It's been a while since I(Kazuko) posted on the blog...over 4 months now. December was a so-so month for us. It was our first Christmas sale and I think our ad on Google played a big role. Now things were quiet down, so we post some of our products on eBay here and there. eBay is huge...we sold a lot. I know we have good and interesting products, but not enough people are stopping by our store. It's frustrating. Oh well, it takes time and we're not in a hurry...if our customers like our products, that makes us happy.
In February I came down with pneumonia. Last year was rough for us. My dad passed away and I had to go back to Japan to hold funerals, take care of legal side, then earthquake happened. I was in Japan that time. Then we launched our website. In July John's mom passed away and in October my step mom in Japan passed away, another funeral and so on...then Christmas sale. I was down and sick in January and February. Taking product pictures, adjust them, load them, Facebook, putting on eBay, shipping, bookkeeping...etc, etc, on top of our full time jobs!!
I hope to quit my day job and concentrate on our online store soon.
I've been buying so many Kokeshis lately. I'm kind of hooked on them. Did you know Matryoshka originates from kokeshi doll? Kokeshi dolls were first made as a souvenir for guests who come to enjoy hot spring in norther parts of Japan (Tohoku region, where tsunami hit). There are like 11 schools (kinds, strains, whatever you call) of kokeshi dolls. Famous ones are Naruko, Togatta, Yajiro, Kijiyama, Tsuchiyu, Hijiori..and these are called "traditional" kokeshi. There are "creative" or "sosaku" kokeshi, too.
I checked eBay and boy, so many people are selling Kokeshi dolls. Not sure if we can compete, but just looking at their various faces makes me smile.
We are also looking at selling Japanese woodblock prints. We know many people are already selling them. We hope to pick up others don't have.
From this Saturday Japan goes into a "Golden Week" and my cousin and her son are coming to visit us! We are so excited! I have a feeling that this is the first and the last time they come visit us. We want them to experience USA as much as they can.
Well, that's all for now. I will try to post more often (at least try..), but you all know how it goes.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Christmas is really coming...
It is December 15th and we still don't have a Christmas tree.
I was going back and forth between Japan and US since end of October. As I mentioned in my last posting, my stepmother passed away and I had to hold a funeral and a 49th day ceremony for her. My dad passed away in January and I had to do the same. It's a little early but I also held my dad's one year anniversary ceremony at the same time. I came back to the US on the 5th and we left for Las Vegas on 7th for my birthday celebration. We canceled last year's trip and this year we were determined to go...but almost canceled it again due to funeral.
Glad we went though...we received a portable chopstick order from a customer in Kingman, AZ when we were driving around Hoover Dam. We saw a traffic sign which says "Kingman, Arizona" ahead. We thought "wow, somebody in this town just ordered our chopsticks!". What a weird feeling.
We visited Hoover dam a little late around 4pm. When we were leaving we saw black smoke in the sky over lake Mead. We didn't think much of it that time. Next morning TV news said a helicopter crashed around lake Mead. We checked our photos after we returned home and we found a helicopter....and smoke. Thinking people died right there while we were there is not a good feeling.
Now back to business...we are running ads on Google and Facebook now. We are getting more orders and many more "Likes" thanks to our advertisement.
Our Bamboo Charcoal Wind Chime - Sazanami - sold out today. When I visited the place that makes bamboo charcoal - I wasn't sure what to buy. The owner, Mr. Yoshida, ran the company by himself and was very passionate about making bamboo charcoal. It is a long process and not all charcoal make it to the next process. He only uses the best ones. He had interior decoration, lamps, crackers and candy all made with bamboo charcoal. Lamps were very ornate and very expensive. Then I found wind chimes. Some were big and very expensive, but small ones were cute and reasonable. I thought this might sell. So I ordered them along with charcoal sticks.
Now after earthquake and nuclear plant explosion in Fukushima area, he had to leave his house and kiln behind and moved to a temporary residence. He can't make bamboo charcoal there. I don't know what he is doing every day. But today we contacted him for more products. He has stock of different kinds of wind chimes that were made way before the earthquake. These were officially tested and proved to be safe. We ordered quite a bit and he was very happy. We hope he won't lose hope and keeps making one of a kind bamboo charcoal products.
