages not only because they offer direct flights, but also because their Japanese staff in Frankfurt did call the Japanese customs and informed them of someone bringing swords. I have my reasonable doubts that this phone call made any difference, and you may judge for yourself after you read the rest. Well, I am happy if anyone could share their experience with other airlines or even with 1- or more-stop flights.

At the check-in I told the staff I would carry three Japanese swords. They would then ask me if I had registered that transport in advance, which I denied. Furthermore, they would make some calls as to which category they would have to put the swords into, weapon or antique. I do assume they used the former. This time at least they did not call the police which last time ended in me pulling out a katana in front of a queue of 100 Turkish airline tourists. However, this time the ANA staff said he needed to take the magnet test. So, after I stripped the Nakago naked, he took his iPad case and held its magnetic clip against it. What I really appreciate is, that no additional costs occurred, which might be due to my star alliance status though. Any experience on that is very welcome.

Arriving in Japan I filled out the Arrival card and customs declaration as shown below. I have to admit it is a slightly odd feeling to answer a question with ‘yes’ that starts with ‘Do you presently have in your possession narcotics, marijuana opium, stimulants, or other controlled substance…’. Even though double checked at the immigration control, the officers did not mind that and didn’t even care to ask me what kind of substances I had in possession. Due to the special Covid entry procedures - the details of which I will spare you here as they fill another book – my luggage and swords were already waiting for me next to the conveyor belt. After I got the tail wag approval from the detection dog I headed for the customs declaration. Showing the officer the sword case and my declaration, he guided me to the special room where the registration would happen.

There were around six customs officers on duty at the time and after I told the first one, I had three Japanese swords to declare, every single one of them was up on their feet. Some starting to take out books to look for answers, some asking me the usual why, what, how questions. There was a short moment of confusion when one of them proclaimed to everyone that I need to show them the certificates. Even though I was quite sure that no certificate is needed to import a sword into Japan, my sweat started to run when I mumbled something about the copies of the NBTHK papers which I held for two of the blades. Luckily the smarty pants himself had no real clue and before he could cause a bigger scene, some of his colleagues somehow found the right answer in a book and called the police. A police officer arrived to whom I explained that I am carrying three swords for polishing. Luckily I had translated everything into Japanese and printed it out on a piece of paper, so I did not have to completely rely on my Japanese skills at 4 am in the morning (departure time zone). After a friendly talk with the officer, he called in the experts and some minutes later a lady my age and an older guy arrived, and I finally knew that we were on the right track. Meanwhile the story of a foreigner in sweatpants carrying three Japanese swords must have made its round through Haneda airport as the number of officers in the room had trippled already. While the experts were taking pictures of the swords, I had the chance of practicing my Japanese by telling the same story repeatedly to several of the bystanders. I think I even earned some quiet respect when they saw me freeing the Nakago from the hilt by hitting my wrist with my fist. After quite a lengthy process which involved not only copying my passport and residence card but also taking a picture of my face – at least I didn’t have to hold up a number – they gave me a ‘hikiwatashisho’, the final document I need to carry the swords until they are officially registered and receive a ‘torokusho’. After the two experts had left, the customs officers asked me to take copies of all my documents as well after which they finally let me go. The whole process took a bit more than one hour, and I had missed the bus to the quarantine hotel, so they brought me back in to the customs area where I should wait. After everything it didn’t surprise me much that one of the customs officers asked me to open the sword case again, as he would have to count the swords. I assume he missed the chance to take a glimpse earlier as he might have stood behind his superiors earlier too shy to come forth, so I let him have his way. Oh, and before I forget, no magnet test was taken this time, I assume they simply missed it due to all the noise.

Finally, I had successfully imported the swords to Japan, no prior registration needed, no import taxes, no bigger issues. As a small bonus I could enjoy a private bus ride to the prince hotel in Shinagawa where I spent my six days of quarantine with a view of a third of mount Fuji.

Paul

www.Tsuba.info

[paul tsubadotinfo]

Just now, paul_tsuba_info said:

*if there exists a thread regarding this topic, please let me know and I will share there*

Dear Friends and Collectors,

 

 

I have finally arrived back in Japan and am spending some quiet days in my quarantine hotel. It was the first time for me carry three Japanese swords to Japan and I would like to share my experience for those of you who are interested.

 

I used ANA to fly from FRA to HND which has its advantages not only because they offer direct flights, but also because their Japanese staff in Frankfurt did call the Japanese customs and informed them of someone bringing swords. I have my reasonable doubts that this phone call made any difference, and you may judge for yourself after you read the rest. Well, I am happy if anyone could share their experience with other airlines or even with 1- or more-stop flights.

 

At the check-in I told the staff I would carry three Japanese swords. They would then ask me if I had registered that transport in advance, which I denied. Furthermore, they would make some calls as to which category they would have to put the swords into, weapon or antique. I do assume they used the former. This time at least they did not call the police which last time ended in me pulling out a katana in front of a queue of 100 Turkish airline tourists. However, this time the ANA staff said he needed to take the magnet test. So, after I stripped the Nakago naked, he took his iPad case and held its magnetic clip against it. What I really appreciate is, that no additional costs occurred, which might be due to my star alliance status though. Any experience on that is very welcome.

