Fude Japan (Makeup brushes from Japan)

In Japan, most school have uniforms, As a matter of fact, uniforms are important to students, and some students consider how attractive uniforms are when they select a school to go to. 

Personally, I was not interested in school uniform, and I wore a typical black uniform with a stand-up collar for six years. Actually, the high school I went to did not have any school uniform. However, It was a boys’ school, and they did not care much and most of students wore black ones. 

Years later, I read an essay Haruki Murakami, a novelist,  wrote. I don’t remember it exactly but it was like this :

‘My (Murakami’s) high school had a vote whether students should wear uniform or can wear anything we like.  The result was that we should wear uniform. I was disappointed at the result as we did not choose ‘freedom.’ We did throw away the right of having freedom.’

I am not sure if this is an issue of ‘freedom’ but rather Japanese don’t want to stand out from colleagues. Maybe most people feel comfortable when they belong to a community where they feel ‘same.’

At the same time, freedom is not something that is given free, history proves.

Well, when I see students wearing school uniforms, I recall that essay that Murakami wrote, and I think of ‘freedom’ or ‘culture.’ 

Thank you for reading again,
Toshiya

As I am not big, there are many things I try to improve. It is not as sophisticated as other companies. Sorry ! Though it is not complete, here is how the process works.

How do I get orders?
I am not good at building my web page, lol. I have my site.
https://atomic-temporary-81665234.wpcomstaging.com/
I try to make it easier for you, but I know it is not there, so my web site doesn’t take many orders. Actually, I also have a shop there.
https://fudejapan.wordpress.com/shop/
My friend helps this shop so it is good)

Others include:
email ( I take orders most by email )
instagram direct message ( this works, but I usually ask a client to give me an email address as I can send an invoice quickly ) 
Messenger:  LINE, Viber or Telegram if preferred. I haven’t used these as I might miss a message. I try to be better and attentive!

Then I ask money to be sent : usually paypal or credit card.   I know paypal exchange rates are not good, but I cannot find a better way yet. For a big amount, bank transfer is better, but you need to go to a bank and it takes time…  I have one client from Hong Kong to use  ‘Transferwise.’
https://transferwise.com/ Transferwise’ Remittance is less expensive than bank transfer and quick/easy. The exchange rates are the same as banks. But it seems to be working only in a certain countries.  

On receiving money, I purchase goods :

I work in Shibuya, which has Tokyu, Hikarie, Seibu, so I walk to stores to buy them. It is a good exercise, lol.  I know most of you enjoy shopping,  but not me.  My shopping is quick and simple: just ‘buy,’ The thing is that female customers try makeup, and shop sales people help them so if they are occupied, I wait. Some shops are good and very attentive, but some make me wait forever! So personal relation is very important. Those sales people I know well find me and move quickly, thank you!

For orders of Kumano brushes,  I email them orders and they send me a box. It is a weekly process. 

It is a bit tricky to buy limited products. They limit one or two products per person, SUQQU is notorious for the limitation per person (LOL) so I call different shops from Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, sometimes very small cities. e.g. Okayama 

Sweets : I buy at supermarket. Unless limited products, there is one good shop in my neighbor) 

Then I ship:

I usually use  ‘EMS’ (Express Mail Service ) It is insured up to 20,000 yen for free, . Very quick and reliable. 

My experiences tell me it takes only
three days to four days to Asia
four or five days to North America

It should be quick to Europe, but EU customs are strict and take time so I don’t know exactly how long it takes.. 

The other one is registered mail, which takes a few days more than EMS, but I see European clients prefer this method to EMS. 

I know there are many areas I need to work on, especially for clients. I am really thankful for your patience!
Please feel free to ask me questions. I promise I will write more in details later.

Thank you for reading this again)

Toshiya