Quality Iaito, Great Service

[maxroach]

Ever wondered where to buy quality gear?

Like many people, I too struggled with choosing a company from which to buy my iaito. That was ten years ago now and I have learned a couple of lessons since then. My sensei recommended a company that made good quality swords but for a price (nosuiaido, AKA The Swordstore). Ouch what a price I paid! Anyway, I love that sword in particular... I call it my old friend.

Sadly, since my initial purchase from Nosuiaido, my students and I have had several problems with their lacking customer service. One of their American Salesmen even went so far as to tell my student that it was tough luck that his tsuka gashira had come loose and that the pits in the blade were from misuse. I even contacted this guy personally on my students' behalf. He told me that my student was just a whiner and should suck it up (in so many words).

Enough of that negativity though. I want to let everybody know that I have found a great company based in Kyoto. Their prices are unbeatable (espessially if you set up a wholesale business account). Furthermore, the sales man with which I do business and refer my students is FANTASTIC. He speaks English very well and all it tates is a call to Japan. He has gone out of his way to go the extra mile for me and my students. Most importantly, the swords people usually pay 800$ for are around 400$ and there are very good entry level handmade iaito starting around 200$. My students appreciate it because it reduces the cost-prohibitiveness (is that a word?)of beginning iaido practice. The company sells all kinds of stuff but I can only attest to the quality of their iaito, Hakamas (espessially the Aikido Hakamas) and their kimono gi tops.

I hope some people out there find this helpful. I have many people asking me where they can get good stuff at a good price... I guess I just figured other people out there might enjoy the heads-up.

[John Lindsey]

I suspect he might be talking about Tozando.com

[maxroach]

Sorry, I guess I forgot... The company is Tozando. They can be found on the beb at tozando.com. Their phone number is listed on their contact page as well as the current time in Japan. If you call the company, ask for Yasumasa San. Even though they answer the phone in Japanese, the operator will understand if you just ask for "Yasumasa San" in English. If you do call do me a favor and tell him Max Sensei refered you (no I'm not on the payroll). Thanks.

Again, sorry for the mix up; I meant to include contact info. I hope it helps. I'm sure that you'll be happy with their gear. Good luck.

Max Roach

[Shimura]

I am also a firm Tozando customer, mainly due to the reasonable prices and utterly fantastic customer service skills. I constantly recieved e-mail updates on my order and had every question I asked answered, with none of that negativity some stores give you. They also threw in, with my last order, a nice color spread of their iaito selections along with a listing of pricing on custom shinkens. Highly recommended and I plan on making another order from them soon.

[SeventhSentinel]

Hmm I took awhile to decide between tozando and swordstore. I ended up with the $599 sword. I chose this because of the customization factor and I heard good things bout swordstore. I had NO probs with swordstore. I.E. I wanted a green saya but there was no pic of the green on swordstore. I filled out the form and chose green. Next day I get a call from the manager saying that the green was really bright and was I sure I wanted that color. I wanted a dark bamboo green so he had me email em a pic of the color I wanted and sure enuf it was a perfect match. Now don't know bout you but I call that service. Maybe the bad saleman got fired? NEway my iaito is well balanced and I have absolutely no complaints. I could've saved bout 100 bux on tozando but I got the customization I wanted and it came with a beautiful embroidered bag to match and a sword care kit. However this is the opinion of a first time buyer with only comparisons of dojo mates iaito from tozando and swordstore. I'm interested tho what was the wait time on your respective iaito I did have to wait a little over a month.

[maxroach]

George,

The wait time of Tozando has varied. Tozando too is capable of complete customization. For example, I have a student with very very specific tastes. The size of his hands requires that completely custom Tsuka, fuchi, gashira, et cetera be made by hand (he wants them in silver) he has waited a couple of months due to the difficulty of making fuchi and gashira with such a large circumference. The blade was also custom made to be larger from ha to mune and a wider deeper bo-hi. The balance and construction of this iaito is so axceptional I can say that I've never seen anything like it. The guy loved it so much he ordered another even more specialized iaito strange huh? He is a serious sword junkie and a great guy.

That being said, I usually get swords from Yasumasa san within three weeks even when there is some customization involved. I have had four students buy swords from the Swordstore and seven swords from Tozando. Of the Swordstore swords there have been four blades and three problems with products and services... seven Tozando blades zero problems. We are a small school so the number of blades we've bought doesn't paint any conclusive pictures but I just wanted to start people thinking and talking about their experiences and companies that they find to be exceptional.

The most dissapointing of the problems was not that they existed, rather how they were handled. He may not be working for the company any longer but this wasn't that long ago and I know that he had been with the company for some time. I do not wish to share his name because I think that it would not be productive.

I have to run down to the dojo. I hope this helps to clarify wait times and other issues that have come up. Have a wonderful day. If you are ever in Utah, stop by our dojo (s). Utah Aikikai and Yama Oroshi Iaido Dojo. We're on the web if you want to check us out. yamaoroshi.com or utahaiki.com

Take Care,

Max Roach

[SeventhSentinel]

Interesting info. I'm in the market for another iaito too now that I know they can do all the customization and with the good reviews I think I'll try tozando. Can't hurt right?

[Maro]

Originally posted by SeventhSentinel
Interesting info. I'm in the market for another iaito too now that I know they can do all the customization and with the good reviews I think I'll try tozando. Can't hurt right?

Go for it - I know 5 people who have ordered through Tozando . All standard size stufff is usually within a week . Mine was more custom so It took a whil - mainly due to the christmas rush. I had regular email correspondence with the lady in customer services so was appraised at all times.

Exceptional workmanship as well