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2024 San Francisco Japanese Sword Show


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3 minutes ago, GeorgeLuucas said:

Saw a lot of really amazing swords and fittings. It’s amazing what people are willing to let you handle on their tables - it’s really an amazing opportunity to handle swords; and the dealers and artisans are very kind, helpful, and educational. 


A big highlight for me was meeting fellow forum members to chat swords @Kyoto-13  @atm @nulldevice, it’s a lot of fun to chat Nihonto with other collectors.

Another was the Nambokucho Bizen display and lecture. There were a couple TokuJuyo swords on the table that were absolutely stunning. What an opportunity! And Thomas’s Morisuke is really impressive! 
 

Anyway, I’m traveling back home now. All the best, and until next year!

-Sam 

 

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Did you find anything you liked enough to buy or was it a reconnaissance mission?

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Just there to learn for me, and to handle more swords. I was open to buying, but unprepared to fly anything home with me. 
 

My favorite sword of the show (aside from the bizen display and other 50k+ items):

Was a Yamato Hosho katana with Tanobe Sayagaki. It had really stunning masame, hakikake, and some itame/mokume that I understand is a bit uncharacteristic of the school. I really enjoyed admiring it. Right now I’m liking Yamato swords quite a bit.

 

Cheers,

-Sam 

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As a matter of interest how do people organize payment and take possession? I'm guessing no one carries a wad of cash and bank transfers can take a couple of business days to clear. This was my experience when I purchased my Yamato Shikkake. I started the transfer on the Saturday but payment didn't clear until Wed. Luckily I was flying to the UK and was planning to be back in Utrecht the following Friday. I local dealer kindly took possession of the sword and koshirae and we met up when I returned so I could collect it. But this I imagine is not the norm. Paying with credit card may also be difficult, either the dealer isn't able to take that payment or the price exceeds the limit. 

 

Do the dealers at the show ship? I assume they would have to return home and ship from there which is less than ideal if international. It wasn't obvious they even bought suitable packaging for shipping. 

 

Would really like to have a plan in place before I attend my next show where I might find another blade I can't live without :)

 

What is the experience of other attendees at these Shows?

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@Lewis B

I have been on both sides of the table. As a seller, my teenage, technical smart teenage daughters set me up with ways of taking electronic payments. I personally accept Paypal, Venmo, Cashapp, and Apple pay. With Paypal nad Venmo, I have sold items as low as $20 and as high as $5500. If the seller has either of these applications, their credit card information is already loaded with Paypal, Venmo, etc. and can be charged instantly.

We agree on a price and the buyer scans my QR code at the table.

They type in the amount to pay, and send.

About 1-2 minutes I get an email showing $$$ has been received into your account.

 

As for shipping, I have never accepted money at the show, then shipped afterwards. It is not that I would not do this for someone, but it has not happened for me in this way. I would have no problem returning home, and carefully packaging the item(s) and shipping to the new owner. <-- If I was a buyer, I would make sure to get a business card and full name of the seller. If something should go wrong, you could always turn to the person who runs the show to provide additional information on the person who you are dealing with.

 

Wishing you all the best in your collecting journey!

Dan

 

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I saw a couple of rather large wads of cash being exchanged, so some clearly came prepared to pay that way. At least one dealer offered to take a sword back with him and then ship it to me after the show. Had I come seriously prepared to purchase, I probably would have brought a large Pelican case and flown a sword home as a checked bag. That’s how multiple dealers had brought their swords.

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1 hour ago, Lewis B said:

As a matter of interest how do people organize payment and take possession? I'm guessing no one carries a wad of cash and bank transfers can take a couple of business days to clear. This was my experience when I purchased my Yamato Shikkake. I started the transfer on the Saturday but payment didn't clear until Wed. Luckily I was flying to the UK and was planning to be back in Utrecht the following Friday. I local dealer kindly took possession of the sword and koshirae and we met up when I returned so I could collect it. But this I imagine is not the norm. Paying with credit card may also be difficult, either the dealer isn't able to take that payment or the price exceeds the limit. 

 

Do the dealers at the show ship? I assume they would have to return home and ship from there which is less than ideal if international. It wasn't obvious they even bought suitable packaging for shipping. 

 

Would really like to have a plan in place before I attend my next show where I might find another blade I can't live without :)

 

What is the experience of other attendees at these Shows?

I saw a few people drop a few thousand in cash for some purchases. I imagine for something like the Katayama Ichimonji that’s for sale would be handled via check or wire transfer. 

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Sunday bargain day today! Tsubas with boxes for $25 - great price for my sons collection. This weekend I was able to pickup a kabuto with menpo and box/stand for a song. Also a nice sculpted antique drawer box. The one i came back for today was a Kinmichi wakizashi  - hozon papered with a Sunday discount. The show was awesome for Hizen collectors. Gordon Robson, Roger Robertshaw and Mike Yamasaki were literally within arms reach. Lots of papered Nidai Tadahiro at bargain prices. 

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Great show! Highlights for me were the Nanbokucho bizen presentation by the NBTHK. 2 TokuJu and 10 Juyo blades available for study. 
 

Other highlights included being able to study a Shintogo Kunimitsu tanto, various ichimonji blades, and an incredibly healthy Nakajima Rai. 

It was great to see fellow NMB members as well and put faces to names and grab lunch and dinner with a few of you.

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Posted (edited)

Maybe someone can help my memory here, 

Who was the smith/s on the two Tokubetsu Juyo swords in the Bizen Display?

Cheers,

-Sam

 

edit: Got the answer = Osafune Kanemitsu ! 
 

 

 
 

Edited by GeorgeLuucas
Answer to own question
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On 8/4/2024 at 9:55 AM, GeorgeLuucas said:

Just there to learn for me, and to handle more swords. I was open to buying, but unprepared to fly anything home with me. 
 

My favorite sword of the show (aside from the bizen display and other 50k+ items):

Was a Yamato Hosho katana with Tanobe Sayagaki. It had really stunning masame, hakikake, and some itame/mokume that I understand is a bit uncharacteristic of the school. I really enjoyed admiring it. Right now I’m liking Yamato swords quite a bit.

 

Cheers,

-Sam 

Do you remember whose table the Hosho was at?

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All

 

I wanted to Thank Fred W for putting on another great SF show, he always does such a great job!

And having the NBTHK-AB to do the Bizen display which the club pays for the room, we bring the blades, it really was an incredible display of Shinshinto display of 600 to 700 year old blades, if you looked at the swords you know what I mean if not you missed a huge one!

Was great to see everyone again and what a great crowd on Saturday

 

Also HUGE thanks to Bill R for the ride to the airport not for him we would have missed our flight, thanks for being such a great friend.   

 

Fred Geyer    

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi,

To pay and to receive money, "Zelle" may be easiest.  I understand that PayPal may be for a smaller amount.

Before you go to the show, set up the Zelle on your cell.  Usually, anybody who accepts Zelle may have a QR code with him.
Take a picture of the QR code, then enter the amount.  The transaction should show quickly on your cell.  It may require several times of practice. 

 

Here is the photo of the 2024 San Francisco Token Kai

 

 

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