How can I find a swordsmith?

I am hoping to get in touch with a swordsmith named, Yamamura Tsunahiro, who lives in Kamakura, Japan. I wish to ask him (or others) to make a samurai sword for my collection and was wondering if it is possible and what the cost would be. I am 38 years old, a novice collector of knives and swords, but have long been an admirer of the Samurai sword, way and philosophy of life. Please let me know how to make this happen. Thank you.

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(I think it's read "Masamune sonto kentanji Tsunahiro")
ADDRESS: 13-29 Onarimachi, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa-ken, JAPAN 248-0012
TEL: 0467-22-3962
OPEN: 8am-5pm, CLOSED: Tue. and Wed.

www.swordforum.com has many good resources for a person like yourself. They have a lot of folks who will be more than happy to spend lots of time with you giving tips and such on what, where, and from whom to buy.

Just from experience I can say buying a sword from a Japanese smith will be much, much more expensive than buying one made with the same techniques but from a foreign smith (the forum above will get you to many foreign smiths and maybe also ways to contact other Japanese forges). If you are really keen on lineage and such, a good sword from a Japanese forge will start at around 5,000 USD. There are probably cheaper ones out there; I'm just speaking from experience. I am also talking about real swords, not sword-like-objects you see in tourist shops and in your local mall. A solid Chinese or American made sword in the same fashion will run you around 2,500+ USD.
Good luck! Hope you find something you like!

Next year (May 2008 ) I will go to Japan i.e. Kanazawa, Kyoto and Tokyo and I am looking for swordsmiths in these area's to look at the forging process and perhaps buy one a real katana. Can anybody help me to find swordmiths and how to contact them and to get to them.
I am also looking for swordshops where you can buy real authentic katana with NBTK or NBTHK papers.
Final question: Is the address of Yamamura Tsunahiro still accurate?

Looking forward to any answers
With kind regards,
Marcel

This particular man is the 24th generational descendant of the master swordsmith, Masamune Okazaki. As such, he commands a certain amount of respect and, of course, money for his works.

I guess that you have a lot of money to spend to seek him, as did the previous poster several years ago.