A television programme about Japanese swords brings together three guests: a beloved regional mascot character who owns over a hundred blades, a martial artist and actor who has just purchased a sword from one of Japan's leading contemporary smiths, and...

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Of all the questions Tozando receives from international collectors and iaido practitioners, one comes up more consistently than almost any other: "What is the difference between an iaito and a shinken?" The question seems straightforward. The answer is not —...

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Every Japanese sword has two identities. One lives in the steel — in the jihada, the hamon, the geometry shaped by a swordsmith over days at the forge. The other lives in the mounting — the lacquered scabbard, the wrapped...

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You have found the blade. The price is agreed, the documentation reviewed, and you are ready to purchase. And then the question arrives that every international buyer of Japanese swords eventually faces: how does it actually get from Japan to...

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