These new wind chimes won't be uploaded until end of January or February. But we will have many more kinds of wind chimes! We just uploaded more pottery jewelry, too. Our website is getting more and more fun to just look at it. We keep ordering new stuff and they come in every month. So check it out often...we run promotions here and there and if you become our loyal customer, you will get more discounts and coupons!!
I was going back and forth between Japan and US since end of October. As I mentioned in my last posting, my stepmother passed away and I had to hold a funeral and a 49th day ceremony for her. My dad passed away in January and I had to do the same. It's a little early but I also held my dad's one year anniversary ceremony at the same time. I came back to the US on the 5th and we left for Las Vegas on 7th for my birthday celebration. We canceled last year's trip and this year we were determined to go...but almost canceled it again due to funeral.
Glad we went though...we received a portable chopstick order from a customer in Kingman, AZ when we were driving around Hoover Dam. We saw a traffic sign which says "Kingman, Arizona" ahead. We thought "wow, somebody in this town just ordered our chopsticks!". What a weird feeling.
We visited Hoover dam a little late around 4pm. When we were leaving we saw black smoke in the sky over lake Mead. We didn't think much of it that time. Next morning TV news said a helicopter crashed around lake Mead. We checked our photos after we returned home and we found a helicopter....and smoke. Thinking people died right there while we were there is not a good feeling.
Now back to business...we are running ads on Google and Facebook now. We are getting more orders and many more "Likes" thanks to our advertisement.
Our Bamboo Charcoal Wind Chime - Sazanami - sold out today. When I visited the place that makes bamboo charcoal - I wasn't sure what to buy. The owner, Mr. Yoshida, ran the company by himself and was very passionate about making bamboo charcoal. It is a long process and not all charcoal make it to the next process. He only uses the best ones. He had interior decoration, lamps, crackers and candy all made with bamboo charcoal. Lamps were very ornate and very expensive. Then I found wind chimes. Some were big and very expensive, but small ones were cute and reasonable. I thought this might sell. So I ordered them along with charcoal sticks.
Now after earthquake and nuclear plant explosion in Fukushima area, he had to leave his house and kiln behind and moved to a temporary residence. He can't make bamboo charcoal there. I don't know what he is doing every day. But today we contacted him for more products. He has stock of different kinds of wind chimes that were made way before the earthquake. These were officially tested and proved to be safe. We ordered quite a bit and he was very happy. We hope he won't lose hope and keeps making one of a kind bamboo charcoal products.
These new wind chimes won't be uploaded until end of January or February. But we will have many more kinds of wind chimes! We just uploaded more pottery jewelry, too. Our website is getting more and more fun to just look at it. We keep ordering new stuff and they come in every month. So check it out often...we run promotions here and there and if you become our loyal customer, you will get more discounts and coupons!!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Christmas is coming...
It's been crazy busy and I don't know where to start.
First my mother-in-law passed away. Two weeks later my step mother passed away and I had to fly back to Japan one day early to hold a wake and funeral for her. John came later and we had to give up visiting a Mashiko pottery fair due to time constraint. We made it to Kyoto Furoshiki dying factory and miniature potter studio.
We will load up videos on you tube (http://www.youtube.com/user/TheJapanStop?feature=mhee) soon.
Now we are back and trying to put things together....took photos of the products, assign SKU #'s, get dims and weights, talk to web designer, looking at ads, talking to a CPA and lawyer.....list goes on.
I'm leaving the day after Thanksgiving to hold more ceremonies for my stepmom and dad in Japan. It will be almost one year since his death and I've decided to combine her 49th ceremony and dad's one year anniversary ceremony. I think they would be happy about that.
So when can we sell and ship stuff?? Maybe this year we will just practice and we will be at a full blast next year.
I want to do some kind of raffles for potential customers. Like...if you click "Like" button on our Facebook(http://www.facebook.com/pages/theJapanStopcom/140399119339407?ref=tn_tnmn)page, you will be automatically enter this raffle and you might win one of our pottery products.
