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ofuro for 2 in capetown

The clients visited our warehouse in Chiba in 2014 together with their interior designer.
We had several exchanges of mails as their renovation was being implemented.
And the result is a luxuriously well proportioned ofuro we are extremely proud of!

The spacious interior with 2 removable benches looks like gold as the spotless quarter-sawn hinoki returns the light with warm reflections. Can you imagine it filled with steamy hot water?
I am sure that in heaven there is an ofuro like this, as a prize for the chosen ones…!

here below are the specs and the photo with the accessories:

material: natural Japanese knotless hinoki bathtub (quartersawn)
sizes: L1600mm x W800mm x H650mm (ext. dim.) 550mm (deep)
details: wooden dowels, oil finish apron, iron brand at top right
optons: hinoki wood internal seats W400mm
accessories: hinoki wood stool (330x220x300H), sawara wood ladle with handle (180D 290H), sawara wood large bucket（230D　120H）

show your passion for bathing on the Japanese TV!

2016.7.19 UPDATE- (see at the end of the post)

Dear japan-lovers,

I just sent this email below to the mailing list. I am copying here the text for those of you who are not in the list.

How are you? It has been few months since the last mailing.

Things have been very busy and I did not manage yet to start the “bartok yukata kimonos” collection. Bear with me until september, I will provide updates in the homepage news section so keep an eye on it!

Anyway, this mail is about a different topic: I have been contacted by a TV program producer.

(see the original mail here below)

Are you interested in showing off your love for japan on the japanese TV?

Please send me a video (if you prefer you can send it directly to Japan Footage Inc. at the details below).

If you are selected… YES!

You will be invited to Japan as a guest in the TV program!

Check the details in the email here below and/or contact me for any question.

Best//

iacopo~

_________________________________________________________________________

Hello Iacopo,

I’m Senna Tateyama, from Japan Footage Inc.

Now I’m looking for Japanophiles who want to appear on a Japanese TV program “Who wants to come to Japan 世界ニッポン行きたい人応援団”.

(This is the official website: http://www.tv-tokyo.co.jp/nipponikitaihito/ Unfortunately, only Japanese version is available now.

Facebook page is here: https://www.facebook.com/whowantstocometojapangp/ This one is written in English for the most part.)

I saw your home page, and was really impressed with your Hinoki Wood Japanese bathtub !

It makes me want to ask you a favor. If you know any other non-Japanese Hinoki bathtub lover like you or Hinoki bathtub international networks, could you introduce them to us?

Now we are looking for people who have never been to Japan, but with a strong passion to Japanese traditional culture.

The process of participating to our TV program is,

1. Send us a short video which shows your passion to Hinoki bathtub

2. Selection ( we have a selection meeting every week about who to invite to Japan)

3. The chosen challenger will be invited to Japan to have a special experience in the area of their interests

These are some episodes from our program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybpQvx4ibyE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKqXTBfUiw8

We would like to feature overseas Hinoki bathtub enthusiasts.

(Please note that: We can’t guarantee that the video will be used in this program. The producers of this program will choose some out of many.)

If you’re interested in this project and have any questions about it, please contact me.

We would appreciate it if you could support and cooperate with us!

Best regards,

Senna

□■━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Senna Tateyama

Japan Footage Inc.

Visual Contents Division

8F, Ichigo Shiba-Koen Bldg. 3-12-1, Shiba, Minato-Ku, Tokyo, 105-0014 Japan

Tel：81-3-3452-2711

Fax: 81-3-3452-2722

E-mail: tateyama<at~~mark>jfkinc.jp

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━■□

This is an update about the participation to the japanese TV program.
I spoke with the TV producer: the clause “has never been to japan” is not a sine-qua-non.

What is important to qualify for the participation to the program is the “degree of your passion for japan”. (This was difficult to translate, I hope you can get the message).

They are looking for people with a “deeper interest for japan” than the average tourist.

For instace: if your dream is to become a japanese carpenter, or if you would like to become the apprentice of a pottery maker to learn his the secrets…

They are looking for people with a clear purpose rather than a “general interest about japan”

Please contact Tateyama-san and describe your passion, they will evaluate if you meet the criteria.

Best//

iacopo

ofuro+table for Hamburg

The clients of this ofuro actually visited our showroom in Chiba in november of last year.
With german-like precision every piece of their plan come together as per scheduled and we are now ready to ship this fragrant bathtub and accessories!

