At long last, my iaito has finally arrived. After careful consideration about length, style and prompt delivery, I took the advice of my sensei and fellow students to order my custom sword from Tozando of Japan. So convinced was I that I had made the right choice that I eagerly recruited a fellow student, interested in ordering his own iaito, to join in and save on shipping costs. My decision was further justified when our order confirmation gave us a 4-week delivery. Hurrah!

That was back in January.

Fast forward to mid-March when not an additional word had come from Tozando and we were a little curious about the status of order. Not until we sent repeated emails did Tozando confirm that, due to an overwhelming amount of pending orders, ours was delayed. No revised delivery date. No apologies. This process would repeat itself again in May when, only after our prompting, they finally promised an early June delivery — 14 weeks after the original promise date. Now, I hate to spend my time bad-mouthing a company on my blog but, quite frankly Tozando deserves it. I don't have any proof but I don't wonder if our order, coming from overseas, wasn't given a second-class status.

Despite this ordeal (ordeal at least to me), I now have my iaito and I am very happy with quality, the look and the balance. Now I just need to not stab myself in the neck.