About our Products
Here are some of the questions we are most often asked about our products. If you have a question which is not covered here, please feel free to email or give us a call.
Kimono Accessories | Tea Sets | Tea Canisters | Ceramics | Shopping Bags
Kimono Accessories
Q) What are J Style's Kimono Accessories made from?
A) J Style's Kimono hair accessories and jewellery are mostly made from a fabric called chirimen. Chirimen is a textured fabric traditionally made from silk, but now more often manufactured from rayon. The chirimen is printed with traditional designs from kimono. The majority of our accessories are made from chirimen encased in a clear acrylic resin. Some are made from chirimen only so you can see and feel the texture of the fabric.
Q) What is a kimono?
Kimono is the traditional clothing of Japan worn by men, women and children. 'ki' means 'wear' and 'mono' means 'thing'. So it literally means 'thing to wear'. In English the term is often used to refer to the more formal women's style of kimono, usually made of silk. There may be many layers of kimono in a woman's outfit, depending on how formal the situation. For an informal summer festival a girl might wear a 'yukata' which is a simple cotton kimono with just one layer. When Princess Masako married the Japanese Crown Prince, she wore a kimono with 12 silk layers. Kimono designs are often reflective of the seasons. Yukata will often feature images that Japanese people relate with summer; fireworks, bright flowers, watermelons or goldfish. Other kimonos may feature Japanese maple leaves or dragonflies for autumn, cherry or plum blossoms for spring, or snowflakes for winter.
Tea Sets
Q) Why do Japanese tea sets come with sets of 5 cups?
A) In Japanese the number 4 is synonymous with the word for "death". So a gift set with four plates, or a tea set with four cups, symbolising death, may not give the best impression when you hand it over to your Mother-in-Law. In general odd numbers are luckier than even numbers. Any designer will also tell you that odd numbers look better in displays. Groups of three or five objects give a better balance.
Q) How do you attach the bamboo or bamboo-look handles to the teapot?
A) Bamboo handles are not attached to the teapot when shipped. If there is wire inside the handle, thread the wire ends of the handle through the ceramic loops on the top of the teapot. Thread from the inside towards the outside, then simply bend the ends upwards. If it is a solid bamboo handle, slide the rings up towards the middle of the handle. Thread the U part at the ends of the handle through the ceramic loops on the top of the teapot. Some go from inside to out, but others go from outside to in. Sometimes you have to stretch the handle out quite a bit to get them both through. Trying to do them both at the same time makes it a bit easier. Once they are through, slide the loops back down over the ends of the U to secure the handle.
Tea Canisters
Q) Can you wash the washi paper canisters?
A) Washi paper canisters are steel canisters hand-wrapped in Japanese chiyogami paper. The paper is very resiliant and will take a lot of wear and tear from every day handling. However, it is still paper, so you can't wash the canisters up in the sink. Please only store dry products (like tea!) in the tins as the steel will rust if left wet. If your can does get dirty or dusty you can wipe it gently with a lightly dampened cloth. Make sure you dry the can thoroughly if it gets wet on the inside.
Q) What is washi paper?
A) 'Washi' literally means 'Japanese paper' and usually refers to a paper called 'chiyogami'. Chiyogami is produced from the inner bark of the Kozo, or paper mulberry bush. Paper mulberry is a fast growing bush which is grown as an annual crop. This means the paper production is quite sustainable. The fibres of the paper mulberry are very long, and the resulting paper is especially strong and resiliant to wear and tear. It is often used in crafts such as book binding, and covering boxes and canisters because of its strength. The chiyogami is printed with traditional designs which can be very intricate and colourful, sometimes including gold or silver leaf and silk threads.
Ceramics
Q) Are your ceramics dishwasher & microwave safe?
A) None of our ceramic pieces are "certified" dishwasher safe nor microwave safe. However, we are assured by our manufacturers that they are. I have been putting ours through the dishwasher and using them in the microwave for over 9 years now without any problems. If you ever have a customer who says they had a problem, please let us know. We haven't had any complaints yet.
Please note, we do sometimes have designs in teapot or tea set ranges that have gold rims or design elements. Do not place these in the microwave (microwaved tea tastes awful anyway!). We also do not recommend putting teapots in the dishwasher. The shape of a teapot does not allow dishwashers to properly wash inside. At best it will not be cleaned, at worst it will become clogged with residue from the powder.
