In 1999 I purchased a sword from Alfred Tan over at japanesesword.com. The sword was a Gunto blade made by Ishido Teruhide. The blade was in good condition for the age but could use a polishing to bring out the grain and hamon. After reading many posts by Christopher Lau, also known as "Motoyasu", and exchanging e-mail I decided that I should send the sword to him for restoration. The rates were agreed to and the sword sent to his home in Canada in 1999.
Some time passed with infrequent e-mails as I expected the process to take some time and Mr. Lau did this for part time work as he was a full-time employ for Nortel at the time. As the months turned into a year I became increasingly nervous. I contacted him on several occasions only to hear that the latest injury has slowed him down, etc. and he was working on the blade. Eventually it became clear that the blade was not being worked on and Mr. Lau refused to answer any questions on its whereabouts, condition, or when it would be returned. Even though he agreed to send the blade in the present condition back it was never done so. I even agreed to pay for shipping, yet nothing was done.
Here is just one of several e-mail exchanges we had:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 17:36:18 -0500 (EST)
From: Christopher Lau
To: Craig H. Rowland
Subject: Re: Teruhide Blade
On Fri, 25 Feb 2000, Craig H. Rowland wrote:
>Mr. Lau,
>
>It's been a long time since I've contacted you about the Teruhide blade I
>sent for polishing last year. Do you have an update for me? I haven't
>heard from you about this in a while and am getting concerned.
Sorry about that, I actually finished it up at the end of January, leaving the
wobbles and things as we had agreed, but unfortunately, with all the waves and
uneveness left it in, I felt that it just looked like crap and didn't feel
right about sending it back in such a condition (ie, it looked pretty much the
same as it came in, waves, wobbles and all, but the edge has been sharpened
and the fingerprints and scratches removed), so I went back and fixed most of
the major problems so the shape actually looks halfway decent now (still some
minor stuff, but nothing that is really jumping out at you anymore- the lines
are smoother, and I minimized that uneven thickness in the spine; balance is
subjective- I think it feels a little better, but still way too heavy for
iaido ).. In my rush to get it refinished and back to you, I cut myself
fairly badly, which you might have read about on the forum a few weeks back
(yes, it was your sword that I was working on).. The stitches are out, but
I'm still a bit stiff, so I probably won't resume work on it for another week
or two.. Again, I apologize that it's so late, but not to worry, I *will*
finish it and get it back to you. Also, there's no extra charge for the more
thorough rework; in hindsight, the sword really needed the work and it's a bit
of a thank-you for putting up with the delay
End Quote
Now, after several years I've written off the blade as simply lost but wanted to let everyone know that Mr. Lau is not an honest individual and should never be trusted with any type of sword restoration work whatsoever. To this date I've never heard word back from him despite repeated attempts. If you know where Mr. Lau is please send me a note so that I can contact him. If you see him posting on this or any other forums keep in mind that he is not an honest individual despite his demeanor and has stolen from others in the past.
Thank you for any help you can provide in locating this individual.
Some time passed with infrequent e-mails as I expected the process to take some time and Mr. Lau did this for part time work as he was a full-time employ for Nortel at the time. As the months turned into a year I became increasingly nervous. I contacted him on several occasions only to hear that the latest injury has slowed him down, etc. and he was working on the blade. Eventually it became clear that the blade was not being worked on and Mr. Lau refused to answer any questions on its whereabouts, condition, or when it would be returned. Even though he agreed to send the blade in the present condition back it was never done so. I even agreed to pay for shipping, yet nothing was done.
Here is just one of several e-mail exchanges we had:
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 17:36:18 -0500 (EST)
From: Christopher Lau
To: Craig H. Rowland
Subject: Re: Teruhide Blade
On Fri, 25 Feb 2000, Craig H. Rowland wrote:
>Mr. Lau,
>
>It's been a long time since I've contacted you about the Teruhide blade I
>sent for polishing last year. Do you have an update for me? I haven't
>heard from you about this in a while and am getting concerned.
Sorry about that, I actually finished it up at the end of January, leaving the
wobbles and things as we had agreed, but unfortunately, with all the waves and
uneveness left it in, I felt that it just looked like crap and didn't feel
right about sending it back in such a condition (ie, it looked pretty much the
same as it came in, waves, wobbles and all, but the edge has been sharpened
and the fingerprints and scratches removed), so I went back and fixed most of
the major problems so the shape actually looks halfway decent now (still some
minor stuff, but nothing that is really jumping out at you anymore- the lines
are smoother, and I minimized that uneven thickness in the spine; balance is
subjective- I think it feels a little better, but still way too heavy for
iaido ).. In my rush to get it refinished and back to you, I cut myself
fairly badly, which you might have read about on the forum a few weeks back
(yes, it was your sword that I was working on).. The stitches are out, but
I'm still a bit stiff, so I probably won't resume work on it for another week
or two.. Again, I apologize that it's so late, but not to worry, I *will*
finish it and get it back to you. Also, there's no extra charge for the more
thorough rework; in hindsight, the sword really needed the work and it's a bit
of a thank-you for putting up with the delay
End Quote
Now, after several years I've written off the blade as simply lost but wanted to let everyone know that Mr. Lau is not an honest individual and should never be trusted with any type of sword restoration work whatsoever. To this date I've never heard word back from him despite repeated attempts. If you know where Mr. Lau is please send me a note so that I can contact him. If you see him posting on this or any other forums keep in mind that he is not an honest individual despite his demeanor and has stolen from others in the past.
Thank you for any help you can provide in locating this individual.