We are thinking about offering 10% off on everything starting the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas day. And if your order total is above $100, free shipping...
OK, I have to stop now and upload more products on our website!
First my mother-in-law passed away. Two weeks later my step mother passed away and I had to fly back to Japan one day early to hold a wake and funeral for her. John came later and we had to give up visiting a Mashiko pottery fair due to time constraint. We made it to Kyoto Furoshiki dying factory and miniature potter studio.
We will load up videos on you tube (http://www.youtube.com/user/TheJapanStop?feature=mhee) soon.
Now we are back and trying to put things together....took photos of the products, assign SKU #'s, get dims and weights, talk to web designer, looking at ads, talking to a CPA and lawyer.....list goes on.
I'm leaving the day after Thanksgiving to hold more ceremonies for my stepmom and dad in Japan. It will be almost one year since his death and I've decided to combine her 49th ceremony and dad's one year anniversary ceremony. I think they would be happy about that.
So when can we sell and ship stuff?? Maybe this year we will just practice and we will be at a full blast next year.
I want to do some kind of raffles for potential customers. Like...if you click "Like" button on our Facebook(http://www.facebook.com/pages/theJapanStopcom/140399119339407?ref=tn_tnmn)page, you will be automatically enter this raffle and you might win one of our pottery products.
We are thinking about offering 10% off on everything starting the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas day. And if your order total is above $100, free shipping...
OK, I have to stop now and upload more products on our website!
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
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!!
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!!
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
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....
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....
Monday, October 3, 2011
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!
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!
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Starting our blog....
Setptember 07, 2011
Minnesota (majority part) had a wonderful weather over the Labor Day weekend. John and I went up North to visit Duluth, Two Harbors and Grand Marais. We found many art galleries and pottery products along the way. We also stopped by a few Antique stores and purchased "Made in Japan" items. They will be up on our store soon...
We plan to visit Mashiko Pottery Fair in Japan in November. Hope to see many more nice pottery works there. We also plan to introduce two exciting new product lines soon. They are nothing new, but no US online stores are selling the same items!!
August 27, 2011
We uploaded more products on our website tonight. These are some of the items Kazuko purchased at Kyoto Gojo Pottery Fair early this month. Still many more products to take pictures and upload....
We also went to the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis to meet with a young potter from Japan. Her name is Rina Hongo. There will be an exhibition on 9/22 at NCC. The exhibition will showcase 7 young Japanese potters including Rina. This is open to the public. There will be more potters coming from Japan for the exhibition. If you live in the area, please stop by!
August 21, 2011
We went to the Japanese Lantern (Obon) Festival at Como Park, St. Paul, MN today. We had a very nice weather here in Minneapolis/St. Paul area today. There are many people who dressed up like Anime characters. it reminds me of Harrajuku or Shibuya area of Japan. We enjoyed traditional festival games, music, dance and street food..evrything was very good.
We posted a few pictures of Lantern Festival on Facebook. Please take a look at them!
www.facebook.com/pages/theJapanStopcom/140399119339407
August 11, 2011
Japan is really hot and humid and there is no escape. I was in Kyoto Gojo pottery fair two days ago. Kyoto is famous for its hot and humid summer and cold and damp winter. I've never perspired that much in my whole life....
I felt customers there were a little more sophisticated than the ones at Arita pottery fair. Arita pottery fair is so much bigger and there are so many shops that sells mass manufactured pottery for Y100 to Y500 each. I was looking for very special all hand made and hand painted ones.
Since it was so hot, I was walking through shops fairly fast and stopped by places that caught my eyes. In the end I found several items I liked. They are all very unique and one of a kind.
I also visited master potters at Iwakuni Kikkougama and Toetsu pottery in Kobe. They were both very energetic and enthusiastic about new works and challenges. I picked up many items from them, too.
We will upload the purchased items on our site very soon. Please visit our Facebook page for pictures and videos!
