Ed

As Mark pointed out one of the main means of support for the show is booking a room and staying there. There have been rumors of this being the last SF Show. While that is not true, what is true is that if the show doesn't receive more support, like booking a room, it may come to an end. These next two years attendance/support will be monitored closely to determine the future of this long standing show.

Dale was a great guy and great friend for 30 years. We had many good times in Houston and at the sword shows. Sad to see him go.

Orlando 2024 Florida Token Kai.MOV

Both are very nice.

I agree this mei looks stamped, but it could be the lighting or something. But forget whether it is stamped or carved. More importantly there is no Yoshiharu in the Meikan which the "Yoshi" character that even remotely resembles the one on your tsuba. In fact, there is no Yoshi character of any mei in the meikan which remotely resembles that. Same with the Kao, not good. If you are thinking of buying this, don't. If you already did, sorry.

Photos might help.

Looks like a nice sword. Thanks for sharing. Ed

You mean for shinsa submission for others?

Can you show us your sword?

You will likely be fine if your budget is excluding fittings. Best of luck with your project. Ed

Like I said, depending on the style and the level of quality, your budget may be insufficient. I never said a koshirae could not be made for that if you want bare bones. But I do know that you can spend much, much more than that as well. Which is why I said depending on style and quality. Of course, I am referring to the entire finished koshirae, which includes fittings. A decent quality tsuba can cost 1-2K alone. But everyone has their own opinions on things.

Mauro, That is not entirely true. When I co-owned my small shop in Fukuoka there several times when we disagreed with an NBTHK attribution. My partner who was Japanese went to the NBTHK and confronted them about their attribution. Of course he went armed with documentation to support our opinion, but every time their decision was changed in our favor. I always felt it was due to them being overwhelmed with the volume of swords they were required to judge in such a short period of time. They simple do not have time to do proper research on the swords which require more time. You have probably seen a shinsa outside Japan, it is conveyer belt style with each sword receiving 1-2 minutes of judgement. If not textbook perfect, it gets bounced.

This kind of attribution is common these days. From what I understand it is a multi faceted problem. Older shinsa team members have passed on or retired. Newer members are not knowledgeable enough to be confident in more specific attributions. They err on the side of safety. Same with swords, just look at the results of last years juyo shinsa, 80% fail rate if memory serves me.

Not understanding why anyone would advise against this or where you got that information. Ultimately, it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. It is yours, if you want a koshirae made, go for it. Cost is the only reason I can think of why anyone would advise against having having a koshirae made. Depending on the style and the level of quality, your budget may be insufficient. It is not cheap to do. Keep in mind that there are additional costs incurred outside the koshirae itself. Shipping, insurance both ways, torokusho fee, broker fees, etc., etc. Also, it is time consuming if you plan to have it done traditionally whether here or in Japan. Curing Urushi takes quite a while. There is a process for importing a blade into Japan. I wouldn't call it complicated, but it is subject to the Japanese rules and takes a little time. I am preparing a couple for shipment now, have one currently awaiting the next Shinsa.

Thank you for posting it. I like it, although if those tusks are ivory, it will probably never get out of the UK. Even if not ivory, I suspect shipping to the US will be met with opposition from the know it all powers that be. Best, Ed