Gerry

Thanks for your valuable input and insight as always, Jussi. The auction was ultimately cancelled since it didn't reach the seller's reserve price. I'm guessing that the stop on EMS shipments to the US has really softened the sword prices on Yahoo Japan recently.

Hi John, Hmmm, I'm not sure if an acid polished blade would pass TH with the NBTHK, such as is the case with this blade?

I always a little confused about when to call a blade a naginata naoshi....in this case, it doesn't have naginata-hi, nor is unokubi zukuri...so would it be considered just a shobu zukuri katana instead?

This large naginata just came up for auction today. It's rather unusual because it appears to have lots of core steel showing through the jihada, but the weight if still pretty substantial at over 1 kilogram. It's not really my cup of tea, but I'm wondering if anyone knows which school has such thin kawagane? I know Hizen swords usually have thin kawagane, but this naginata is, of course, not Hizen. https://www.jauce.com/auction/k1201414863?allow=1

The seller paid for the shipping, and it came over on UPS Saver Next Day.

It's a soden bizen blade with a nice jigane that wasn't evident from the photos on their website. It's pity that they don't entertain visits to their store to view their blades in person, but the owner is a stand-up guy to work with.

Though I must say that Tsuruginoya has by far the best packaging of all the sword dealers I've worked with in Japan. The sword arrived via UPS from Japan to the US in only 1 day. EMS would have taken a week.

It doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to guess.

Here's another tariff data point for swords shipping from Japan. So I've just received my first sword via UPS from Japan. All other times I've received swords from Japan though EMS. Apparently, with UPS, you are forced to pay customs/duties unlike with EMS when it's a crapshot. So my tariff bill came out to 15% of the sword price, which I fortunately managed to significantly minimize because of a suggestion from the dealer.

Congrats on finding a diamond in the rough on Yahoo Auctions Japan! This goes against the general consensus that all dealers on Yahoo Auctions Japan sell dubious swords. This particular dealer that you bought your sword from is very prolific in sales, and it'll be curious to know why he/she didn't send the blades for updated origami.

Hey, give me a Bizen Nagamitsu over a Kotetsu any day.

I think Rayhan is well intentioned and accurate in his advice, with the main implicit aim of value preservation upon resale. I'd even hasten to add a few other criteria to his point; such as, if its a katana, then the nagasa should be over 27 inches, be of as graceful a shape as possible (i.e. not kanbun shinto), and even to be from the more "popular" schools like Gassan/Soshu/etc. If there's no concern of recouping your cost when you sell, then you can buy any sword that tugs are your heartstrings.

https://www.jauce.com/auction/q1196384750 It's the first time I've seen a kai gunto in wakizashi koshirae. The seller says that it's not a reproduction koshirae, but couldn't provide a photo of the tsuba and seppa. I was almost interested in bidding, but the plain sarute didn't sit well with me, and the blade itself is pretty worthless, though it ended up not going for a high price at only 241,000 yen.

I've never seen a katana with this type of mune/blade shape before. The seller is calling it "hobori-otoshi technique". https://www.jauce.com/auction/p1195435273

Honestly, I wasn't even aware that there's a taboo against saving for a sword. I just buy whatever excites me, whenever a piece like that comes along. Hobbies don't need to be taken so seriously, even if you're spending 6 figures on an item.