We had to supply a smaller drain socket to comply with the local plumbing regulations (limitation on maximum flow capacity). Also, we raised the base under the tub as required by the plumber to make the connection.

The tub has the Bartok design brand both on front and back (freestanding layout) and is equipped with floor grating, stool, buckets and a step for easy access/egress from the tub.

On the client`s requests we also provided a plank that can be used as a table while taking a tub. Because the clients are enthusiastic fan of Japan, I am sure they read books on this table, will use it to place their sake cups, maybe even will have their sushi-dinner while soaking in the ofuro!

We also provided a coordinated vanity counter (photo here below). They will complement it with faucet and sink: I am looking forward to the pictures of the actual installation!

finally, here are the specs :

material: natural Japanese Hinoki AB grade bathtub (quarter sawn) t35mm
sizes: L1400mm x W750 x H695mm (ext. dim.) – depth 590mm
details: copper apron, wood dowels. Iron brand on both sides
options:

Hinoki wood tray 830x350x21
Hinoki wood floor grate panel (1400x450xH55mm) 1pc, (350x350xH120mm) 1pc
Complimentary hygrometer
Asnaro wood stool (330x220x300H):
Sawara wood ladle with handle (180D 290H)
Sawara wood large bucket（230D 120H）:
Hinoki wood for basin counter 1750x600x t35mm (H70 front)

sketchup Japanese bathhouse

We are planning a modern Japanese bathhouse to be placed in the garden of a victorian terraced house in London.
from-folding-doors

This is just a concept plan, the client`s local architect will deal about permits, design details etc.

It is a simple layout with outside storage, open terrace, lavatory room and bathroom.

I am proposing a “araidashi” pebble floor and a natural trunk as a kind of “daikoku bashira” free standing column at the corner. The walls are in sugi pine siding and the roof in sheet metal

open-window

A shoji-inspired window in 3 panels opens offering to the bather the preferred balance between view and privacy

look-house

The bathroom features a W1350 D 750mm knotless hinoki bathtub with copper apron and wooden dowels at the corner joint

look-tub

Accessories include a 1200 x 1400mm “sunoko” floor duckboard invisibly split in 2 panels, hinoki stool and sawara bucket

vanity

Try to look for “bartokdesign” inside the sketchup 3D warehouse if you wish to navigate the model!

japanese room for italian hotel (3)

We also supplied other construction materials for a tatami room in the spa which is mainly going to be used for massage therapy.

This is the “naguribori” floor have you ever seen it? It creates a great atmosphere and is also very pleasant to step on with bare feet. The design comes from the ancient technique of roughing out wood planks using a mattok like tool to make the planks flat and even.

If needed the floor was then smoothed out with a had plane. But of course, in this case, we chose it for its texture.

The planks are already processed with a tongue and groove matching joint for easy assembly.

We also supplied tatami finished with natural “igusa” straw. Enjoy the sweet aroma of tatami and their slow discolouration from green to light tobacco color. The inside of the tatami is not the traditional thickly packed straw but rather a sandwich of plywood and styrofoam. This is not the most authentic tatami construction but is now used in 95% of tatami rooms in Japan, including temples and heritage buildings. It does not sag over time and prevents the insurgence of mould and insects.

Here is a layout of the tatami room. There is a “correct way” for any layout, so please consult with us by providing the internal dimensions of the room (width x depth) we will make the calculations as the best size for the individual mats.

and here is a selection of the edge fabric (eri). If it was you which color would you have picked?

Finally, we also supplied the fabric to finish the closet doors. We can also supply the finished “fusuma” doors, but in this case, the client decided that they would have more flexibility to make the doors on site. I also provided some recessed handles so they can pick up the design that best matches the other elements of the room. Once the doors are coated with the silk fabric I am sure you will feel like you are in a luxurious ryokan in Kyoto!

Of course I will provide support thru email/skype for a proper choice of materials and detailing.

Fill out the form below to reach us

sawing of massive hinoki lumber

We have 5 tubs on the “production line” and are in the last stages of the bidding for a large supply for a hotel.
It is going to be a hot summer…

Luckily, we are finding beautiful lumber from our suppliers to replenish stock.
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Yesterday we spent almost the full day slicing massive hinoki lumber.
As the market for traditional hinoki products (sushi counters etc.) is quite slump in Japan our grumpiest suppliers are slowly releasing their hidden treasures…
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repairing hinoki floor

2 questions about hinoki flooring:
1) will the fragrance of the wood be gone if i coat it? But how long (in general) will there be a nice fragrance from the planks? Or is it only a few days after install?

