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This card consists almost entirely from material I received from a client I consider like a dear friend.
I especially like the phrase that life is precious and every moment should be lived “consciously”. The more “deliberately” you experience and feel these moments the more fully (= happily) you will enjoy this year and the years to come!
I am dedicating you also two other yo-ji-juku-go idiomatic phrases that contain facets of the same concept:
★ sho-gyou-mu-jou: all things are in flux, nothing is permanent
★ mei-kyo-shi-sui: (be) serene as a polished mirror and still water
Of course you can find the two quotations in form of hinoki wood aroma cards.
Our client R. sent us more pictures of his superb house in Apollo Bay, Victoria.
Apparently it is available as a kind of Air B&B so if you are in the area you may want to experience the house with great open views and the japanese bathtub!
http://www.greatoceanroadholidays.com.au/accommodation/2064
With the help of many advice and insight I received thru friends and comments by mail and thru the google survey I think our aroma cards took the right shape!
This super-seeds the previous posts.
1) for this edition, I will focus on japanese idiomatic expression “yojijukugo”
2) 6 cards make one set (priced as 5 cards so one card is free. All old perks will be upgraded.)
3) 2 sets are available. It is also possible to have 6 cards with the same message. Let me know.
4) To avoid accidents the corners are rounded (5mm radius)
Well, I think this does not need may explanations.
I tried to make a simulation with the yojijukugo idea and I love it!
Please let me know what you think.
I am now considering to prepare 3 sets of aroma cards with mixed messages.
Of course it is possible to get the 3 sets and assort the full collection.
I do not want to make more than 12 because of the costs of productions.
But please let me know if there are some you like or some you do not so I might replace them.
set 1 includes the cards ABCD
set 2 includes the cards EFGH
set 3 includes the cards IJKL
One more update about the aroma cards campaign on indiegogo
I received one more idea on how to use the aroma card + 5 additional very famous yo-ji-juku-go idiomatic phrases:
Here you are!
★Idea of usage: use your aroma card as a bookmark! it is longlasting, pleasant to touch and fragrant. Can you find a better reading companion?
★5 additional yojijukugo to choose from:
以心伝心(read: i-shin-den-shin)
translation: that thinks transmit heart
meaning: “Without any need for words”
一期一会 (read: ichi-go-ichi-e)
translation: one period one meeting
meaning: “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity”
海千山千 (read:umi-sen-yama-sen)
translation: sea 1000(years) mountain 1000(years)
meaning: “sly old dog of much worldly wisdom”
電光石火 (read: den-kō-sek-ka)
translation: electricity light stone fire
meaning: “as fast as lightning”
一日一歩 (read:ichi-nichi-ip-po)
translation: one day one step
meaning: “one step each day”
How about these ones?
I added them at the survey about the aroma cards campaign.
First of all, with 5 days of delay after the beginning of the campaign I finally managed to put together the video!
During the interviews many people mentioned the yo-ji-juku-go (four character idionatic expressions).
I think this actually matches perfectly the concept of the product.
I was considering using some haiku poems (for the “extreme” japan-lovers) and some motivational quotes (for the more pragmatic ones) but the idea of using the yo-ji-juku-go puts the two concepts together!
Idiomatic expressions are like proverbs but have the peculiarity of consisting on 4 ideograms.
No verbs, no conjunctive particles or hiragana characters.
Just 4 concepts or qualities that also create a peculiar sound combination.
Some are more straight forward like:
一石二鳥
(read: i-sseki-ni-cho)
translation: one stone two birds
meaning: “Killing two birds with one stone”
others definitely require an explanation like:
温故知新
(read: on-ko-chi-shin)
translation: warm circumstance know new
meaning: “Learning from the past”
At first the meaning may not be immediate, but once you know the meaning, the idiomatic expressions have a particularly dense meaning and convey the concept powerfully, in full color.
Everybody has their own “favorite yo-ji-juku-go”, like a personal mantra or policy that you can say in your mind to receive that relaxing caress or courage boost you need in your everyday life.
There are many yo-ji-juku-go. I’ve found counts ranging from 5,000 to over 20,000. Wikipedia page about yu-ji-juku-go links to a database of 3,400 of them while Japanese students learn at school some 400-500 fundamental idiomatic expressions.
I will pick up some I like. Feel free to comment if you have more to share!
花鳥風月
(read: ka-cyou-fu-getsu)
translation: flowers birds wind moon
meaning: “The beauties of nature”
十人十色
(read: juu-nin-to-iro)
translation: 10 people 10 colors
meaning: “To each his own”
晴耕雨読
(read: sei-kou-u-doku)
translation: sunny cultivate rain read
meaning: “Living in quiet retirement dividing time between work and intellectual pursuits”
臨機応変
(read: rin-ki-ou-hen)
translation: extraordinary happening listen different
meaning: “Playing it by ear”
Please take a look and if you like it grab yours at half of the price! (on average 1$ per card compared to the 2$ which will be the retail price from 2/2/2017)
Please let me know your opinion about the product currently under development: the “hinoki aroma cards”.
I am interested in hearing which message would be meaningful for you.
If it is a great one, you will be able to choose it once the product is developed in february 2017!
Please particiapate to the survey below.
It is easy!
We are receiving many orders of kadomaru tubs.
Maybe because of the following amazing salespoints? 1) it is reasonable, 2) compact and lightweight 3) it requires only 1 week from order to shipping 4) allows savings on packaging and transportation
I have to apologize as we are not managing to maintain the promise on 2 of the points above (but are working hard to re-establish the best conditions…!)
Here is the “new kadomaru” features: 1) reasonable: no change 2) compact and lightweight: no change 3) it requires only 1 week from order to shipping: sorry, we require 2-3 weeks but will try to contain the delay as much as possible. 4) allows savings on packaging and transportation: same price but better packaging!
(see also this article)
Remember also that you can order a kadomaru tub directly from the shop (note that there are 2 sizes: S and L).
Contact us by email or thru the contact form if you need any customization/options.
It finally happened.
After 14 years of paying the transportation insurance without need to use it we had our first accident.
Of course I am deeply sorry with the client but I confirm that we were able to replace the tub with a pristine one.
Actually we had in the past 2 damage reports about bathroom accessories arriving in smashed cardboard boxes (both in the USA with air mail…) but never experienced a damage to a tub.
Yes, with this first shipping damage experience which brings the accident rate to 1:240 which is about the 0.4%.
The client promptly reported the damage (it must be done within one week) and since it was a kadomaru type we could make a new one in a week time. The tub will be shipped as “replacement item – free of charge” so there are no taxes involved and if any customs inspection is required we will take care of the cost.
But this story has a silver lining, actually 2!
#1 Sturdier box
no doubt the box was mistreated. It was dropped probably more than once and was pierced by a steel pipe. Anyway we could learn the weak-points of the box and changed the packaging method. The new box is much sturdier and prevents the tub from moving inside.
#2 Same cost
The packaging we will be using from now on is actually more expensive. But actually we also find a new service from our forwarder which will enable us to lower the shipping cost. They will use flexibly DHL or UPS according to the space available and provide a better fare which compensates the additional cost of the reinforced box. Therefore we will be able to offer a safer transportation for the same price!
NOTE:
Cardboard boxes are used only for Kadomaru tubs. All custom tubs are shipped in a plywood completely closed crate.
