It is to me, and it would need to be straightened to do the polishing correctly. Since the major warps were unfairly installed (if I’m reading the damage correctly, of course), and since with Japanese blades you can pin down the time and place of manufacture, even the individual smith, by looking in to the polished steel – it feels like the right thing to do.
It can be a risky operation, since you never know when metal fatigue will cause a blade with a long history of flexing to snap, but I was able to coax it through and it is mostly straight now, just a couple minor adjustments left.
