Frequently Asked Questions
about Japanese Swords and sword Fittings
How to buy a Japanese Sword guard?
You have decided to spend money on a Japanese Tsuba, that’s great. Of course, the best way to buy Tsuba is coming to Japan and browsing the
many dealer shops or visiting the Daitokenichi, the great sword fair in Tokyo. You will find many offers online in various facebook groups or the popular nihonto message board and on many dealers’ pages. Tsuba.info also offers you a variety of genuine pieces
directly from Japan and we would be grateful if you purchased via us. Find all available items here…
But how much should you spend? Read on here…
I would like to buy an original antique Tsuba, but aren't they too expensive?
Original antique Japanese sword guards can vary in price quite a bit. However, you can find them from as much as 50 $ upwards. The difference in price is defined by the difference in quality of the maker or school the Tsuba belongs to. You can find out more about famous schools in our learning section here. If you are simply looking for a souvenir, you can browse the many flea and antique markets in Japan or if you cannot come here, join us online on our next next ‘Japanese flea market treasure hunt’, where we frequently post what we find on the markets here in Japan.
Join live via our Telegram group or register your email to keep updated about the next events.
Read more about how much Japanese sword guards cost here…
Find out how to get the best price on Japanese sword guards here…
How can I tell if a Japanese Sword fitting is genuine or not?
The best way is to check if it has a certificate by any of the main associations like NBTHK or NTHK. If the Tsuba does not have one and you wonder how to tell, try to compare the signature with genuine pieces, try to compare the surface and making with genuine pieces or simply send us an
email with a picture and we are happy to give you a hint. Please keep in mind, genuine does not yet mean valuable. A Hozon certificate simply means it is not a fake and is worth preserving. Still, it might be from an unskillful maker and thus will not fetch a high price. Fake means either it was not made by a Tsuba maker but by means of mass production like casting and thus has no historic value or it means the signature on the piece is not truly made by the person whose name it reads. Unfortunately there are many old and also beautiful Tsuba which carry fake signatures and thus would not get certificates.
Read more about certificates here…
What kind of certificates are there for Japanese swords and Sword fittings?
The most common certificates for Japanese sword fittings are created by the NBTHK. They are commonly called papers and can be devided into several categories:
Hozon – preservable item
Tokubetsu Hozon – special perservable item
Juyo – important cultural object
Tokubetsu Juyo – especially important cultural object
Juyo Bijutsuhin – especially important cultural art object
Juyo Bunkazai – important cultural property
Kokuho – national treasure
The last two categories are not allowed to be exported from Japan and it is a rare pleasure to be able to admire items from those ranks. Most
items collected of course are from the first three ranks. The difference between Hozon and Tokubetsu Hozon is not a big one. Even pieces by artists who are not famous can fetch Tokubetsu Hozon if they are good pieces by that master. However, there is a big gap between Tokubetsu Hozon and Juyo pieces and often the price doubles after a piece fetches the highly sought for rank of Juyo.
Papers can be applied for at the NBTHK directly or via any dealer for a service charge. The costs for the papers differ according to the rank, please check the NBTHK website for accurate information. There is a fixed schedule for each item and paper category defined by the NBTHK and it takes several months until the item will be returned to the person who handed it in. In some cases even the NBTHK experts cannot judge about the authenticity of an item and they will return it free of charge with the attribution ‘Horyu’ which means literally ‘put on hold’. Receiving Horyu is often a sad, as one has waited a long time until the item returns, but at least it means that this item is not a fake on first sight. However, it also is no guarantee for a paper at a later point in time.
Contact us for help with the application and information on fees.
How can I tell the value of a Japanese Sword?
It needs quite some experience to be able to tell the market value of Japanese sword fittings and Japanese swords. For swords, you can generally say that Koto are a bit more expensive than Shinto and Shinshinto. However, it still greatly depends on the condition of the sword and of course the name of the maker. A signed Koto by a famous smith like Nagamitsu will be worth more than an unsigned one which is only assigned to Nagamitsu by certificate, if the quality of the blade is more or less the same. Ubu swords would be more expensive than those with Suriage. A Shinto sword with two Mekugiana would be less worth than the same one with only one Mekugiana. However, you are still looking at art and thus prices vary greatly. There is a certain hirarchy about the skill of Japanese sword smiths and it has been put into categories either in numbers or in words. The most referenced ones are ‘Fujishiro’ and ‘Hawley’.
