Anyone try a Kiseru with Kizami Tobacco

Anyone try a Kiseru Pipe with Kizami Tobacco? I have been wanting to try this Japanese Pipe Tobacco Kizami Koiki cut. Sadly it’s a bitch to get :frowning: Due to the PACT act I believe… http://kiseru-pipe.com/en/content/11-kizami-tobacco

I had a look at some beautiful pipes in the museum in Tokyo, which inspired me to do some initial research. However, like anything else actually made in Japan, they are fiendishly expensive. I decided to spend my money on noodles and sake instead.

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I had some of the tobacco it is shredded so fine and burns fast. quite tasty too. It is rather expensive and I no longer have a source. I got mine at http://www.medwakh.com/ I don’t know why he stopped carring it I used to buy thuoc lao tobacco there also .   

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Nice thanks Shaman ! I been wanting to try it as well. I also have a fascination with Japanese culture,history

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JakartaBoy lol I hear ya’

I’ve been wanting to try it.  As has been said the tobacco seems impossible to find.

786 I’ve wanted to try it for some time now, in fact just a couple weeks ago I was at the same site mentioned by @basement_shaman looking to buy some and was sad that they stopped carrying it. I’ve been learning Japanese for a while but I’m still illiterate (unless it’s in roumaji) so finding it has been an insurmountable challenge (for now).

Yeah :frowning: I want it so bad… :((

The site looks SUPER shady, but here’s what I dug up. http://2-world.com/index.php?main\_page=product\_info&products\_id=71&language=en

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thanks, Hitsuzen. Looks to cost about $14 for 10 grams plus whatever the wire transfer bank fee is. Think I’ll pass, tempting as it is.

Oh good god, do NOT order from them. Here’s a couple “testimonials”. From “New York, USA” “At first , I used to buy cigarette off the street thinking how expensive cause I’ve never had an idea of ordering cigarette from Japan and I found out of this site. Then cigarette arrived safely ! It was the same “Marlboro light menthol”, but the Japanese Marlboro light menthol and the American Marlboro light menthol realized that It was entirely different in taste!! It is saved and is the best! ! Thank you.” From “USA CA” “I have already ordered many times, but I never had to pay for the tax! Where I’m living right now they sell $7-$8 per box. So 2 cartons for about 10,000yen makes that 500yen per box!! I am advantageous and am smart above all. After all the Japanese cigarette is good.” From “USA Pennsylvania” “I used to think that it is illegal to send cigarettes until now but I guess not. Everytime I go back to Japan I buy cigarettes at duty-free shop. I used to think more I smoke it off more I felt lonely. Though I come here and was used by a local cigarette considerably, after all a things of Japan is good.” They take bank transfers, but not credit cards. In their FAQs page, they offer to basically buy and send you anything, for a small “commission”, which remains unspecified until you actually order. Shady? Probably illegal.

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786  That’s about typical; I’ve dealt with many an outfit like this in the past.

The key is, first, to order larger quantities.  At ninety grams the price is around 6.86 for each ten gram box, which includes shipping but not the mystery fee.  At this point, had I the spare ducats, I would email them and wrest that information from them.  If they don’t reveal, I don’t purchase.

EMS is standard with many overseas shippers; it’s not like China which actually has a subsidized shipping deal from–get this–our own postal service.  That’s why so many Chinese places offer the “e-packet shipping” which is super-cheap.  American businesses in China have to use more conventional means, which means that $hipping is one of your biggest costs when buying direct from East Asia.

So wisdom is to order a sufficient quantity in order to offset the giant shipping costs.

Assuming that everything is really above-board, cu$tom$ is your next big hurdle.  They don’t check anywhere close to every package entering the US–that would be physically impossible–so it’s the small-fish-school principle: some of us will get eaten, but many more will escape unscathed.  That is, unless you as a consumer or the business involved has been flagged by customs; then your package WILL be seized and examined.  I imagine that the PACT Act would kick in at this point and they will send you a nice letter saying you will never get your things.  The best case scenario if the package is seized would be that they will offer to cut you a deal involving you paying six hundred dollars or so for your package; you then have the right to sue Customs in Federal court for the return of your money, minus any court costs incurred by Customs (!).

The long and short of it is, unless you have a customs agent working on your behalf, anything you order is at risk.  It’s just a question of whether you find that risk acceptable when compared to how much you want the items.  If I were still able to work I would have gone for it and reported back to the forum; my loss would be a pittance compared to some other losses I have had trying to obtain foreign goods.