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asnaro and hinoki

What is the difference between asnaro and hinoki wood?

* hinoki: white/pinkish, with a delicate lemon scented aroma. more expensive. more delicate (because it is lighter). Japanese are crazy for hinoki because of its “pure” image.

* asnaro: nice honey color. It has a stronger forest aroma. 20% cheaper than hinoki. Easier to maintain (because is slightly tanned and because contains more hinokitiol oil). Popular for export for its color and cost-performance.

Please refer also to our hottub product page

outlet tubs

Are your outlet tubs new or second hand?

Our outlet tubs are brand new, spotless tubs that were wrapped in poliethilene sheet from the very day they were completed.

An outlet tub is about 20% cheaper of a custom order tub with the same size/material.
This does not mean in any way that those tubs are faulty or old.

Most of our outlet tubs originate from 2 cases:

1) The tub was custom ordered and the client either canceled the order or asked for a size/shape modification that required a new start.

2) The tub is made optimizing some material we have in stock, in most cases left over from a larger job. We can define the sizes of the tub based on the length of the material we have – minimizing the loss – as opposed as cutting longer planks as we have to do for a custom order tub.
Secondly, we produce sizes easy to build, in most cases with a width around 75cm to　minimize the necessity of a top frame border.
Lastly, we can work on a free schedule, between one job and the other.

This are the only reasons our outlet tubs are affordable and the core concept of our double-smile system: you are happy, we are happy too …!

ofuro installed in Australia

This is a beautiful picture of a tub we made a couple of years ago.
The scenery from the window is breathtaking!
Also, the owner collected with patience and refined taste many other japanese items (we helped with supplying the lighting fixtures and door knobs) to create an authentic interior.

tears of light in japan

Dear friends concerned about the 3/11 quake in japan, let me share with you a webpage.
It is called　Northeastern Pacific Ocean Earthquake Reconstruction Project – Support page
But I especially like the section called Murmurs, messages, words. which is constantly updated on the top page.
It collects testimonies, messages of encouragements sent by tweeter or other instant messaging services. They are words of hope and heartwarming short poems, tiny but real gems in the mud of the tsunami.
here is the link: http://fukkououen.web.fc2.com/tweet_top.html

Let me translate a few:

Yesterday my 2 year old son wend to the door and started to wear on his shoes. What are you doing? – I asked. I am going to arrest (capture) the earthquake – he answered.

When Chubu Electric Power stated they will transfer a part of the power to the troubled Kanto Electric, my grumpy father who usually keeps the TV, heater and lights of the ground floor on all the day, started without a word to unplug all utilities. I was a little touched seeing him do so.

Japan s great. Also the private sector officials, in trying to help everyone.
I heard that even the Yakuza is giving availability to several trucks to transport goods to the Tohoku region. Until recently I was not proud to be a japanese. But Japan is a great country. I’m honestly impressed. Fellow japanese, let`s do our best!

A child was lining in front of me in the convenience store. He was buying some candies but when he got closer to the register and saw the donation box, slipped his 500 yen inside and went back to the shelf to return the candies. The clerk said “thank you” and his voice was trembling

Working part-time as a waiter. The shop was almost full and when the earthquake happened, we had them evacuate for safety. I started to think “today we had many eat-and-flee customers” when one by one almost all clients come back to pay the bill. The few people who could not return, come back today purposely to set their bill. Japan is a great country!

People who lost everything not only need compassion. They need a reason to smile.
I will add some more later on.

hinoki tub in osaka

Here are some pictures of a tub installed in a private residence near Osaka.
It is actually a new building designed by Torrini.

Here is the powder room with tatami-like vynil tiles.

The bathroom has no-slip warm-touch gres tiles produced by INAX.

The ledge is in marble and the wall upper section is finished in hinoki wainscoting.

Perfect for contemplating the sea-view from the window!

sobbing and smiling over the earthquake

We continue to receive many kind emails of condolence, empathy, encouragement.
Thank you for this heartful thoughts, the japanese need it.

We appreciate your concerns, but do not worry too much, the japanese will stand again.
There is a beatiful and simple okinawan song composed over the second world war and the heavy toll of civil lives. The title is HANA (flower). As it is stated in the refrain:
nakinasai warainasai itsu no hi ka itsu no hi ka hana wo sakasou yo.
Come on, Cry! Come on Laugh! One day, one day, let`s make the flowers bloom.
-Listen here-

update about the Japan earthquake

Dear friends allover the world,

We appreciate all your kind mails and phone calls and feel sorry to make you worry.
Actually we are far from the areas of destruction and did not suffer any damage.
I am also astonished to look at the TV: they look like images from another country as there was no shake or tsunami in western japan.
Due to overloaded telephone lines I was able to contact our warehouse in Chiba only on sunday morning, 36 hours after the quake. The tremblor was strong but fortunately no damage to people and equipment.

Now the nuclear emergency is giving some serious concern.
I cannot be optimistic but there is no point in panicking and I am trying to collect unbiased data and act rationally. I am sharing some thoughts and founds on my facebook profile.

About the work, we are fully operational, all our material is safely stocked inside and we are at your disposal for any question. Actually, we try to keep busy to counteract the hypnotic effect of the round the clock TV news…!

Lastly, let me share with you the link to some donation sites.
These people lost family, property, work. At least let`s return them some hope.

hinoki tub installed in Seattle

We just received the beautiful pictures and kind comment of a client from the West Coast:

Happy New Year! I hope that all is going well for you in Japan.
Here are a few photos of our hinoki tub installed. It is a joy to use!!! Now you need to make a journey to this part of the world to see it in person!
Thank you so much to you, Wada-san, and anyone else who assisted in making or getting it ready to ship. It was a long journey to get it in place and I am very happy we did it.
All my best,
J.

To hear that the client is satisfied and enjoying the tub is is for us the most important thing and is the source of more energy and enthusiasm in continuing our mission of introducing the art of japanese soaking baths Worldwide!

Warm shoulders outlet tub – sold out –

sorry, sold out!
Days are shortening and nights are getting colder…
To warm up the body till the core of the bones, nothing can beat a relaxing bath in hot water.
But if you are looking for an even deeper pleasure…
then you should try a japanese deep soaking tub.

Here we are presenting a lovely outlet tub. Of course it is spotless and brand new. We can offer at a discount price because we used material we had in stock without loss.
The result is a tub compact in size but deeper than the average. Consider that if normally the internal depth for a japanese tub is 550mm, this is 640mm.
You can fill it up and enjoy the hot water around your neck and under your chin…
or you can take advantage of the extra depth as an extra safety, by using it with normal amount of water in situations where you cannot overflow on the floor.

Here are the details:

size: L1200mm x W750mm x H720mm (external
dimensions) 640mm(depth)
quality: knotless natural Asnaro bathtub.