just heard there is to be an amendment to the silliest part of the law, in that countries other than japan who make swords by 'traditional methods' are also to be exempted. it also specifies that curved swords from any country made by any method prior to 1954 are to be exempted as well, so ww1 & 2 swords will again be OK to collect and deal in.
Law Linky
still written in the obscure ancient legalese dialect, but at least they are showing a bit of an 'oops, we screwed up' attitude.