NBTHK Judgement paper vs. Hozon

[Riff]

Why are some Nihonto eBay sellers are calling it NBTHK judgement papers when it is the same color as a Hozon or TH? I’m familiar with the old paper vs new but a little confused on why calling it just Judgement paper. Thanks for the clarification! 

[Ray Singer]

Hozon and Tokubetsu Hozon are both types of judgement papers (kanteisho) from the NBTHK. The sellers may not know how to describe the kanteisho more accurately or are trying to simplify the wording for people not as well versed in the NBTHK papering system. 

[Riff]

Ray, thanks for your input and I appreciate it. I thought the same but some of these sellers are mentioning the Hozon and TH on their other inventories. So there lies my confusion. 

[Jussi Ekholm]

Easy way to check the paper without even any knowledge of Japanese language is by the numbers. Those starting with 1 & 2 are Tokubetsu Hozon and those starting with 3 & 4 are Hozon (blades & fittings). Sometimes the color can vary a bit due to photography & lighting.

 

Or are you talking about some sellers calling some completely unrelated papers as NBTHK judgement papers?

 

 

[b.hennick]

Thanks Jussi I  didn't know that about numbers. Is it true for fittings as well?

[Jussi Ekholm]

Item numbers starting with 1 are Tokubetsu Hozon swords and 2 Tokubetsu Hozon fittings. Similarily 3 is for Hozon swords and 4 for Hozon fittings. I remember I wrote in a post few years ago that I thought change from 100,000 to 1,000,000 in numbers came because Hozon swords were numbering 390,000+. So they switched to 3,000,000 before hitting 400,000 as that was already reserved for fittings. That is just personal speculation but to me it feels like a logical solution.