information about our activities, community, new products, culture etc.
Well, we begged all the lumberyards in our network and could finally obtain a nice lot of high quality asnaro wood.
It should be enough for 3-4 tubs depending on the size.
If you are planning to choose asnaro, I recommend to hurry up…
Yesterday I participated to the memorial service for my wife`s grandmother.
I asked the Buddhist monk and everybody also to pray for Kenji Goto, the japanese journalist murdered by the ISIL in Syria.
Of course I am deeply sorry for the sad epilogue of the story and I feel very sympathetic to his mother, wife and young baby.
But even more, I am sad that the violence and the superstition hit (and maybe this is not by chance) not just an innocent but a symbol of tolerance and progressivism.
Kenji in the video message that left as a testament, conveys very well his passion for his mission as a reporter as well as his dedication for Syria and its people.
I strongly hope that his sacrifice will not become the excuse for new violence and revenges.
I propose to honor his death as well as his message of peace, of forgiveness, of mutual understanding.
I am Kenji.
Addendum: Sorry for borrowing this public space for a private meditation but I really think that Kenji`s blood is very precious and would like to do all I can to ensure his sacrifice was not in vain.
“If someone slaps you on one cheek, offer the other cheek also.”
These are words from the New Testament but this is the bottomline of what what Kenji spoke about.
And every courageous man of any religion should think and act this way.
Just a quick note to say that we do not have good asnaro wood on stock at the moment.
We are embarassed, but we received so many orders in the last 3 months that we run out of stock.
We will try to look for a good supply but the lumber we trust and can recommend is the one cut is Aomori-prefecture (there are restrictions about the number of trees that can be cut).
Since for a bathtub a uniformly and well dried wood is important, we make it dry naturally (no kiln dry) for 12months.
This means probably that we will not be able to make asnaro bathtubs until the end of the year… But I will keep you posted.
Of course, you are welcome to use hinoki of which we have a good stock.
Bye for now!
We are receiving many orders of a single bottle of legendary hinoki aroma oil (extracted from 250+ years old trees) so we decided to upgrade the package.
Of course no extra charge.
Hinoki aroma oil not only makes an original gift, it is a multi-layered piece of culture and becomes unforgettable as it anchors to the memory of the receiver with the power of the five senses.
If you do not own a japanese bath, this essential oil is perfect to enjoy the relaxation and energetic charge of hinoki wood and share these sensations with the people you care about.
Shop page is here –> legendary hinoki aroma oil gift pack
Shizuka ryokan, the iconic japanese ryokan in Australia (near Melbourne) is now on sale!
I almost made up my mind and decided to leave Kobe and move to Australia`s “Spa country” to manage the ryokan while continuing my business on the internet!
Unfortunately I have kids going to school and my wife said no…
So I decided to spread the voice here. Anybody interested?
The property consists of 1.4 hectares of residential zoned land, dotted with local pine trees and featuring landscaped Japanese gardens and stone pathways
The ryokan building with 6 spa guestrooms and a massage treatment room (all with ensuites and courtyard gardens), large lounge and dining space, internal zen stone garden, commercial kitchen, sunny deck, office, reception, laundry, staff accommodation (comprising 2 ensuite bedrooms and lounge / dining room) etc.
Of course there is plenty of room for new extensions and in this case I think that a couple of Bartok design hinoki bathtubs would be just like the icing on the cake…!
The business is well rooted with a “manicured” website shizuka.com.au, top rankings in trip advisor and prestigious awards from the Australian tourism association.
It has been featured on the Australian and the Japanese television and is patronized by famous Australian personalities.
If interested, contact Peter at the email available at the bottom right of this page:
http://shizuka.com.au/contact/location/
This tub is being taken to the packaging company.
We loaded it on the forklift and took it outside…
But could not help it to smile when we saw the 10T truck that come to pick up the tub…
I am sure the ofuro felt like a prince ☆!
We shipped a tub in Canada and it was delayed for over one week because of port workers strike. We were worried and felt sorry for the client but he kindly sent us a picture with the pallet safely arrived.
We never received a claim until now for damage occurred during shipping and from what I can see of the outside of the crate, I hope also in this case the tub will be OK.
Pay attention when opening the crate and do not forger to remove all screws before opening the lid!
I can enjoy the weekend now 🙂
Here below I will display some comments I received by people who received the pocket onsen. Feel free to add your in the comment field below or mail me if you want to be anonymous and/or add a picture.
Got my pocket onsen in the mail today. Packaging is superb! It will make a great Christmas gift.
I should have waited another day before writing! The oil was delivered
yesterday. I was finally able to open it this morning (I was doing home visits
yesterday) and it is luscious!
Thank you so much for contacting me about this project, and please let me know
if you have any other aromatherapy distillations of rare things. I’d love to
be involved.
I can’t wait to get this to my friends – fortunately, I ordered several so I
will have them for my “special stock”!
Best wishes for the holidays for you!
We received a kind visit from South Africa.
The clients are remodeling their new house and are considering using a japanese bathtub and some other interior items such as tatami and shoji screens.
Actually this time the client was visiting the Kansai area (Osaka, Kyoto, Nara) as well, so I had a chance of meeting them at my office in Kobe first, that is where we discussed the technical details.
Then I reached them in Tokyo and escorted them to our workshop in Chiba prefecture.
We do not get the chance of clients visiting us very often, but it is of course very useful to explain the features, details and installation requirements of a japanese bathtub so we hope you will also come to Japan and visit us!
On december 1 and 2, we had some problems to the server and both the home page and the mail service were not accessible for several hours.
We apologize for the inconvenience. If you sent us an email and are not receiving answer, please send it again.
Also, if you doubt that we are not receiving your mails, please CC: to my personal mail
-> iax1213@gmail.com