July 24, 2011
It was a nice day today. We went to the Red Haddox field in Bloomington to see two nephews' baseball game. Coincidentally they played in competing teams. One team lost of course, but it was a great game.
Kazuko hasn't prepared for her Japan trip yet. It was just too nice to stay home to do the packing.
We are trying to set up an USPS shipping method into our website. We offer many items under 1 lbs.and it tends to be costly to ship by FedEx. Please be patient, it should be effective in a few days.
July 13, 2011
Website has been launched and more people are accessing our site. Thank you for your interest!
Kazuko is going to visit Japan early next month and go to the Kyoto Pottery Fair. Kyoto is also famous for its pottery (Kiyomizu-yaki). Other than many local potters, the fair also features many young potters and different pottery from around the nation. It is said over 400 shops will open during the fair. She is looking forward to going, but worried about very humid and hot weather. Kyoto is notorious for its heat and humidity in summer and damp coldness in winter.
She also will visit one of our partnered potters, Ms. Orihashi(Toetsu Pottery) in Kobe. We love her very exquisite pottery. Kazuko will bring Ms. Orihashi’s newest works home!
July 01, 2011
Welcome to The Japan Stop. On our inaugural shopping trip to Japan we visited many interesting places and met a lot of interesting and talented people. One of the places we visited was the Arita Ceramic Fair. Arita is located in the Saga prefecture in the Kyushu region. The Arita Fair is one of the largest ceramic fairs in Japan. There are thousands of pottery stands stretching along nearly 4 miles of main road. We walked, shopped and ate for 2 days and we still didn’t see it all. We did, however, made some new friends. Since we couldn’t buy everything we liked, we selected a handful of artists that really caught our attention with their passion and their skills. We explained that we were looking for potters that we could highlight and sell their products on a website we were starting in the states. All the artists we spoke to were very open to this idea.
We then traveled to the Kutani Pottery Festival in the Ishikawa prefecture. Once again we walked, explored, purchased and made valuable contacts.
In this same trip we stopped by Tsugano Pottery in Fujioka, Tochigi prefecture and Iwakuni Pottery in Yumaguchi prefecture. The Tsugano family we had been corresponding with and Iwakuni Pottery is in Kazuko’s hometown. This pottery trip was truly unforgettable and we are looking forward to our next one.
Subsequent trips have carried us to the far reaches of the country. (The JR Rail pass is a must on these junkets). We have been to Kimono factory for fabrics, many Japanese paper and stationary stores exploring their variety of beautiful products, including wrapping paper, luncheon mats, gift bags, high quality pens and coasters. We have also visited and witnessed the preparation of bamboo charcoal. The owner of the company was a very interesting character, very passionate and particular about his work.
We make a point of not passing a flea market without checking it out. A Japanese flea market is very similar to US flea markets. There are many unusual and interesting items to be found.
Since we will not purchase items without first hand picking them ourselves, we look forward to many interesting journeys to find more high quality Japanese products.
Minnesota (majority part) had a wonderful weather over the Labor Day weekend. John and I went up North to visit Duluth, Two Harbors and Grand Marais. We found many art galleries and pottery products along the way. We also stopped by a few Antique stores and purchased "Made in Japan" items. They will be up on our store soon...
We plan to visit Mashiko Pottery Fair in Japan in November. Hope to see many more nice pottery works there. We also plan to introduce two exciting new product lines soon. They are nothing new, but no US online stores are selling the same items!!
August 27, 2011
We uploaded more products on our website tonight. These are some of the items Kazuko purchased at Kyoto Gojo Pottery Fair early this month. Still many more products to take pictures and upload....
We also went to the Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis to meet with a young potter from Japan. Her name is Rina Hongo. There will be an exhibition on 9/22 at NCC. The exhibition will showcase 7 young Japanese potters including Rina. This is open to the public. There will be more potters coming from Japan for the exhibition. If you live in the area, please stop by!
August 21, 2011
We went to the Japanese Lantern (Obon) Festival at Como Park, St. Paul, MN today. We had a very nice weather here in Minneapolis/St. Paul area today. There are many people who dressed up like Anime characters. it reminds me of Harrajuku or Shibuya area of Japan. We enjoyed traditional festival games, music, dance and street food..evrything was very good.