Q) Where do your ceramics come from?
A) The majority of our ceramics are designed and manufactured in the areas around Sam's home town of Nagoya, including the famous ceramic producing areas of Seto and Gifu. A few of them are from Arita, which is on the island of Kyushu and also well known for it's distinctive ceramic style. Since 2006, some of the Japanese companies we deal with have started to manufacture their designs in China. Please check the product descriptions if you want to be sure whether an item is manufactured in Japan or China.
Q) Are your ceramics safe to eat from?
A) All of our ceramics are regularly tested for lead cadmium content by both Japanese and Australian authorities. AGAL (Australian Government Analytical Laboratories) cerificates are available on request.
Eco Shopping Bags
Q) How many kilos can your shopping bags hold?
A) Other foldable shopping bags often advertise that they can hold up to 30kg (for example), and people keep asking if ours can too. Personally I can't lift 30kg. I've tried to get a 30kg suitcase through the airport, and they wouldn't let me put it on the plane. I like to think a more important question would be, how many times can I put 2 litres of milk, a loaf of bread and some fruit in this shopping bag and comfortably carry it home? I'm still working on the answer to that one. My Kimono Eco Shopping Bag has been used constantly since 2007, and my Kurochiku Eco Shopping bags are used several times a day (gym, kids' swimming lessons, baseball/soccer training and groceries all with the same 2 bags) since 2009.
Q) Can you wash your shopping bags?
A) Yes. We recommend a cold wash and line dry. Remove the metal chain before washing. The colours won't run, so just throw them in with everything else.
Q) Are the bags difficult to fold up?
A) No! You don't even have to fold them. It looks neater if you do, but if you don't mind wrinkles, just stuff them into their little bags. The Kimono Eco Shopping Bags are a little easier to stuff and even if you do an amazingly bad job, the purse has a zip closure to hold it all in.
All about our shopping bags
We have three kinds of shopping bags.
1) Kimono Eco Shopping Bags are 33cm x 40cm rectangular bags. The bag itself is a plain colour (black, brown, burgundy, navy etc) and the handles are made from cotton printed in kimono designs. The bag folds up (or screws up) into a 10cm purse with a zip closure that features the same kimono pattern fabric. This bag is great to keep in your handbag. It folds up really small, and it doesn't matter how bad you are at folding because you can just stuff it in and zip it up. It's great for impromptu shopping and perfect for travelling. I've dragged mine around for years now. It's been around Europe and Japan several times, and it gets regular work outs at the supermarket. I do find though that for serious grocery shopping, the Kurochiku bags are roomier.
2&3) Kurochiku Eco Shopping Bags come in 2 sizes. (M) is 40x38x13cm. It's a basic rectangle shape with a 13cm gusset. You can fit a lot of groceries in there and the handle is long so it easily goes over your shoulder. The (L) size is 52x34x11cm. The shape of this bag is more rounded so you can fit even more stuff in it. Encourage the checkout operator to really fill it up (I hate it when they seem to use twice as many bags as necessary). The handles have grips sewn into them so it doesn't slip off your shoulder, and there is an internal pocket with a velcro closure. I love this bag for the gym and the kids' swimming lessons, and then it goes back in my handbag for the groceries too. Both of the Kurochiku bags come in a huge range of gorgeous traditional Japanese designs. They fold up into a little mini handbag of their own, and like the Kimono bags, you don't have to be an origami master to get them back in. I pretty much screw mine up in a ball and shove them into the mini bag.
The best thing about all of our shopping bags is they not only look fabulous, but they are practical. If the milk leaks in it, throw it in the washing machine. You can carry them in your handbag or glove box so you don't forget to take them shopping and you actually USE them. I have one of each style in my handbag - product testing of course - and I hardly notice they are in there. Honestly my handbag is not that big, but they just squish in there somewhere under my sunglasses. Whereas I never used those ugly green bulky shoppers, I really do use these bags constantly. And that is the true environmental benefit of them. Just use them, use them, use them. You don't need more and more bags. You just need a few of these and keep on using them for everything.
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