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It is such a great show. Lots of fantastic blades. The highlight has been meeting NMB members (apologies if I am missing anyone): @nulldevice @Kyoto-13 @GeorgeLuucas @Rivkin @yurie @Toryu2020 @Mark @Grey Doffin

Some important questions are: (1) does the dealer offer a shinsa service, (2) is it likely to pass TH, (3) are you prepared to wait about a year for the whole process, (4) what value increase would TH bring? I probably would not pursue TH because of the wait, if it were my sword. But it certainly makes sense to do it while it is still in Japan if you are inclined to pursue TH.

Generally speaking, dealers with an English language option on their webpage expect/hope to deal with you—they are purposefully including you among their potential customers.

Thanks for sharing—it is good to know the current wait. With the relatively weak yen, I would guess there has been an increase in international buying that has added to the backlog.

That’s awesome. 785g even with the futatsu ji-hi (dual grooves)! I can see why you think it feels powerful in your hands—because it is! It is a great sword, especially as your first. Congratulations.

Now that I am back from my trip to Japan and somewhat recovered from jet lag, I wanted to share what I saw at The Japanese Sword Museum. The permanent exhibit is pretty small and limited about the sword making process. It is informative at a basic level, although it has nice examples of each stage of the process. The temporary exhibit for this month was swords and fittings that had been newly designated Tokubetsu Juyo Token, along with a handful of swords from the museum’s collection. The list of items exhibited can be downloaded below, and you can get more information on each one by scanning the QR code at the top right of the page. As a fan of Koto swords, I was thrilled to see this exhibit. It was so cool to see so many top level swords by top smiths in one place and easily compare them. My wife even enjoyed it, asking me to show her the differences between jihada. Unfortunately, they did not allow pictures in the exhibit area. The museum building is really nice, and they’ve made it fairly easy to see the swords despite them being behind glass—much easier than at the Tokyo National Museum. I really enjoyed the visit. Scan Jul 14, 2024.pdf

Japan Post EMS insurance limit is 2,000,000 JPY, and that costs under 5000 JPY to obtain. But a sword valued at more than the insurance limit obviously carries a risk of loss during shipping unless there is supplemental insurance. And then you need to ensure that the supplemental insurance covers items lost or damaged in transit.

I am hoping that @Jim Manley can add more details. This is troubling, especially as a Salt Lake City resident expecting two swords from Japan in the next month. Thankfully, I have previously received three swords from Japan via EMS without issues. Once they cleared customs in Chicago, they were all delivered to me the next day by a post office employee separate from my regular mail carrier. I will have the two swords added to my valuable property insurance before they ship, since their individual values are greater than the EMS insurance limit. Of course, that would not replace these swords that are irreplaceable, but I can at least protect against the financial loss.

I did not meet Tsuruta-san, unfortunately. There were two younger people working there (I did not get their names). The woman was busy packing boxes for shipping and answering the phone. The man helped me, spoke decent English, and was nice, although he wasn’t as knowledgable as the woman and asked her for information several times. I liked that he was accessible for questions but he did not stand over me or rush me as I examined the swords. Aoi is also a fairly small shop (and a bit cluttered) with a seating area for examination and a few display cases with swords. Most of the inventory is in a storage room. I had previously told them the three swords I would like to see. Those three were out of the shirasaya and waiting for me to view on my arrival. The man also provided me with an iPad that already had the Aoi listings for the three swords. They were well prepared for my appointment. The others I visited: Japan Sword was tidy and had several American tourists in it. It was bigger in size than Aoi and Yamashiroya. I did not ask to view anything there. The salesperson was speaking good English to the tourists. Ginza Seikodo is very small but tidy, with few swords on display. Unfortunately, Saito-san was not there, and I did not ask to view anything. Ginza Seiyudo was about the same size as Japan Sword. You ring a bell to be let in, and they have signs stating the store isn’t for browsing. There was one sword I specifically asked to see. A younger man took me to a private viewing room in the back and let me examine it. He also showed me a couple of other swords they thought I might like. It was very professional feeling, and he spoke decent English. I only had one day allocated for sword shopping. With the stores being spread out around the city, and my desire to see specific swords at Aoi, Yamashiroya, and Seiyudo, I unfortunately had to limit the number of other stores I could visit and limit my time in each store.

I had looked at his inventory online before visiting. I was focused on seeing one sword there before going to an appointment at Aoi Art, so I did not have time or ask to see more.

For posterity, I can now report that I visited Yamashiroya a couple of days ago. The shop is relatively small, but there is an area with seating to examine swords and several display cases of inventory. Nobuo Shimada, the owner, only speaks a little English, but Google translate filled in the gaps for us. He is very nice and accommodating. I would not hesitate buying from him.

I’ll be there Friday and Saturday. I haven’t been before. Looking forward to it!

Thanks, Ray. What confuses me is that the koshirae and the nakago are both depicted. If it is a replacement, does that mean they were submitted together originally?

The NBTHK Juyo origami for this wakizashi and koshirae is not something I’ve seen before. I’ve read about swords and koshirae being submitted for shinsa together and receiving origami for them as a pair, but I have not seen the origami they receive. Is this such an example? For reference, it is from this Aoi Art listing: Listing

It is all very beautiful!

Thanks for the reminder, Brian. $5 a month is a great price to support the exchange of information here.

Danke, Uwe!

Would someone be so kind as to translate this saidan mei? Thank you.

Congratulations, Mike! I like your choice a lot.

I don’t have information about them beyond what’s online. But I plan to visit the store in a few weeks when I visit Tokyo. I’d be happy to give you a report then.

The renovated koshirae looks nice.

That has a NTHK paper rather than a NBTHK paper. Those are two different organizations with different ways of appraising swords. There are several discussions on NMB that discuss the differences.

This Juyo paper conundrum is super interesting. Here’s an example from Juyo 26, so it seems the changes to the tsuba ana and seal were a bit earlier than Juyo 28.

That’s all very attractive, including interesting koshirae and the Tanobe sayagaki—congratulations!

Well done! Very satisfying to do it yourself.