Shipping Shamisen overseas

General
#1

Hey peeps,

So my Godly Nagauta sale has finished and we have a buyer on Bachido! The very generous Derik Peterman.

Anyway as it looks like I will be shipping my Shamisen over seas from Japan to the US I was wondering if anyone has any experience with this or suggestions/warnings?

I found a website that shows some instructions for packaging Shamisen here

http://www.e-kameya.com/english/packing.html

does that seem legit?

I’m also going to the post office soon to ask about price but if anyone knows anything about that as well I’d love to know! Thanks guys.

#2

I saw this one from kameya and I think this is the better way to ship a shamisen. With this you ensure than there will be no bad surprises…

I remember than the shipping costs overseas are a bit expensive, but anyway a shamisen its a huge thing so it is normal that the price rises a bit. Hope I helped you :slight_smile:

#3

Hi Nathan,

Yeah, that seems like good advice! :slight_smile: As well as that, make sure the box is well stuffed with foam or such cushioning. The important thing is not to have anything rattle around. As much soft padding around the pieces prevent shock.

I the beginning when the Bachido Store started shipping shamisen, we had some problems of shamisen being broken during shipping. Mostly due to just not enough padding around the thing.

So yeah, wrap it like Kameya suggested, and then stuff the rest of the empty space with more foam to prevent rattling. :slight_smile:

#4

Hello,

Having just received my shamisen from Bachido (thanks!), shipped from Japan to the USA. The packing pictures are fairly close to the way mine came packed. Mine survived nicely, but I have to say the postal service did a number on the box!!

A few things I noticed: wrap the itomaki each separately, then rubberband/tape them together. This helps keep them from rubbing on each other, and having them together makes it harder for them to get lost if the box gets damaged/torn/hole.
They wrapped the sao locking peg pieces heavily, before wrapping the whole sao pieces.
My dou was placed in a brown bag before being wrapped with bubble wrap.
If you are sending other accessories, put them in a separate box together. Bubble wrap the box, bind with rubber bands.

Also the dou was placed in the center of the box, which I would recommend. However, customs definitely opened the box. So don’t depend on your placement in the box to keep things safe.

#5

thanks for the advice guys I will bubble wrap this thing like there is no tomorrow haha

#6

Glad everything arrived safely, Steven! Indeed, it wouldn’t officially be sent by the post office if it wasn’t drop-kicked into the mailbag for fun. :wink:

#7

I have an interesting dilemma: I want to take my shamisen with me overseas. I’m traveling with it (moving home from Japan). I’ve watched Kyle’s video about checking the shamisen case, but upon closer inspection, mine doesn’t look sturdy enough to be checked. My original plan was to waltz into Narita Airport with my shamisen in hand, and dare someone to say something to me. But then I measured it: it’s definitely over the limit by just a bit. I got a good look at the overhead bins the last time I travelled, and it looks like it would fit no problem on international flights, but then I will have a connecting flight to Phoenix on a much smaller plane. Definitely wouldn’t fit in those.

If I want to ship it like this, how can I also get its case to go with it? So its not in a cardboard box? Is it more worth going the shipping route than dealing with evil airlines and their policies? I’m absolutely terrified of what may happen when I get to AZ due to climate change in temps and humidity, so I was hoping to cling to it the whole way, and keep it with me in climate/pressure controlled areas. But shipping separate means it goes on a boat or …? I’m especially paranoid because the back skin is really old, and looks like its about to pop off even without provocation.

Also, I just met my shamisen teacher’s local maintenance guy (Kyle, he says he knows you, his name is Shigeru Matoba, from Tome city, Miyagi) and he says I can ship it over the ocean for about 5,000 yen. Is this true? I thought it would be more expensive than that…

#8

Kyle and others have traveled more with a shamisen, and might have better insights, but a few thoughts:

5000yen seems fairly low, I would guess SAL might be in that range. Which is (in my opinion) a not on your (shamisen’s) life. As I have had lots of things shipped from Japan via SAL and its a mixed bag of unscathed, carnage, or missing items (not insured). Good for cheap/weighty books and the like.

Shipping is all by weight from Japan so I would guess in the 10000-20000yen range for EMS. My pack case and a some accessories cost 6800yen EMS (no shamisen inside).

If you go the route of shipping in its case, then you need to box the entire thing, case and all.
You say the case doesn’t look sturdy enough to check. Not sure in what way you mean, but could you bind it with a bunch of straps to add some reinforcement… or put it in a large duffel bag with lots of padding?

Is it not a mitsuori sao? If it is carry-on the dou with you, ship/check the rest.

#9

Thanks for the help! Yeah, it turns out his estimate of ¥5,000 was in reference to shipping the dou by itself in the event I need a skin replaced. My teacher also pointed out to me that my case does in fact have locks! (I missed them under the rust… ^_^;) So it looks like I’ll be taking yours and Kyle’s advice and checking the shamisen case and sao. I think I could get away with it on the international flight (those planes and their overhead compartments are HUGE…), but there’s a very unlikely chance that the domestic-flight plane would be big enough, and some reluctant flight attendant would probably confront me before boarding.

I’ll probably reinforce the case with some sort of strap or tie just to be sure it stays shut during the inevitable abuse it will receive during load-in and out of the plane. Especially since the inside of the locks could be just as rusty as the outside (this poor thing must have been abused by its previous owner).

Also, I showed Kyle’s video of prepping a shamisen for flight (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5coooyYB3Y) to my teacher. He didn’t laugh at all… I thought the bricks were hilarious.

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