 

Arriving in Japan I filled out the Arrival card and customs declaration as shown below. I have to admit it is a slightly odd feeling to answer a question with ‘yes’ that starts with ‘Do you presently have in your possession narcotics, marijuana opium, stimulants, or other controlled substance…’. Even though double checked at the immigration control, the officers did not mind that and didn’t even care to ask me what kind of substances I had in possession. Due to the special Covid entry procedures - the details of which I will spare you here as they fill another book – my luggage and swords were already waiting for me next to the conveyor belt. After I got the tail wag approval from the detection dog I headed for the customs declaration. Showing the officer the sword case and my declaration, he guided me to the special room where the registration would happen.

 

There were around six customs officers on duty at the time and after I told the first one, I had three Japanese swords to declare, every single one of them was up on their feet. Some starting to take out books to look for answers, some asking me the usual why, what, how questions. There was a short moment of confusion when one of them proclaimed to everyone that I need to show them the certificates. Even though I was quite sure that no certificate is needed to import a sword into Japan, my sweat started to run when I mumbled something about the copies of the NBTHK papers which I held for two of the blades. Luckily the smarty pants himself had no real clue and before he could cause a bigger scene, some of his colleagues somehow found the right answer in a book and called the police. A police officer arrived to whom I explained that I am carrying three swords for polishing. Luckily I had translated everything into Japanese and printed it out on a piece of paper, so I did not have to completely rely on my Japanese skills at 4 am in the morning (departure time zone). After a friendly talk with the officer, he called in the experts and some minutes later a lady my age and an older guy arrived, and I finally knew that we were on the right track. Meanwhile the story of a foreigner in sweatpants carrying three Japanese swords must have made its round through Haneda airport as the number of officers in the room had trippled already. While the experts were taking pictures of the swords, I had the chance of practicing my Japanese by telling the same story repeatedly to several of the bystanders. I think I even earned some quiet respect when they saw me freeing the Nakago from the hilt by hitting my wrist with my fist. After quite a lengthy process which involved not only copying my passport and residence card but also taking a picture of my face – at least I didn’t have to hold up a number – they gave me a ‘hikiwatashisho’, the final document I need to carry the swords until they are officially registered and receive a ‘torokusho’. After the two experts had left, the customs officers asked me to take copies of all my documents as well after which they finally let me go. The whole process took a bit more than one hour, and I had missed the bus to the quarantine hotel, so they brought me back in to the customs area where I should wait. After everything it didn’t surprise me much that one of the customs officers asked me to open the sword case again, as he would have to count the swords. I assume he missed the chance to take a glimpse earlier as he might have stood behind his superiors earlier too shy to come forth, so I let him have his way. Oh, and before I forget, no magnet test was taken this time, I assume they simply missed it due to all the noise.

 

Finally, I had successfully imported the swords to Japan, no prior registration needed, no import taxes, no bigger issues. As a small bonus I could enjoy a private bus ride to the prince hotel in Shinagawa where I spent my six days of quarantine with a view of a third of mount Fuji.

 

Paul

 

www.Tsuba.info

 

TLDR:

Imported 3 blades, 1 tanto 2 katana

From Germany FRA to Japan HND with ANA direct flight

Preregistration: none

Documents needed in advance: none

Price for additional luggage: 0

Import tax: 0

[paul tsubadotinfo]

1 minute ago, paul_tsuba_info said:

TLDR:

 

Imported 3 blades, 1 tanto 2 katana

 

From Germany FRA to Japan HND with ANA direct flight

 

Preregistration: none

 

Documents needed in advance: none

 

Price for additional luggage: 0

 

Import tax: 0

 

 

[Brian]

So, curious what your opinion would be....what would have happened if you had ZERO Japanese language skills?

[Gakusee]

Brian, I have done this three times (admittedly not in the last 2 years with Covid). I have done it both at Narita and Haneda. Zero language skills but be prepared to sit there for hours - my wait time has ranged between 1-4 hours depending on how (in)experienced the young customs staff are and how they interpret the big tome of instructions what to do they have to consult…. The procedure is always as explained above. 
Narita is better and faster than Haneda…..

[Gokaden]

Would this procedure work with swords that you wanted to take to NBTHK with the objective of getting Tokubetsu Hozon and hopefully take them all the way to Juyo papers?

 

I have 2 swords with NTHK and older NBTHK green papers that easily would pass Tokubetsu Hozon but I suppose I need to bring them to Japan for this.

[Jussi Ekholm]

With the current status of NBTHK shinsa acceptions I think minimum time from without papers to Jūyō submission would be c. 8 months. You would need to get Hozon in March session for swords, then get Tokubetsu Hozon in June session for swords in order to be possible to try for Jūyō shinsa in October. And I believe the reservation for shinsa is currently in the beginning of previous month so spots for March shinsa would be reserved in early February. So I feel currently for us international people outside of Japan the process is very complicated in overall. Of course I have never sent an item to any shinsa so I cannot really speak from experience in that sense.