Has anyone dealt with Nihontou.jp (Isao Machi) as of late

[AlexiG]

Hi all,

 

I purchased a blade from Isao Machi (Nihontou.jp) in mid-February this year, long before the tariff nightmare began. The blade was supposed to get a new habaki and saya in Japan, which was supposed to take couple of months.

 

In May I reached out to see how things were going, and I got a reply indicating that there seemed to be no progress.

 

In August I reached out to again and have not gotten a reply. I just sent another polite email to inquire how things were going.

 

If I don't get a reply within the next week, I am tempted to contact my credit card and start a dispute.

 

This experience has been quite different compared to the other two Japanese online sellers that I have dealt with before. 

 

Given that Mr. Isao may be experiencing headaches of his own (the website was re-done and updated few months back), I'd rather not "jump-the-gun" so I am curious what advice folks here have.

 

Best,

Alexi

[zanilu]

Hi Alexi

 

I have purchased some tsuba from Machi san in the past without any major problem.

He is not the fastest in reply to inquiries or in preparing the shipping since he is often busy teaching martial arts, but overall my experience with him is positive. 

The items are as advertised the prices reasonable, I will buy from him in the future if suitable items pop up on his website.

 

Hope it helps

 

Regards

Luca

[JCKang]

I bought two swords from him in the past: a nanbokucho Tegai Kanetoshi tachi which was a hozon but had him submit for TH, and a hozon zaimei Takada which was to have koshirae made. 

 

From there, it was mishap after mishap and a periods of ghosting via email.  I had to call a couple of times to get any update.  In all, it took nearly two and a half years from purchase to delivery.  That said, the descriptions on his website didn't do the swords justice, they were both in amazing condition.

[AlexiG]

4 hours ago, JCKang said:

I bought two swords from him in the past: a nanbokucho Tegai Kanetoshi tachi which was a hozon but had him submit for TH, and a hozon zaimei Takada which was to have koshirae made. 

 

From there, it was mishap after mishap and a periods of ghosting via email.  I had to call a couple of times to get any update.  In all, it took nearly two and a half years from purchase to delivery.  That said, the descriptions on his website didn't do the swords justice, they were both in amazing condition.

Hi John,

 

thanks for the info. Seems like what I am experiencing is par for the course. I got a papered sword from the Kunikane clan (the 3rd Kanetsugu) with amazing masame hada, so I am quite excited about the sword. I am in no rush, but would like to know that folks have not forgotten about this project

 

@JCKang John, do you feel your calls made a difference for the timeline? I am not inclined to start calling unless it will have a positive timeline impact. 

 

Given the feedback I will hurry up and wait  Maybe the tariff thing will resolve itself by the time this sword gets shipped.....I can dream, can't I  

 

Best,

Alexi

 

 

[AlexiG]

5 hours ago, zanilu said:

Hi Alexi

 

I have purchased some tsuba from Machi san in the past without any major problem.

He is not the fastest in reply to inquiries or in preparing the shipping since he is often busy teaching martial arts, but overall my experience with him is positive. 

The items are as advertised the prices reasonable, I will buy from him in the future if suitable items pop up on his website.

 

Hope it helps

 

Regards

Luca

 

Hi Luca,

 

It seems your experience is similar to John's, i.e. give time and space and good things can happen. Thanks for sharing.

 

Best,

Alexi

[JCKang]

I don't think the phone calls helped at all, plus you might have to speak Japanese.

[Lewis B]

Agree. Unless you speak Japanese, calling is a waste of time. Tried that route once when I was briefly ghosted during negotiations for the Kunimitsu Tanto.

I'm actually quite happy he's slow to follow through on plans though. Otherwise the Mei on the tanto would have been removed and the blade polished by who knows who, in the interim 6 months between negotiations breaking down and my being able to acquire it. 

[Bugyotsuji]

No experience of your man, but generally silence in Japan means there is no update, nothing positive to report. When it is ready they will contact you, actions speaking louder than words, and excuses being nothing more than wasted words.

 

In my experience a message will come from out of the blue…

 

(Just generalizations, but from what others have said above, his organization is simply slow, not criminal.)

[JCKang]

15 hours ago, JCKang said:

I don't think the phone calls helped at all, plus you might have to speak Japanese.

 

I will have to walk this back a little, I did learn two things from my calls:

1, there was a habaki issue which they had to fix, and that the timeline was "mou chotto"

2, my wife, a native Japanese speaker, didn't know what a habaki or many other sword terms were.

[Brano]

In general, things like making habaki and making new shirasaya are time-consuming
Each product is made by a specialist and they certainly have work they took on before yours, so yours is in the queue
Be patient
Making habaki and then shirasaya can take a year or more

[Lewis B]

I was quoted over 4 months to make a shirasaya for a tanto or 1-2 months if I was prepared to pay a 60% premium.