Alex A

For me, this is more of a "goods in" to the country, rather than a "goods out", which i seldom have an issue with. Not so long ago i was speaking to antique gun dealer in the US, they will ONLY ship weapons using a service that DOES NOT end with parccelforce this side due to the fact they had a number of shipments returned by parcelforce because of their inept ability to deal with weapons/antique weapons. UPS is the only firm they will now use as its UPS from start to finish. Must say, it was bliss. Arrived in no time at all and UPS contacted me to fill a few forms in online whilst at customs with UPS, no hassles whatsoever, and that was an antique firearm!! Just wish it was always so easy. All i can add is be careful when it comes to the wording, well, as best you can.

SOLD, once buyer acknowledges its received, donation to upkeep, as usual

No, il leave, cant be doing with this, good luck with your future write-ups. And as for the d--- business, always meant with a laugh behind it 🤥 🤣

Aye, probably for best Just for the record, Ray not so long ago referred to another member as a c---, but nothing got said

Ok, il look for the none elite department in future, cheers Brian. Or at least a department where elitist views by one individual are not forced upon us, as it seems to be lately Guess times change But hey ho

Hello Ray, to quote "That is a valid point but as I said, to judge anything in terms of its quality you must have experienced great swords" For me, thats utter elite bull---- Ive been sucked in again lol. Ive come to the conclusion you are not worth the time to reply. Ive read 2 of your recent threads and both look like they are intended to wind folk up. This one starts with "If it offends anyone, you are free not to read it, and the other goes on about something we have been over already I actually agree with most of what you stated above, but your so "elite" you cant see the wood for the trees. Take note, not every "expert" comes here. I know guys that will never own a "juyo", but when it comes to knowing what is what, they are way ahead. To coin a phrase, they wouldnt want to get caught up in "bun fights", like this Good luck with your Juyo collecting, keep the guys in business.

Hi Ray, just to be clearer with my reply. You stated Heian to Nanbokucho – OK Muromachi onward – Not OK Cant remember the dates so these are off google Nanbokucho 1336-1392 Muromachi 1336-1573 (lets just say 1392 onwards) Most people forget (me included) that early Muromachi is EARLY. As mentioned above, there wasnt a time when all smiths got on the phone to one another and agreed from that date on, all blades from now on will be the same length. You will see swords dating well into the 1400,s that resemble those of the Nanbokucho period, o-suriage mumei. I would be interested to read your views with regards early swords that are Ubu, but mumei. Again, horses for courses. If you can afford the top swords with all the bells and whistles then thats great. Saying that though, a lot of us are happy at the cheaper end. There is something in accepting what you can afford and being happy with it, mumei, flaws etc, they dont seem to bother me as much, which is good.

Will do Adam, thanks

On hold, pending payment

Not world class art, but hand painted and signed, so i suppose its art Only £21, rather like it though, maybe from a restaurant in down town Tokyo, from the 80,s Any other members have one?, or is it just me daft enough

Also bare in mind it might have hagire (crack).

Know the feeling Jp

Hello. You have to remember that its easy to put everything in boxes and there are exceptions. You will find long swords from the Muromachi period that are O-suriage mumei. You will find good swords from the Muromachi period that are mumei and also signed swords that are mass produced low quality. Look at a sword and judge it for yourself

Just to reiterate, this smith is the 10th and last generation of a long line and i wouldnt be selling without good reason. Its a very well made sword, prices are said to rise in the future.

Ok, il try and make this a bit more tempting. £2500 or best offer.

Cant remember ever seeing a blade that evenly rusted.

Aye, great work and much appreciated.

Thats good Paul, i cant remember seeing the bit about martial arts demonstrations either, especially the very modern approach with the mention of public liability insurance

Cant remember ever reading this before, "was made by traditional hand sword making methods" Swords with a curved blade of 50cm or more may be imported where the weapon:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/import-controls-on-offensive-weapons#importing-firearms-and-ammunition-into-the-uk was made before 1954 was made by traditional hand sword making methods is only available for the purposes of use in religious ceremonies or for martial arts is for use in a historical re-enactments or sporting activity for example a martial arts demonstration for which public liability insurance is held

Not so long ago i was in discussions about a purchase from the US to the UK. The dealer stated that he will no longer use UPS because he was tired of having shipments returned, due to the fact that Royal mail finish off the delivery this side and can be a bit picky and unpredictable with regards weapons, even if antique. More recently, he said he has done a deal with USPS and the good news is that they ship all the way to the destination. The catch though, is that anyone here importing from him must obtain an RIF declaration because thats is what USPS requires to do so. https://www.rifgroup.co.uk/about-us/ Sounds good, as it paves the way in advance. Saying that though, appears to be a massive company that deals with huge amounts of cargo and established dealers here, maybe not want to deal with one guy with a private purchase. Thats the impression i got with my first phone call to this firm, since then ive had more luck and a gent there is looking into my enquiry. They have their own customs warehouses in the UK etc If anyone knows anything about this it would be good to hear, also, if i ever use them with some success, i will let you know.