2) As the wood is soft, it will dent easily when items drop on it. How do you get rid of the dents?

1) If you coat the wood with urethane you would private if of the fragrance. If you use a stain-type water repellent it will not affect the fragrance. The fragrance lasts for about one year but you will feel also years later if you rub the wood or clean it with a dump cloth.

2) if you drop something heavy it will cause a dent. (Like not only other soft woods, but I would say as every wood flooring.)
After few years you will have several dents but it will be perceived as a natural aging. I know people with pets who actually choose on purpose soft woods because they are warmer at the touch and because the pet`s nails do not
slip. Of course it becomes full of scratches but it does not look bad.

Actually, you can test on one sample by dropping something heavy or something sharp.

If it is a bedroom you will not have many chances to damage the floor.
For your reference, there are 2 main methods to remove a scratch:

a) if it is a deep dent, you can keep a wet towel on the damaged plank for few hours. Apply also a hot iron (to iron clothes) on the towel to make the steam penetrate the wood. This will cause the wood to swell and to push back the compressed area.

b) use masking tape to isolate the damaged plank. Then sand it with an electric sander #80 grits until the scratch disappears, then #120 and finally #400. Otherwise ask a professional repair company. They would infill the scratch while evening the area around.

I hope this answers your questions.

A friend worrying about the plumbing

Everyone asks me how much it would cost total – tub and pluming/set-up work. California is huge (size of Japan), but if the plumber who did the work for your tub is in my area, I could contact them and get a rough estimate. So when someone calls me after seeing the webpage, I could tell how much it would cost for everything. I don’t think there are many people who would just buy a tub…

Thank you for your help. The main point is that a wooden tub does not need plumbing.
The best way is that the builder makes a floor waterproofing sloping towards a floor drain.
Then the ofuro is just left on the floor so that water would drain onto the floor and towards the floor drain!
About the hot water tap is also very simple: it is wall mounted as most of acrylic and hollow bathtubs: it is not attached to the tub itself so the only thing the installer has to worry about is to install the tap high enough.

Again, the tub is like a large bassinet receiving water from the wall and discharging onto the floor. It is that simple!

ofuro for italian hotel (2)

This is the second tub used in the new “fusion spa” of the PALAZZO DI VARIGNANA RESORT & SPA near Bologna (Italy)

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It is rightfully labeled “Onsen grande” (large onsen) and rivals in size with the basins used in japanese hot springs.

Here are the specs:

material: knotless asnaro wood from aomori prefecture

size: 1800x1800x H650 mm / top frame border
option: 2 asnaro wood internal seat (fixed) W400mm
This tub can comfortably sit 4 strangers or 6 friends/family members.

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“Panorama view” of the large internal seat. The planks would be too long and unstable if they were removable so we decided to make them fixed.

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The space between the 2 benches. When used only by one or 2 guests, it is possible to sit lengthwise in the deep area.

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accessories include an Asnaro wood floor mounted spout with internal faucet

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This is the full picture of the spout with other accessories such as hinoki wood traditional stool (300x180x200H) and Sawara wood ladles with handle (te-oke).

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ofuro for italian hotel (1)

We received an order of 2 large ofuros + accessories and construction material (flooring, tatami, shoji doors) for a spa corner inside a large villa converted in Hotel near Bologna (Italy).

A friend running a spa-equipment company (YOU SPA) kindly referred us to the client.

He made the concept design for the spa area with a modern touch. I am looking forward to the pictures of the completed space!

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This is what they call “Onsen piccolo” (small … bathtub).

It is a statuary hinoki bathtub which can fit about two sumo wrestlers!

Here below are the specs:

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material: knotless hinoki from the Kiso Valley (Nagano prefecture), quarter sawn

sizes: 1800x1000x H650 mm with top frame border

option: 2 Hinoki wood internal seat (removable) W400mm

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The drain is tucked in a corner.

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The tub will be also equipped with a wall mounted hinoki spout (see photo below)

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My partner Ikeda-san is very proud of this tub and could not help posing by his new masterpiece. I said “SMILE!” but this was the maximum I could obtain from him… We have been working together 14 years now, but he is unchanged: born in the Kiso valley like all the hinoki we use, our hinoki expert Ikeda-san is made out of stainless steel!

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