J Reid

Just because there may be tobiyaki does not indicate much. I am sure that oil quenched blades could have tobiyaki as well seeing as how it is just tempered spots on the ji. Based on what I currently see, I would guess oil quenched. But without more pictures no one could be positive.

Reference

At first glance this blade looks like its from 2nd gen. Manji- Kanbun Shinto. Mei looks shoshin!

Signatures were removed for various reasons: gimei, to deceive, to hide the true maker, personal preference?, etc. As to whether or not I can read the mei- I cannot. Maybe someone else has an idea of what it might read?

I would say late muromachi. Sunobi tanto or ko-wakizashi. Late edo period koshirae. Looks pieced together. Signature looks like it was removed.

kanemoto

Joe! Just read that the hidehiro nearly took your hand! Wowzers. Glad to hear you & the blade will survive. That was such a nice blade..

If you've already been firm with the tapping and no movement at all- It could be glued inside ( I wouldn't be suprised).. Probably best to just leave it.

Ford.. You are so talented.. I wish I could afford to have something made by you.

I love this style of blade. By far my favourite.

Is it just me, or maybe the lighting, but doesnt it look like the blade may have hagire in the first blade picture? Looking pretty much dead center of the blade.

I'm sure; like me- we're all contemplating and building our response, Paul.. ..This.. is a good one.

What Keith said..

Yeah to get swords into most locations in Canada now you need to have them shipped by FedEx, surface, or usps from the states. All other carriers will deny the package. If you live in Vancouver B.C. -EMS will still ship to that location internationally with no problems.

Katana-maeda? Yeah he seemed to pop up out of no where a few months ago. He seems to have some pretty good items in stock. Glad to hear he is professional. I am sure that I will buy from him in the future if he keeps pumping out the good stuff.

First and fifth specimen look almost identical (even in the circled area). I would say there is enough variation amongst the examples that it would most likely be shoshin.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=15014&p=131548&hilit=masakiyo#p131548

That must be it then (what the seller was trying to say). They are asking all employees to advise customers that security is going up and to not be surprised if items of this nature are seized or questioned. I guess we had it too easy before? Well at least we still don't need a permit.. Haha. Thanks for the insight!

Has anybody tried to ship swords to Canada since January 13, 2013? They changed something in the importation regulations since that date. Apparently customs is cracking down on Canadians and swords are an issue all of a sudden.. I read the updated version and it doesn't state that swords are now prohibited.. The reason I ask is because I have 2 swords I'm trying to import from Japan at the moment via FedEx (usually not a problem) and the guy who I bought them from says that FedEx called him today to warn him that the parcel may be denied by Canadian customs and to notify me just in case. He has shipped to me before with no problems.. I also just shipped 2 blades out to Bob benson in Hawaii at the end of January and reallllly hope I don't have an issue when it's time to have them returned.. Anybody have anything comforting to say? Or recent customs issues? I contacted FedEx already and customer service is not helpful whatsoever.

I'd just like to comment further and say that when I got home from work today I just had to run and show the lady this. Just looking at those prices again actually makes me feel a tad ill. There is no way these can be right!! It's just so wrong... Blah. Where do buyers like this come from?! ..okay I'm done now.

ludacris!

I think it may be glare!

He's probably hoping he can get back the majority of his cash and then will just reassemble the sword when he magically finds the "missing" piece. He has already mentioned that he knows he can, and plans to do that with the broken item.

F*** that guy. He can send you back the "dagger"..... What planet is he from? Seriously. If he doesn't send back the sword, he shouldn't get squat.

So basically they confirm that even though its a ww2 sword, as long as made traditionally, it has a high chance on passing examination. But if a star stamped blade is being imported into Japan for papering, there is a good chance it won't even make it inside..? So having a star stamped blade already in Japan has a good chance of passing shinsa if it doesnt have obvious faults?