Losing confidence in NBTHK (even recent) papers. Here is why.

[2devnul]

Hi,

 

Not sure about this noble forum (still a newbie here) but there is some distrust for NBTHK certification among collectors I know. I'm not talking here about white/green paper work, but about recent yellow ones. 

 

Here is an example of why I'm in doubts:

https://www.ebay.com...4:g:Sw8AAOSwpKRlzqwl

 

Freshly printed after Shinsa (my guess in USA) NBTHK certificate. My question is, how is this possible to have NBTHK for this sword?

Aren't the flaws on hada critical? Isn't that Kanji Horimono recently made (to cover flaws)? 

 

Please correct me if I'm wrong, but something isn't right here IMHO. Thank you. 

[C0D]

NBTHK Hozon certificate doesn't attest anything about the quality of a blade, it just says that it's an authentic nihonto, there are not fatal flaws (unless is an important example or historically valuable piece) and that the signature, if there's one, it's not fake.
Upper levels like Tokubetsu Hozon are also evaluating the conditions of the blade itself.

[Shugyosha]

Hi Adam,

You're wrong.

Have a look at the criteria for the award of Hozon here: https://swordsofjapa...k-shinsa-guidelines/

 

"Hozon" simply means that the sword is worthy of preservation so, provided there are no fatal flaws i.e. loss of boshi, yaki otoshi etc then a blade will receive Hozon papers. Essentially the key bit of a sword is the cutting edge and if that is intact then it is considered worthy of preservation even if there are issues with the hada and a dodgy horimono - the starting point is that any traditionally made Japanese sword is worthy of preservation if not fatally flawed. Badly made blades with very ugly kizu are, however, unlikely to receive higher papers unless they are remarkable in some way from a historic point of view by virtue of extreme age or being owned by a famous person.

 

There will even be exceptions to this - a blade attributable to Sengo Muramasa will most likely receive Hozon papers even if the hamon drops off the edge of the sword. For some reason in this case it is considered his work style and it gets a pass and will probably get higher papers because of who made it. Hizen blades will get higher papers with their core steel showing because they used thin outer steel and it polishes away quickly. There's some logic there that works for the oriental mind perhaps and westerners just have to accept that, whilst there are rules, they won't necessarily be applied in all cases.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Edit: Sorry, Manuel said it more succinctly.

[PNSSHOGUN]

The NBTHK do no not hold a shinsa in the USA, that is the NTHK-NPO.

[2devnul]

Thank you gentlemen for quick reply. @Shugyosha detailed explanation, thanks for taking the time to write it. 

I admit that my original understanding of NBTHK was bit wrong.