How much does a Genuine Tsuba cost?
Generally speaking a Tsuba can cost between 50 and 1 million $. As Japanese sword fittings are artworks, the same rules apply for their price as do for any work of fine art. The price depends on offer and demand. It might change anytime in the future and is highly subjective.
The most expensive Japanese sword fittings are those made by the most famous makers. To name a few, these are Kano Natsuo, Ishiguro Masayoshi, Tsuchiya Yasuchika and several more. Genuine Tsuba by these makers easily fetch prices over 50000 $.
If you want to have at least some kind of good estimate you can say that Tsuba below 500 $ are those sold on flea markets and exist in masses. If you are looking for something worth preserving you should probably have to start above that. If you are just starting to collect Japanese sword fittings, we propose checking all online stores (such as tsuba.info of course) for a good price comparison of retail prices and join collectors’ clubs to meet other collectors who might be willing to sell some of their pieces from time to time.
Read more about starting your collection of Japanese sword fittings here…
Read more about the value of Japanese sword fittings here…
How much does a genuine Japanese sword cost?
The prices of Japanese swords differ greatly with the quality. You can find genuine swords from something around 500 until up to over 1 million $. As the beauty of the Japanese sword lies in its workmanship, the price is related to the skill of the smith. Their are several different characteristics to be found in good Japanese swords starting with the ‘Hamon’ the temper line which must be clearly visible and exhibits bright crystalline structures.
A sword which can be deemed worth collecting, exhibiting a
clear Hamon and being polished by a professional Japanese polisher, would start
at around 3000 to 5000 $. Everything much cheaper is either a catch or of minor
quality or condition.
Read more about estimating the value of a Japanese sword here…
How do I get the best price on a Tsuba?
As you already know now, there is a variety of schools and prices differ greatly. At the beginning you may wonder why a simple forged iron plate with some cut outs costs ten times more than a Shakudo Tsuba with some gold inlays. First, you are buying art the price of which depends strongly on demand and the market. Second, you buy antiques which also vary in price depending on their age. It was much more difficult 600 years ago to produce a Tsuba than it was 150 years ago. Try to compare a lot and browse the dealer shops which are online, you will get a feeling at least for the price ranges. The best way to find out about market prices is to visit the Daitokenichi in Tokyo. Even though it is a fair and thus prices are a bit higher than normal, you will have the chance to make very good deals here. If you go on the last day, dealers will also be open to quite some bargaining.
Getting the best price thus might be difficult at the beginning but try to see a lot and try to look at high quality items. Therefore we publish high resolution photos of high quality for you to learn how those pieces look like. Have a look at our overview of important schools here. We also can offer you fair market prices as we are located in Japan and thus can find the best prices for good quality.
Find all items offered by us here…
How can I tell the value of Japanese sword fittings?
Judging the market value of Tsuba and Kodogu needs quite some experience. Some schools are more sought for than others. There are some principals though. If it is an iron Tsuba, the patina (surface impression) of the surface should not be rusty but smooth and with a dark brown or dark blue-grey color. Find some great examples of good patina under our Owari section. If it is a Kinko item the base plate of which is made from Shakudo, copper or Sentoku, the value depends on the workmanship and the condition. Remember that Kinko pieces which were made in the 19th century should not exhibit too much wear. The Nanako should not be damaged. The golden inlays should be intact. However, old Kinko pieces often show many signs of wear. You will find many Ko-mino or Ko-goto items where the thin gold foil is broken but they are still quite valuable.
Items which can easily be categorised and placed into a specific school or region are often more sought for, than items which cannot be attributed and could have been made by several schools or makers and during all times. Thus it is also beneficial to receive certificates which place the object exactly to a certain master than just to a very broad category. It is said that a Hozon paper with the attribution to ‘Shoami’ has no value at all, as this attribution seems to be given by the NBTHK experts to all pieces which they cannot put into another category.
