Export Permit For Tsuba Bought In Japan

[Jesper]

Hi all,

Are there new regulations concerning the export of Tsuba (and other Nihonto related artefacts) from Japan?

 

My reason for asking is that I have bought a tsuba from a well known and reputable Japanese dealer. They said they needed to obtain an export permit before being able to send it. It was no problem getting the permit, which took about two weeks.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Jesper

 

 

 

 

 

[Stephen]

Never heard of such a thing

[Thierry BERNARD]

HI

 

I recently bought two tsuba from yahoo.jp using buyee services, the price of each one is around 200000 JPY

usually I don't have any problems exporting tsuba but with these ones they where returned from Japanese customs with mention "Package returned: Insufficient documentation"

I asked to join pictures of theses tsuba with the package but it was returned again !

 

I supppose the reason for retaining these tsuba is the price and because it's a sword related item, but I am not really sure about the reason!!

 

http://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/17784-i-need-help-from-one-of-our-members-residing-in-Japan-for-exporting-two-tsuba/  

[Jesper]

Thank you for the info.

 

My tsuba cost 120.000 yen, has Hozon paper, i.e. not something you would expect to need export permission. However, I have seen texts like "this item may need documents before being shipped" and similar on Japanese auction sites.

New Japanese export policy?

[Pete Klein]

Antique items valued at or over 200000 Y require documentation to receive an export permit. This was done to help prevent the exportation of important cultural items. If the customs official is in doubt they will return the item to the sender for further documentation of value.

[Baka Gaijin]

Could it be that the item is not actually in the seller's possession and the "documentation time" is no more than a polite way of explaining away slow shipping whilst the item is being sent to the seller? 

[Jesper]

I do not think so. My questions concerning the Tsuba indicated that they had in their possession.

 

Since there does not seem to be any change in export rules according to Pete´s explanation, -thank you Pete-, I think that obtaining an export permit may be a policy to avoid the risk of getting items returned from customs and extra handling and red tape. Customs officials cannot likely judge if an item is worth below or above 200000 Yen. An export permit makes it easier for the seller.

 

Has anyone recently had problems taking Tsuba and Koshirae out of Japan in their hand luggage or check-in luggage? In my experience an invoice from the seller has been sufficient to convince them that an item is worth below 200000 yen. However, an export permit would be nice to show a custom official if he/she starts arguing about national treasures, etc. when checking your luggage at the airport.

[omidaijo]

Exporting ANY antique over 200K Yen legally requires an export permit.

Ways around this recent procedure include putting the item in your pocket and walking out with it, and of course declaring a lower value (the most common by dealers). Clearly if you get caught, you could lose the item and made to commit seppuku next time you visit Japan. In Japan, people trust each other (that isn't going to last long), so if you declare an item for 190,000 Yen, it will pass customs unhindered. If you say 210,000 Yen, it will most likely be stopped and returned to the exporter (although some items exit untouched presumably due to less diligent customs inspectors) .

 

I know because I just had an armour stopped, so it was declared lower and passed,  and I bring items out of Japan every week or so.......

 

The risk of loss within the Japanese postal service is incredibly remote. The risk of loss in the Western mailing system is highly likely. So you need to consider declared value for insurance purposes. Clearly you cant insure for, say, 500K and declare the value as 199K!! My advise is to mail items the fastest way, and if close to 200K, declare and insure for lower. If significantly over/unique and irreplaceable, insure and declare for the full value, and get the exporter to apply for an export license (two weeks to get one) .

 

Most of the Dealers and bidding companies declare lower values for export.

[manfrommagnum]

My advice is to buy the items in Japan and wear them home as jewelry. Plus you would look really cool wearing full armor in the airport.