Japanese sword import law change?

[cabowen]

I have heard recently that a Yasukuni blade was rejected for import into Japan with the reason given that it was not 100 years old...I suspect it was just a case of an ignorant official, which I have run into many time, but am wondering if anyone has heard of any law changes recently?

[Lee Bray]

I can confirm the sword was a signed and dated Yasuoki and was sent to a long established dealer in Tokyo by a chap in Hong Kong.

The agent was told the rules had changed and blades less than a century old were not allowed in. The agent relayed this back to the sender.

As of yet, I'm not sure if the sword has been held or shipped back.

 

Hopefully, just an ignorant official, as you say, but it would be good to get the full story.

[cabowen]

A reliable source has recently passed this on:

 

 

"I am told that these modern swords must now be imported under the same procedure as industrial machinery rather than as antiques. Permission to import must now be obtained from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and then a torokusho is applied for, of course. This means that these swords may still be imported but the procedure is more complicated and takes more time. I understand that the reason is to try to stop the import of cheap copies made abroad, in China for instance, many of which have come into Japan recently, presumably for Iai use."

 

I know that in the past, with blades less than 100 years old, if you declared a value over something like $2000US, you had to go through a different import procedure which as I recall, was similar to the above. I wonder if this is what happened or if indeed the law has been changed????

[jeremy]

This law must be a recent change. Me and my other sword swinging buddies took our Okamoto Kazumune shinsakutos to Japan last year in October through Osaka airport, and even though it took us four hours to get through, we were issued with temporary permits to keep the swords in Japan until our taikai was up. When it came time to take the shinsakuto out of Japan, we showed these temporary permits to the flight officials at the airport and we just checked in our swords as normal baggage. I would like to know more about this as well..........

 

Kind regards,

 

Jeremy

[Lee Bray]

The above Yasuoki has been returned to the Hong Kong owner with no problems.

It was held in customs and returned by them, never making it to the Tokyo dealer.

The dealer has since said that for swords made less than 100 years ago he needs the details first, then he can apply for an entry permit for the sword and proceed as normal.

 

I believe this is also the case for hand carried swords as a respected US polisher had issues hand carrying a Gassan(less than 100 years old, don't know which Gassan) blade into Japan at the same time as the Yasuoki incident.

He actually managed to get it through but had to pay an import tax and was told he would no longer be able to bring in modern swords without the necessary paperwork.

[Brian]

And worldwide bureaucracy once again makes life just a little bit harder and more frustrating....

*Sigh*

 

Brian