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One specific issue with some Japanese is that they sometimes feel (justified or not) that their English is lacking, so they just try to avoid having to communicate. Happens also when traveling in Japan. At least that has been my impression.

Bok wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 12, 2021 7:50 am

One specific issue with some Japanese is that they sometimes feel (justified or not) that their English is lacking, so they just try to avoid having to communicate. Happens also when traveling in Japan. At least that has been my impression.

Thanks for mentioning that. My English is not perfect either, but I would much rather accept "lossy communication" than no communication at all. That being said, the messages I received from them were in very adequate English. I was not under the impression that this may be an issue, but who knows.

Obviously, communicating in a foreign language is a bit more effort, and the additional effort might not always be worth the additional sales.

Seems like anything is possible in pandemic times.

Weird, I made three teaware orders from him in the last year or so and never had any issue with communication. Even if I just asked about some teaware he replied within a day.

I bought a Kyusu from them over eBay on 1st January (new year, new teapot), It was shipped immediately at the first working day on 4th Jan.
So at least somebody is working there

smx wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 12, 2021 4:09 pm

I bought a Kyusu from them over eBay on 1st January (new year, new teapot), It was shipped immediately at the first working day on 4th Jan.
So at least somebody is working there

Thanks, good to know. In my case there was a bit of written communication involved as some items were listed on eBay, others were on the website, and I wanted to avoid having two separate shipments. I also was told about about items that were not listed yet on either store. I was receiving help and attention and felt I was close to finalizing a purchase, I did not expect the switch to radio silence.

I have the issue with Hojo currently..
Waiting for his PayPal invoice since a few days

But that seems kind of normal?

smx wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 12, 2021 4:41 pm

I have the issue with Hojo currently..
Waiting for his PayPal invoice since a few days

But that seems kind of normal?

Yes, it may take a bit of time. Sometimes, a friendly reminder just to make sure your email has not ended up in the proverbial spam folder may help...

Hi there,

been a while I posted on this forum (when the site opened to be exact). I just made an order from Tokoname without any problems. Though I didn't ask anything special, just picked the kyusu I liked and sent the mail. I thought they wouldn't do single purchases anymore because the site says at the bottom "catalog for wholesale". But that's not the case. And it's not like I bought an expensive item, just a simple ~3500 Yen kyusu.

I wonder if there are more companies with such catalogs that sell to foreigners. Only one I found was tuhan.to but I suppose that's wholesale only, never tried though.

I think Asako’s website needs to be updated on the master list. The listed website closed in the spring, https://isobe016.stores.jp/ is the one currently used.

Quentin wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 26, 2021 8:22 am

I think Asako’s website needs to be updated on the master list. The listed website closed in the spring, https://isobe016.stores.jp/ is the one currently used.

Thank you the new link is now updated. Much appreciated.

I've reached out to Artistic Nippon through Instagram because the inquiry form is giving me 404 errors and his email isn't available to view either. Do any of you have his email on hand? I'll have to ask him about products not listed on the website, which could be exciting! Kind of like a secret menu.

Nova02 wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 26, 2021 6:31 pm

I've reached out to Artistic Nippon through Instagram because the inquiry form is giving me 404 errors and his email isn't available to view either. Do any of you have his email on hand? I'll have to ask him about products not listed on the website, which could be exciting! Kind of like a secret menu.

Pmed you. Also admins- maybe move this to artistic nippon thread?

Can anyone recommend a Japanese proxy buying service that worked well for them for teaware/delicate items? I've found some really cool Yoshinori Izumi (Kyō-yaki topic) stuff on Hanada but the shop says they're not shipping internationally due to Covid-19, and another section says they are not accepting foreign credit cards, so not sure what to read between the lines. My guess is they just don't want to deal with int'l shipping at all. (The sake cup is also available on Artistic Nippon, btw, but only 1 piece and the price is +20%.)

BTW, the way Japanese prices work amazes me, e.g. in this series (but it's similar with others in other shops):
sake cup (pretty small) : $192
food bowl (much larger): $77
tea bowl/chawan (just a little bit higher than the food bowl): $958(!)
sake pouring vessel (same size as tea bowl but with spout and more complex): $239

I am sure there's more to it. Maybe the cultural expectation is that tea bowls are of much higher quality, so take more effort and maybe failed attempts. But I still have problems accepting that a few matcha bowls = a car .

teatray wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 28, 2021 11:25 pm

Can anyone recommend a Japanese proxy buying service that worked well for them for teaware/delicate items? I've found some really cool Yoshinori Izumi (Kyō-yaki topic) stuff on Hanada but the shop says they're not shipping internationally due to Covid-19, and another section says they are not accepting foreign credit cards, so not sure what to read between the lines. My guess is they just don't want to deal with int'l shipping at all. (The sake cup is also available on Artistic Nippon, btw, but only 1 piece and the price is +20%.)

BTW, the way Japanese prices work amazes me, e.g. in this series (but it's similar with others in other shops):
sake cup (pretty small) : $192
food bowl (much larger): $77
tea bowl/chawan (just a little bit higher than the food bowl): $958(!)
sake pouring vessel (same size as tea bowl but with spout and more complex): $239

I am sure there's more to it. Maybe the cultural expectation is that tea bowls are of much higher quality, so take more effort and maybe failed attempts. But I still have problems accepting that a few matcha bowls = a car .

I have used FromJapan and Buyee both with great success. Way too much stuff ordered and never a broken piece. It depends on how the seller packs it though, as they will often just put the senders box in a larger box with more padding. It means expensive shipping though, since size is usually more important than weight. Last kyusu I had come in cost me roughly $45 USD to ship EMS.

I actually made a topic about the wild pricing on tea tools as it confuses me too. The consensus was due to cultural traditions, especially chawan are very pricey. High expectations.

Edit: I use FromJapan for ordering from websites, as its very easy to navigate, punch in the link for what you want and they will buy it for you. Sometimes you will need to input extra info. Buyee for Yahoo because their Yahoo search is integrated very well. Mercari too. It’s a little clunky to find Yahoo auctions on FJ. When I did use FJ for Yahoo, I would find the items on Buyee and bid on FJ. Mainly because I had stuff in the FJ warehouse and wanted to consolidate. Plus I bought so much I got a small discount on shipping