I'll start by saying that my iaito cost over $1300 USD. Not only that, but I had to wait 6 months instead of 5 since they sent it back to their workshop after spotting "several imperfections" as they put it in their email. These 2 factors play a big part in forming my criticism of the product. I also had issues with UPS but that is not the fault of Tozando. For their customer service, the Tozando team was great and were very quick to respond.
When I got the iaito, it was packaged very well and came in a nice bag. My iaito had the largest tsuba and it's the only one of its size so I don't fault them too hard for the bag being tight around the tsuba.
First thing I noticed was that the tsuba named "Washi" was not as black as it looked in the pictures and was more of a dark brown and has a kind of antique look. It is starting to grow on me and I quite like the look, but it is still not what was advertised and I think another review had the same problem (check out that one). Part of the tsuba is also slightly bent. I don't know if the picture I took will do it justice but there is a clear bend in it towards the front. It does not affect its performance that much since they aren't meant to fight with, but it did stick out to me.
Another thing I saw was that the mekugi peg was not fit very cleanly on the omote side which sucks because I paid extra for the aged samegawa and the omote side has an unnecessary amount carved out. It was also way off center on the ura side. This was never a problem with my 2021 custom iaito. Next, I noticed the menuki were not centered well and were a misshapen which completely ruins the look since yari are meant to be straight. I'll post pictures, but I can understand why since the ito was extremely tight and well done, however if more care was taken, both can be done. The menuki on the ura side was also moved down lower than it should have been. It seems like this is because the jumonji yari menuki I chose would have gotten in the way of the menuki and they wanted the kabuto to be in the middle of the knots. I understand why they made this compromise so this is just a warning for other buyers. Luckily these menuki do not stick out as much as the sode/naginata menuki that I chose for my iaito in 2021.
I also noticed how the polish on the blade is not as bright as my iaito from 2021. It is noticeably less reflective and I am not sure is this is because of the hamon I chose or if this is due to the craftsmen (My 2021 iaito had a Kanesada hamon and my new one has a Juzumaru hamon). I do not mind this less reflective polish that much, but this problem happened to a friend who got his iaito some time ago and he was very disappointed by how it turned out. There is also some fraying on the ito. It is not that extreme but it was immediately noticeable and can be felt when running your hand over the tsuka. For brand new silk ito, this was underwhelming and is something I would expect of cotton ito with some wear.
I will try to take the best pictures and video I can to convey these issues. Also I can only post 5 pics. Overall I think they delivered a great product and, functionally, it works great so far. However all of these small issues accumulate and when considering I waited an extra month for their workshop to improve on visible imperfections as well as the $1300+ cost, I am sorry to say that I am a bit let down. For that kind of price and that wait time, I really did not expect to see some of these flaws.
I was so praising of Tozando in 2021 when I bought my first iaito. That one was as close as you can get to being perfectly constructed. This time, I expected more. Tozando has soared in popularity between then and now and I suspect that because of the influx of new orders, they are forced to work faster to meet demand. This is only natural for a high quality company that produces handmade goods. This however means that the final product does suffer very slightly in quality. When ordering this iaito last March, I saw some of their first reviews of this product that were below 5 stars. But I was confident that between then and the time I purchased it, they would have stepped up quality assurance. In some ways it seems they may have. I was happy to hear they sent my iaito back for further work after it didn't pass inspection. But the flaws in my product are something I expect them to fix in that time. These flaws are expected of their pre-made iaito that are a quarter of the price and arrive a fraction of the time I waited for mine.
In short, I think Tozando needs to improve their quality assurance for their custom iaito since, according to their return policy, they cannot be returned. I am still supportive of Tozando and I hope this review will encourage them to fix these issues so the price and time match the final product. If Tozando sees this review, I would love to talk about it.
(Everything else about the iaito that was not mentioned in this review was ...
