On Thu, 04 May 2006 23:02:04 +0900, Rafael Caetano
<rcaetano7@NOSPAMyahoo.com> brought down from the Mount tablets
inscribed:

>
>For Mike, Declan (?) and whoever else: any recommendations for online
>shops that ship pipe tobacco? If they also carry cigarillos it's better,
>but not essential.
>
>I'm looking at these:
>http://www.smokingpipes.com/
>http://store.pipesandcigars.com/pipetobacco.html
>
>Is it likely that I will have to pay duties? I've googled a bit and
>found that there's a 500g allowance at Customs, when you enter to Japan.
>I wonder if the regulations are the same for shipments.

http://www.pipesandcigars.com is the only place I have ordered pipe
tobacco from. I was well pleased with the service and selection.

Be sure to look carefully through the bulk tobacco section. Don't let
the word "bulk" fool you; it just means the tobacco isn't in a branded
package. They'll happily measure out a few ounces for you. I ordered
8oz of four blends and 4oz of two others. I keep them in some
wide-mouth glass jars I picked up at Daiso for 210 each. I also picked
up some adhesive labels at Daiso and used them to label the jars so I
don't forget what is where.

The regulations for shipments are that if Customs happens to check
your package, they'll pack it back up and send it on to you, asking
the mailman to collect the duties on it. Duties run somewhere around 7
or 8 thousand yen per kilo. I've had a couple dozen shipments of
tobacco over the years and have only been popped twice, once last year
and once this year.

(Just finished a bowl of Peter Stokkebye Bulk Luxury Navy Flake in my
favoritest pipe, a Missouri Meerschaum "Patriot").




--

Michael Cash

"Clowns to the left of me and jokers to the right, Mr. Cash.
Clowns and jokers."

                                Prof. Ernest T. Bass
                                Mount Pilot College