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Gerry

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Everything posted by Gerry

  1. Gerry
    All USPS shipments from Japan has been halted because of the US customs dept requirement of the outbound country collecting tariffs for the US before shipment. EMS Japan currently does not have this ability. The issue is severe enough that the UN is getting involved. Therefore, the only couriers available from Japan to the US will be companies that already have the ability to do this. I recently had a sword ship via UPS, and the UPS system collected tariffs on behalf of US Customs.
  2. Gerry
    https://www.jauce.com/auction/t1202652460 This 3 ft long odachi went for a reasonable price, given the provenance, if it's really shoshin.
  3. 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.
  4. Gerry
    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?
  5. Gerry
    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?
  6. Gerry
    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
  7. Gerry
    The seller paid for the shipping, and it came over on UPS Saver Next Day.
  8. Gerry
    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.
  9. Gerry
    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.
  10. Gerry
    It doesn't take a stretch of the imagination to guess.
  11. Gerry
    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.
  12. Gerry
    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.
  13. Gerry
    Hey, give me a Bizen Nagamitsu over a Kotetsu any day.
  14. Gerry
    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.
  15. Gerry
    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.
  16. Gerry
    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
  17. Gerry
    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.
  18. Gerry
    I have always had my EMS sword shipments go through the Chicago USPS customs location without any issues. Fingers crossed that your sword arrives soon after all the duties are paid.
  19. Gerry
    Just checking, did you receive the sword via EMS/USPS, or a courier service like FedEx/UPS? I haven't received a tariff request using EMS/USPS.
  20. Gerry
    Just checking, did you receive the sword via EMS/USPS, or a courier service like FedEx/UPS? I haven't received a tariff request using EMS/USPS.
  21. Gerry
    Unfortunately, this is a Chinese reproduction sword. It's evident from the supposed mei.
  22. Gerry
    Damn you'd have to be a crazy huge Himura Kenshin fan to dump 1.25M yen on this. I wonder how the smith compensates for the curve that appears during the yaki ire process? https://www.samuraishokai.jp/sword/25142.html
  23. Gerry
    Just came across this odd looking nakago on a nagamichi katana. Does anyone have any idea why they would weld on an extra piece of nakago to original one? It's like the opposite of a suriage nakago.
  24. Gerry
    I've never seen a gunto with a leather covered saya with fittings: https://www.jauce.com/auction/e1192352718?allow=1 It seems like the leather shrank over the year, and split from the kojiri at the tip.
  25. Gerry
    He usually has those suspicious Hon'ami papers with the blades. Every once in a while he'll have legit looking NTHK papers. He sold a realistic looking signed fukuoka ichimonji blade last year with NTHK papers for only 1.3M yen.
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