Aoijapan

[jesse]

A quick question, I am thinking of sending 2 of my blades to AoiJapan for touch up polish (that is all they need).

So, I am asking for any experiences/opinions as the reliability/trust worthiness of this shop.  They seem to have very nice swords for very reasonable prices and I like the fact that if they cannot validate a signature they sell it as 'not authenticated' and price it accordingly.

 

Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

[seattle1]

Hello:

If you have a blade worthy of a polish you should try to get it to the very best sword polisher that you can.

Arnold F.

[paulb]

Hi Jesse

I have bought from Tsuruta-san as have many others here and been very happy with the item and the transaction. However I have also seen a broad range of polishes he has orgainsed and the range of quality is considerable. This may of course be because of the variability of what he started with but I know some have ben less than happy with the results.

I think you need to be very clear when telling him what you are looking for to make sure he directs it to the right polisher and gives you something of the right standard.

[Brian]

Aoi is a shop that has a good reputation as a seller, and they seem to specialize in the Western market. I wouldn't hesitate to deal with them when purchasing an item.

That said, they are not my first choice for polishing. They seem to use a variety of polishers, including apprentices and students. There are lots of choices when it comes to polishing. I am sure you will get some recommendations via pm or here.

[Henry Wilson]

You might be lucky if it does in fact get to a polisher because on a number of occassions in the past I have seen Mr Tsuruta polish swords himself.

[Jean]

How true Henry ....