New York, New York!

October 12, 2011

We came back from our NY vacation yesterday.  It was great.
New York was dirty and crowded, but very vibrant. 
I will definitely go back. 

We visited Arts and Antiques store in Manhattan and purchased some Japanese woodblock prints.  We are selling Hiroshige's 53 stations luncheon mats and coasters on our website, so we had to purchase his original print!  We picked the vertical version (horizontal is the one we sell).  It preserves the original colors very well and an excellent condition.  The owner of the store is a Japanese man who's been collecting Ukiyo-e since he was a little boy.  He was a stock dealer at the Japanese bank in Tokyo and retired when he was 40...must have accumulated so much wealth!!  Now he's managing an antique store in NY and it's like his hobby.  What a life.

The other highlight of our trip was to see Ann Curry at the Today's Show.  She was much more than I expected.  She was talking to people during commercials and she was really "talking", not just chatting.  I could see she truly appreciates and enjoys what she does.  She reaches out and touches people's minds.  She said "Good-bye and take care" in Japanese to me.  It was nice.

Now it's time to work...we have to do some marketing for Christmas sale.  We still need to go to Japan and purchase products..we have to take pictures, measures them and put description...work, work, work!!

I used our portable chopsticks today at Cheesecake factory

October 05, 2011

Yes, I took them out from my purse cautiously and assembled them gracefully...
This chopsticks won't make you feel cheap. It is nice and classy. The manufacture of this product makes lacquer ware in Ishikawa, Japan.  Ishikawa is famous for Wajima lacquer ware.  Have you heard the pottery called Kutani?  It's from Ishiwaka, too.

I've visited Ishikawa many times.  I love Kanazawa, which is the capital of Ishikawa prefecture.  It faces Japan sea on east and mountains on west.  Sea food is so fresh and good.

http://thejapanstop.com/japanese-chopsticks/

I uploaded product pictures, descriptions, dimensions, etc...still have to work on SEO stuff. 
Many times I just get so frustrated by the amount of work I have to do. I don't have time...I never have time!!
I should consider myself lucky, though.  I can get to go back to Japan a few times a year and buy what I like.  All the products on our online store were the things I like.  I tried the ball point pen, my kids are using Tsugano coffee cups and sushi trays...the thing is...I have to sell them!!

One of my customers took pictures of pottery she purchased and put it up on their company website.  So cool.
http://www.facebook.com/shopsmokestik
They raised money through their website to donate money to Japanese earthquake and tsunami victims.  Now they are raising money for breast cancer patients.  If you smoke and want to try electronic cigarettes, try their product....

Amazon or eBay....

Christmas season is coming soon and we have to think quickly how to sell our products.  We tried to sell some on eBay since they have a great traffic. We were amazed how much they charge for selling on their site..plus paypal charges on top of eBay commission.  And if the items don't sell, you have to relist them again and they charge again...so we keep losing money.

We can advertise our online store on Google or Facebook for a short period of time and we can also set up a store at Amazon.  I like Amazon myself.  When I'm not looking at bargain, I go to Amazon and look for a specific item.

Oh by the way we have just purchased more vintage Japanese stuff such as chopstick rests, kokeshi dolls, kiriko glasses, famous Kutani potters' and Shoji Hamada's vases.  It's exciting, but also it means more work.  We have to take pictures, enter description and load them up.  I constantly search for new items to sell and don't have time to sleep!