193. I was told I would not be able to buy Yojiya….

(this is kaki shibu brushes from Koyudo)

Hi Everyone, 

Yesterday, I wrote about Yakusugi handle. 

Today, I was at Hakuhodo and found that Kokutan (ebony ) brushes were displayed. 

Yojiya also has kokutan brushes and some are popular and less expensive than Hakuhodo. 

——

I will write about Yojiya today. 

Yojiya used to have a shop in Shibuya, and it was easy for me to go there and buy brushes. 

But, they closed shops except for ones at the airports and sell only at Kyoto. 

When I received orders from my clients, I made it a rule to buy at their web shop 

I don’ buy them much, though.

The other day when I bought brushes online, I received a long email from Yojiya.

What it says is, in short, 

‘You seem to purchase brushes as a non-user and might be selling them to other people.’

‘We decided not to sell you our brushes.’

I was at cafe and drinking  a favorite iced coffee. One of my happy moments in life.

The moment I read the email, my small happiness was gone, and I began to read it thoroughly. 

I don’t buy them often, maybe every four months or even six months. 

And each time I only buy 10,000 yen or so.

Apparently, I am not a big buyer, and I understand I don’t give any trouble to them. 

(but would a big buy cause a big issue to them ?)

I called the shop outside a cafe and asked for an explanation.

A person in charge just repeated the email content.

After 10 minutes or so,

I came to think it was a waste of time, and asked her to send my request to her boss, eventually to the CEO.

Well, believe me, it is a small company not like Toyota, so it is ok to ask CEO to call me LOL.

I haven’t received any call yet….

————

In Japan, it says that some lies work better in a certain situation,

嘘も方便。Uso mo houben.

Rather than saying things too straightforward, a small lie sometimes works better.

Not necessary a lie , but they could have explained to me more nicely.

——

Well…about a lie,

In Japan we say ‘red’ lie, while in Western countries say ‘white’ lie.

Why does a lie has a color ?

I did some research, 

More than 1000 years ago, in Japan,

one punishment to people who lied was to put 12 mochi ( a rice cake with sweat beans ) into a criminal’s mouth. It was a red cake.

Time has passed, but we still use this word ‘red’ lie.

真っ赤な嘘　Makkana uso.

And nowadays we call it a ‘red’ lie if it is ‘clearly’ a lie.

From Kokutan to Yojiya to ‘red’ lie.

I think this blog is not going anywhere LOL.

Thank you for reading!

Toshiya