We posted a few pictures of Lantern Festival on Facebook. Please take a look at them!
www.facebook.com/pages/theJapanStopcom/140399119339407
August 11, 2011
Japan is really hot and humid and there is no escape. I was in Kyoto Gojo pottery fair two days ago. Kyoto is famous for its hot and humid summer and cold and damp winter. I've never perspired that much in my whole life....
I felt customers there were a little more sophisticated than the ones at Arita pottery fair. Arita pottery fair is so much bigger and there are so many shops that sells mass manufactured pottery for Y100 to Y500 each. I was looking for very special all hand made and hand painted ones.
Since it was so hot, I was walking through shops fairly fast and stopped by places that caught my eyes. In the end I found several items I liked. They are all very unique and one of a kind.
I also visited master potters at Iwakuni Kikkougama and Toetsu pottery in Kobe. They were both very energetic and enthusiastic about new works and challenges. I picked up many items from them, too.
We will upload the purchased items on our site very soon. Please visit our Facebook page for pictures and videos!
July 24, 2011
It was a nice day today. We went to the Red Haddox field in Bloomington to see two nephews' baseball game. Coincidentally they played in competing teams. One team lost of course, but it was a great game.
Kazuko hasn't prepared for her Japan trip yet. It was just too nice to stay home to do the packing.
We are trying to set up an USPS shipping method into our website. We offer many items under 1 lbs.and it tends to be costly to ship by FedEx. Please be patient, it should be effective in a few days.
July 13, 2011
Website has been launched and more people are accessing our site. Thank you for your interest!
Kazuko is going to visit Japan early next month and go to the Kyoto Pottery Fair. Kyoto is also famous for its pottery (Kiyomizu-yaki). Other than many local potters, the fair also features many young potters and different pottery from around the nation. It is said over 400 shops will open during the fair. She is looking forward to going, but worried about very humid and hot weather. Kyoto is notorious for its heat and humidity in summer and damp coldness in winter.
She also will visit one of our partnered potters, Ms. Orihashi(Toetsu Pottery) in Kobe. We love her very exquisite pottery. Kazuko will bring Ms. Orihashi’s newest works home!
July 01, 2011
Welcome to The Japan Stop. On our inaugural shopping trip to Japan we visited many interesting places and met a lot of interesting and talented people. One of the places we visited was the Arita Ceramic Fair. Arita is located in the Saga prefecture in the Kyushu region. The Arita Fair is one of the largest ceramic fairs in Japan. There are thousands of pottery stands stretching along nearly 4 miles of main road. We walked, shopped and ate for 2 days and we still didn’t see it all. We did, however, made some new friends. Since we couldn’t buy everything we liked, we selected a handful of artists that really caught our attention with their passion and their skills. We explained that we were looking for potters that we could highlight and sell their products on a website we were starting in the states. All the artists we spoke to were very open to this idea.
We then traveled to the Kutani Pottery Festival in the Ishikawa prefecture. Once again we walked, explored, purchased and made valuable contacts.
In this same trip we stopped by Tsugano Pottery in Fujioka, Tochigi prefecture and Iwakuni Pottery in Yumaguchi prefecture. The Tsugano family we had been corresponding with and Iwakuni Pottery is in Kazuko’s hometown. This pottery trip was truly unforgettable and we are looking forward to our next one.
Subsequent trips have carried us to the far reaches of the country. (The JR Rail pass is a must on these junkets). We have been to Kimono factory for fabrics, many Japanese paper and stationary stores exploring their variety of beautiful products, including wrapping paper, luncheon mats, gift bags, high quality pens and coasters. We have also visited and witnessed the preparation of bamboo charcoal. The owner of the company was a very interesting character, very passionate and particular about his work.
We make a point of not passing a flea market without checking it out. A Japanese flea market is very similar to US flea markets. There are many unusual and interesting items to be found.
Since we will not purchase items without first hand picking them ourselves, we look forward to many interesting journeys to find more high quality Japanese products.
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