Alex A

Interesting Derek. Reading your post on security as made me think of other problems that folk may have with traveling with expensive nihonto that they have bought and walked away with at shows. That of hotel security. You buy the sword thursday eve, your flight back is monday eve. Maybe to large for the hotel safe/they wont offer insurance for the item if stored in the safe/too expensive (something along those lines). Hotels do have a reputation for items vanishing, another worry to consider.

Ive read a few posts in the past about taking swords on planes, it had me curious too. Ive caught a few of those airport documentaries now and again, surprising sometimes what hassles can occur for folk. I got held up last year whilst a customs officer went off to xray some skipping rope handles . I can imagine a story about a $10,000 sword being quite interesting to an eager young customs officer having an uneventful day.

I would tell the girl because thats what i would do, a $10,000 sword, a concern. As for the customs officer, its described as an "art object", that i say i paid $10,000 for, not a set of golf clubs. If you think customs officers dont look into these things, your deluded. I think its best to agree to disagree.

Adrian, if you read my post you will note i have not stated it is illegal to take swords on a plane. I stated dealing with "inexperienced" airport staff can lead to hassles, dealing with arsey customs officers can lead to more hassles. Horses for coarses. If you believe that is the best way to get a sword home, then fine, its just not the way i see it.

Adrian, i was speculating about hassles that one may incur.

Im aware Ken as flown to and from Japan with iaito swords, i can only presume these are not worth say $10,000 and up and are described as sporting equipment in the paperwork. Purely speculation, but im hazarding a guess at some pit falls. Lets say you go to democratic country, the Chicago show and buy a sword from Joe the dealer at $10,000, he gives you the documentation in Japanese, plus a signed piece of paper saying its an antique. Your misses, to add a bit of humour is accompanying you on this trip of a lifetime (no ways shes missing this one). As always these kind of trips get of to a rocky start when you ask her why she needed to bring 15 pair of shoes for a weeks vacation. We arrive at Chicago airport, go the the check in desk. i tell an inexperienced girl on the desk i have a nihonto sword in my suitcase, she says "i beg your pardon", i say, "an antique Samurai SWORD", she says "you cant take that on the plane". After a lot of time holding up a large que quibbling, she calls for a customs officer. By this time your misses is not happy. Your led off to a room to sort things out. The main man who deals with this kind of thing is out, he arrives an hour later. He as a look over the papers, then says he needs to speak to the guy you bought it from. He calls Joe, but he is out partying with his sale money. It can go two ways, he can let you take the sword on board or not. If not then you have obviously missed your flight, if he does, by then you may have missed your flight anyway. You get the next available flight via Amsterdam (at extra cost), an added worry of baggage going missing, but the grief your misses is giving you makes that worry seem insignificant. Your wishing you just got it posted. There are other pit falls, but time is short. If you think none of this is possible, your deluded.

Your words Adrian. "If you want to be 100% sure, then probably something like Fedex with insurance at full value is the way to go." I agree.

, you lost me there, maybe Tunisia pulled some strings, lets stay on topic.

I take it you have never flown with Ryan air :D. I have no sense of direction, rely on misses. In this day and age, I would feel a little strange walking into an airport with a sword in my suitcase. Its just my opinion.

I can only speak for oneself, but personally, I find foreign airports stressful enough without worrying about a katana in my suitcase.

That would leave importing a showa/shinsakuto as a bit of a concern. Just noticed the use of the word "generally", that would indicate exceptions.

The last sword i bought, the seller taped an envelope to the side of the box marked "CUSTOMS", in large black letters, inside i presume was a full explanation in plain English. A good idea, seems they opened it and took note

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Cheers Paul.

Is it possible to get an o-suriage blade such as this papered?, a blade with so much taken off, im unfamiliar with what they will accept, a bit curious.

Interesting Jon, i was wondering if it could have been an early katana, rather than a tachi. Early muromachi katana where a similar shape to tachi, but looking at the sori, i think your right, maybe an earlier sword.

Hi Adam, the lanes isn't the best place to shop for nihonto swords, especially your first sword. Very expensive, rarely papered, descriptions and photos lack necessary details. If you do buy from there then your best travelling down to view the sword. I bought a sword from there some years ago, the guy told me it was flawless over the phone, it arrived with an opening (small, but obviously worth a mention), as you can imagine, this could ruin ones afternoon, be careful.

Mariusz, ever the perfectionist, its a nice sword.... Enjoy................

How old would the stands be Guido?, i particularly like the second one. This is a common 70/80s type, picked it up for £80 (if i remember rightly) delivered from Japan, does the job for now.

I like it John, unusual, first time i have seen an hardened edge along the mune, wondered what i was seeing at first view, thought it was some new kind of reflection photography :D, nice tight hada . Good that it comes with a period koshirae (uchigatana style). I would get it papered early to assist with a future sale. I can see why you went for it, nice one.

Beautiful sword stand, one could get into financial difficulty brousing this site, theres just too much "want"!. :D

Occasionally you see some very nice lacquered kake from Japan on Ebay at a reasonable price. Ps, be careful when buying, too many spare spaces=the need for no spare spaces= -$$$$

Hi Kenneth, "the craft of the Japanese sword" springs to mind. You will get a deja vu feeling from reading these introductory books, but still well worth owning. From then on you will buy where your interests lie.

Cheers for pointing out Denis.

You might be right Denis but my first thought was that oil left on the mune might have soaked into the felt causing a reaction to the glue, its difficult to think of any other reason for it. A tricky one. It wasn't displayed near a radiator was it?