Study the great pieces made by machibori artists from the Yokoya, Yanagawa, Ishiguro and other schools. Get books with high quality pictures depicting those items. There are so many fakes out there which still look somehow nice to the untrained eye but the difference to those first-class makers is enormous.
Finally, the value increases with the kind of certificate the item holds. Especially if the Tsuba is signed by a famous maker, getting a certificate is key to proof its authenticity and increase its market value.
Read more about certificates here…
Learn more about how to identify genuine Japanese sword fittings here…
How to export Japanese Sword Fittings from JApan?
In general you can export items with a value below 200.000 JPY without any further action. Above that value, you need to acquire a special export license.
We will not be held liable for the correctness of this information. Please get detailed information from the responsible Japanese authorities. If you need help exporting items from Japan, please contact us.
10 Things to remember when starting to collect Japanese Sword Fittings!
1) You are starting to collect art!
2) The market value of Japanese sword fittings is depending on offer and demand and is highly subjective. Generally speaking, items of higher quality will be more likely to keep their price versus items of lower quality the prices of which will be highly influenced by normal inflation.
3) Even though you can buy Japanese sword fittings all over the world, the best place is of course still Japan and it is worth coming here for the Daitokenichi to compare prices and quality and to see a lot of items.
4) We recommend looking at a lot of good items and studying their appearance before buying a lot of cheap things of lesser quality. Your eyes will get used to the low quality. Train your eyes with good quality and you will be able to appreciate high class pieces much more over the lesser ones. The first lesson is to tell a beautiful iron patina from a rusted and worn one!
5) Rather buy one item for 5000 $ than 10 items for 500 $. That is if you want to collect quality over mass.
6) Buy things which you can enjoy. Trust your personal taste. Do not try to buy with the question in mind, if you can resell this item for the same price. If you do this you will enter the realm of a dealer and you will have a hard time buying things you appreciate.
7) Stay open minded regarding the quality of your own collection. Always try to learn more about high quality pieces and how to identify them. Even though this often means realising you bought something of lesser quality in the past which you need to get rid of now, or even have to sell for a lesser price now. Do not worry about that, it happens to all of us. Those who keep improving their sense of quality will also step by step increase the quality of their collection.
8) Do not buy items on yahoo auction (or buyee respectively) with the idea of finding a great treasure which is worth much more than the auction price. Items there are sold from Japan and if they do not have papers it most likely means that the owner already tried to get some but failed. Of course in rare cases you can make a deal that way, but only after you know much more about the quality of sword fittings than all the dealers checking yahoo auctions for the same reason.
9) Buy items which are genuine from established and official dealers such as ourselves. It is good to start collecting items, the authenticity of which is not questionable. Making mistakes at the start of collecting leaves a bad impression and might spoil it for you forever.
10) The most important thing! Enjoy the art, share it with others, have fun learning about the history of Japan and the many motives and designs there are. Sword fittings were the only kind of fashion allowed for samurai to express themselves. There is an abundance of schools, styles and makers. Find the ones you enjoy the most and start building your collection.
Can I bring a Japanese sword into Japan?
Yes, you can bring up to three swords per person into Japan when arriving at an airport here. Please make sure that you indicate that you are carrying a sword on every form they hand you (customs declaration form as well as the disembarkation form). If you forget to indicate that, the swords might be taken from you and you will be in trouble.
If indicated correctly you will be asked by customs to come to their office where they will do an examination on the swords. The respective police officers will take pictures and fill in a document called ‘hikiwatashisho’ which is a preliminary license to carry the sword. You will then need to register the sword with the authority for cultural affairs at the next available date. They will issue a so called ‘torokusho’, a registration document which will allow you to carry the swords with you in Japan. If you need help with the formalities, contact us.
You do not need any documents stating the rank or anything about the swords, but please make sure what you are importing is a Japanese sword and not a fake made somewhere else. These might simply be judged as weapons and other laws might apply. Please make sure to check the official information by the Japanese customs provided at the time of import. We will not be held liable for the correctness of the information stated here. If you need help importing swords to Japan, please contact us.
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