How much should seppa cost?

[George KN]

I've recently been buying some seppa for some of my loose fitting blades online, and the thought occurred to me I'm not actually sure how to find or value them properly.

 

So far I completely failed to find reliable UK sources for new seppa - the ones on Amazon or Ebay were really not great. Mostly Chinese made, and after having ordered some they fit very poorly. Even these cost a minimum of about £6 per seppa. You can find what look to be antique seppa on Ebay too, but they have wildly different costs, and are often in very bad shape.

 

The thing is, even if you do buy a half decent old pair, there's no guarantee they will fit your blades! 

To clarify, I'm not trying to buy any off NMB members, I'm more just curious about how others source and fit them. Is there some secret supplier of custom seppa I'm missing? What should you pay for them? And how do you ensure they fit the blades? At the moment I'm thinking it is just a case of building up a large stash of spare fittings over time...

Thanks, 
George

[George KN]

(I am especially looking for gunto seppa - these seem even harder to find, especially if you're trying to line up the ana for a chuso clip)

[John C]

George:

Personally, I would use a leather shim/seppa if looseness is the issue. As indicated by the pic, the size of the seppa depends on which side needs to be tightened. They also had different edge designs, which is another consideration if you are looking for authenticity. And each nakago-ana is cut to the sword (re: assembly numbers). Real parts are out there, however they usually command premium prices and there is no guarantee they will fit. You might spend a lot of money trying to get just the right one.

Just my two cents.

 

John C.

[ROKUJURO]

There are two videos by Ford Hallam on SEPPA making on YouTube: 
 

 
That might give you an idea how much work is needed to make one.

You can also buy them cheaply from Artur:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/artur_drogamiecza/albums/72177720312908466/

And of course you could try your hands on making your own. No witch-work, just practice.

 

[Bruce Pennington]

Like all things, it's going to depend upon who and where you buy them from.  I bought a complete set including pierced tsuba from a Japanese dealer for $250.  On the other hand, I bought a set of 10 assorted seppa on ebay for $20 (and I only need 2 to work).  It will vary considerably from day to day.

 

Here's a set of 25 seppa for $25 at this Crimson Mist Militaria page.

[robinalexander]

George, be careful you get the correct size, particularly for the Nakago hitsu ana (hole in the middle)...you often find that a 'job lot' has a LOT of Wakizashi seppa which are of no use with Katana.

[Kotetsu1959]

George,

 

     Prices and quality do vary widely.  Matched sets are obviously going to command a premium, as will gold foil seppa. Also, in respect to old Japanese seppa, as Rob observes above, there are many more smaller ones than larger ones. There are sometimes good deals to be found at shows. As with swords, the quality and quantity are diminishing. Timing and luck loom large. 

     If you check the link Bruce posted, you will see that the price is $20-25 apiece rather than $25 for the lot. A nice large seppa that works for your needs is a bargain at $10, and perhaps worth considerably more depending on how well it fits and looks. For odd military seppa, I would say $25 is on the very high end.

 

 

[George KN]

Thank you all! I really do appreciate it, as there does seem little information about what is a "normal" price for them, so the range of examples is super useful.

 

One day I'd very much like to try my hand at making a pair out of copper, or the leather shims, but it's just not going to happen for a while

I am surprised though that there doesn't seem to be someone known for making them to order - since tsuka shrink and especially gunto having so many variations of where the chuso clip ana can be, it feels like there would be a business opportunity there at the right price. But admittedly the detailing looks like it would be quite hard to automate efficiently...

[ROKUJURO]

On 9/3/2025 at 10:53 PM, George KN said:

......I am surprised though that there doesn't seem to be someone known for making them to order.....

Of course there are TOSOGU artisans in Japan who make beautiful SEPPA on demand. And there are NAMIKAWA HEIBEI for those who want cheap ones. But you won't get nice ones for the price of those press-molded ones, obviously.

It is a very small market, so no way to produce them in numbers unless you have to equip an army!

Those leather shims are not authentic, they are just a short-term measure to prevent rattling.