Wife was stationed in Japan and brought back handmade sharpened katana. How would I go about getting it appraised?

Insurance needs formal appraisal because it’s high end. Plus japan price doesn’t cover cost of getting another should something happen to it.

Don't know if he offers such a service, but I would at least contact this guy to see if he can point you in the right direction

OniHonto

Thank you. I’ll try that route

@DK-Prof can point you in the right direction too.

It should already be papered from Japan and importing (from a vendor) involves getting an export license.  What did it come with.  A few pics will tell what is is or is not.

Unless she paid more than a few thousand, minimum, it's not a "real" blade.  I looked for one from Japan for a while and the market started around 4K.  That was a while ago.   Smiths are restricted in the amount of new work they can do and they are art objects.  Old blades will all be appraised and papered.  You can't just "own" a blade in Japan.  Strict laws about possession.

Good sword appraisers are expensive and harder to find. If your wife just brought it back it probably has a low value if they let her take it out of the country. I would just enjoy it and keep it around as a family heirloom.

This! Last time I looked into getting a real sword commissioned, the price was more like $10,000 for a complete, finished sword with the scabbard. The sword is sent off to another guy that hand makes it after the smith makes the sword. I didn't have that much money, so I never ordered one. Unfortunately, there are not that many real Japanese sword smiths and they are limited by the Japanese government on the number they are allowed to make. If I ever come into some money, I may look back into this and place an order and then wait the 4 to 9 months to get it. Sounds kind of like buying NFA items here in the US.

Remove the handle by pushing out the wooden pegs with a punch and small hammer. Then pull off the handle and send me high definition pictures of the engraving in the steel, this is the swordsmiths signature. I can send this to friends in Japan and they can tell you with 99% accuracy whether it is real or fake and the approximate age. Wrap the steel in leather or fabric, dont touch it with your hands or it will start to rust if made of authentic carbon steel.