looks great to me, easy on the eyes

Forgot to mention, always open to reasonable offers

For those in the know, this smith needs no introduction, for those that dont know http://www.japaneseswordindex.com/teruhide.htm He made medium to high grade blades, this one shows very good quality and consistency when compared to some others. Signed Teruhide. The blade is in a new shirasaya, i did not want to leave it in the old mounts. The sword is in its original ww2 polish, which some collectors prefer. Buying over the internet can be difficult and i assumed it may need polish but when it arrived i was happy to leave it the way it is. The hamon is clearly visible and the sword can be appreciated as it is. The jigane is a TIGHT muji hada and as you know they are not easy to make out even when polished. Typical powerful sugata with Gunome/choji Bizen style hamon which is done very well Nagasa 66cm with quite shallow sori, as one would expect. Moto-haba 3.1cm Kasane 0.7cm Condition wise, the blade has no forging flaws and according to the saya maker, very straight. Its thick and would no doubt take a polish should any new buyer wish to go down that route. There are some small marks here and there that would all polish out but would it be worth taking steel off the blade, for me now, no. As mentioned, this sword was used in ww2 and has been in those mounts ever since. The blade is very good, the nakago came with some active surface rust which i have since stabilised by rubbing it over with a rag and some oil, hence the new shirasaya. The sword comes with its original ww2 mounts which are as found and in reasonably good condition. The catch is on its last legs but they can be fixed and its all held together by a tsunagi. These mounts were used during ww2, not by some pen pusher back at HQ (as J rambo would say). There is an original combat cover which as you can see has seen better days, but part of its history so ive left it alone. I dont know much about these fittings but i think they are all original. There are numbers on the 8! seppa (4 each side) that match, from memory. Tsuka wrap is tight, nothing loose I will add picks and info as i go, been a busy few hours. Excuse my photography, will have a look for some good ones. If your on watsapp i can send you more pics or a video, the sword looks much better in hand though £3250, buyer covers fees, contact me for a shipping quote. here or alex.aspinall@sky.com

Works slow at the moment, hence a few sales. I will be listing an Ishido Teruhide with ww2 mounts separately. About the Uda Hirakuni. NBTHK Hozen, comes with very good quality shirasaya and nice gold foil habaki with a black shakudo finish. Dont often see o-suriage mumei Uda Muromachi with an attribution, nice to own. A very stout and healthy blade, O-suriage so must have been quite an handful when it was first made. When it first arrived it reminded me of a sword from the Nanbokucho period which leads me to think it its either the 1st or 2nd Hirakuni, the good news is there was not many listed, only four Etchu Uda in the Index of Japanese swords by Markus. For the asking price, there is lots to like about this sword. Lots of activity including bright Ji-nie that stands out, Sunagashi, ashi, Yo, Kinsugi, Nie-Utsuri The jigane is a very nice Itame with nagare, darkish as you would expect. Not easy pinning it down to one particular smith. 2nd generation mentions Jin-ie (which does stand out) ko-notare with gunome, so thats where i lean to. Some info http://www.sho-shin.com/hoku15.htm https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=46IYtI0nkiEC&pg=PA69&lpg=PA69&dq=uda+hirakuni+sesko&source=bl&ots=BRKgWaVUOv&sig=ACfU3U3edAs4uDh3WSwr4GsxfRxlrLWTKg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiJuNP2-pDrAhXztHEKHTfYAAcQ6AEwC3oECAkQAQ#v=onepage&q=uda hirakuni sesko&f=false SEE DEALER SOLD PAGE FOR BETTER IMAGES https://www.toukenkomachi.com/index_en_tachi&katana_A110819.html Nagasa 69.69cm Sori 1.8cm Moto-habe 3.30 cm (wide) Saki-haba 2.24cm Moto-kasane 0.62cm Saki-Kasane 0.35cm As mentioned. The blade is healthy without serious kizu, a few small scratches here and there, a couple of spots in the hamon towards the hamachi and a bit of slight loose grain that looks a lot worse in images than it does in hand. I will add the images that i asked the dealer to take with regards to that. SOLD Will add images as i go, camera just packed in so will have use the iphone. Im no use at photography so bare with me, or using iphones for this !. If your on watsapp i can send you more pics or a video maybe. The pictures with the orange light are the ones the dealer sent to me.

Have Shirasaya made, keep em together, always good to see