Recieving a Katana as a gift and importing it into the US

[Lokke]

Hello,

 

I am new to this forum, and new to Shinken, but my wife is Japanese, and her father gave us a Katana (and Tanto) as a wedding gift when we got married four years ago. Unfortunately, until now we have never made arrangements to transport it to the US, from my Father-in-law's house in Japan, but we will be traveling to Japan at the end of April for 10 days to see our family there and for some other business that I have.

 

Information on the Katana in question: It is antique (I believe that it is around 500 years old) It is properly registered in Japan and I have a copy of the registration paper, It is presently mounted in Shirasaya

 

I came to this forum to get some information, and found some but I would still like to ask some questions that I feel this group may be able to answer them best.

 

1) I read the page on importing swords, and I see that because of the age of the Katana, I should not have to pay an import tax, but I may have to pay a sales tax. What would that be in the case of a gift like this?

 

2) What method should I use to transport it? I have considered sending it via FedEx or checking it as baggage while flying. I had found a fantastic case suitable for air travel by Bujin designs but unfortunately they are no longer made.

 

3) My Father-in-law just mentioned to us that since the blade is mounted in Shirasaya, we ought to consider having it mounted in something nicer *before* taking it out of Japan, as he was unsure if high quality work could be done anywhere near New York City where I live. Is this true? Also is the style of Saya, Tsuba, etc purely a matter of taste or is there an appropriate style for my Katana due to its age and place of origin?

 

4) Should I ask to keep the current Shirasaya? can they be re-used in the future for storage of the blade?

 

5) When my Father-in-law showed me the Katana he also showed me a Tanto, and I believe that he also intends to give us this, although I have not seen the paperwork for it. Are Tanto subject to the same rules as Katana in terms of export? It is also mounted in Shirasaya, so I assume that I would want to get it mounted as well in an identical way to the Katana, correct or is this purely a matter of personal taste?

 

Thank you for any advice you can give me,

 

Lokke

[Curgan]

Welcome Lokke! And my copliments to your father-in-law :D

 

Remeber to ask him to instruct you on proper sword care, if you don't have a knowledge of swords in general.

 

As for your questions:

 

1) US Members will help you better than me, but if the paperwork is OK I think that you 'll pay approx. 3% import duties. Just let your father-in-law know when you are leaving as the export licence might take a month or so.

 

2) I think checking the swords in with you is your best option. A hard case with a locker and great packaging would be a must though. However you should check with the air company first. Again US members are more reliable.

 

3) Mounting is not necessary, but since you are in Japan (and the father-in-law might pay for it), why don't you have it mounted? It is an expensive procedure by the way, if it is to be done the traditional way and with antique fittings. OTOH the US have many great mounters where you can send them the sword(s) if you decide not to mount it right away.

 

4) Yes. Discard it only if it infected with oil or rotten. Usually the blade is displayed in shirasaya and the koshirae in a tsunagi.

 

5) Tanto are under the same legislation as the katana and mounting is completely personal. I 'd go for a daisho though.

 

Just my 0.02 $ until a more proficient replies.

[Clive Sinclaire]

Dear Locke

I cannot comment on inport into the USA as I am a UK resident. However, I am aware that the export procedures from Japan are quite strict and involve the surrendering of the Torokusho or registration card. This applies to tanto as well as daito.

 

If you have a koshirae made for the sword, whilst it is possible outside of Japan, I would suggest that there is a greater choice to be had in Japan. It is usual, if a sword is polished, that it is thereafter stored in shira-saya and a wooden blade, known as a tsunagi, is made for the koshirae to allow it to be displayed.

 

Whilst you may be able to check-in the swords, I would expect this to be difficult and would think that mailing them is easier. I have exported many swords from Japan and these have are usually after they have been polished. In this case, either the polisher does all the necessary export paperwork or on occasions, an agent is employed, which ensures it is all done correctly.

 

I see whilst I have been typing this some of your questions have already been answered and that I am duplicating this response so I will quit now.

Regards

Clive Sinclaire

[Mark]

i am reasonably sure you can import the swords to the US without paying import or any other taxes as long as they are antique, you should have paperwork (in English) verifying age and then you should have no trouble (or cost) on this end

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Lokke,

As long as the blades are antique you shouldn't have to pay anything to get them through US customs; no import duty on antiques, I believe. They will have to be cleared for export on the Japanese end and that can take time.

A gun case will work well for flying with the swords; I would guess you can get one or something similar in Japan. If you're going to have the blades shipped to you from Japan, someone else can advise you on the best carrier to use.

If you have the blades mounted expect a wait and a big expense to do it right. Normally a tanto and katana wouldn't be in matching mounts; that was done for wakizashi and katana. If you have a new saya made you can store the blade in either the new mounts or the shira-saya, and if you plan to keep both you would have a tsunagi (wooden blade) made to hold together the empty rig.

Grey

[Ken-Hawaii]

Locke, I've carried my wife's & my iaito to many countries, & have had a few problems using gun cases. But I've found that using a well-padded (& beat-up) hard-side golf bag never raises any eyebrows. But don't forget to declare what you're carrying, of course. :D

[Lokke]

Thanks to everyone for the replies!

 

Curgan - My Father-in-law gave me one lesson on proper sword care, and I will go over the details with him again. There's no way that he will be paying to mount the swords, however, that's going to be on me. My initial inquiries gave me a price range of 50,000-500,000 yen, using non-antique fittings, and I probably can't afford much more than 150,000 yen at the maximum, so if I won't be able to get something worthy of the sword for that, I may leave it in shira-saya.

 

Clive Sinclaire - So you feel that even if I have a koshirae made, I should have the sword put back in shira-saya for both transport and storage? Although I had not thought of it before, it might be preferable to display the koshirae in my living room and have the shira-saya with the blade locked away somewhere more secure. My wife and I don't have a child yet, but that is planned for the future and I do occasionally have stupid friends over.

 

Mark - Do you know if we can translate the documents ourselves, or if some sort of notarized translation is necessary?

 

Grey and Ken - I have heard about the gun case method and the golf case method in the past. I suppose a call the the US customs agency is probably in order to make sure that I follow all necessary procedures on entry at JFK airport.

 

After all these detailed responses (thanks again!) I still have a couple of questions.

 

1) Can anyone recommend a well-regarded company to make a koshirae in Tokyo?

 

2) Have any of you flown through JFK with Shinken in the last couple of years (It seems that the security gets tighter every year, so any recent information would be appreciated, as what was OK only 5 years ago can sometimes be not OK now.)