Takeda will increase the prices.
I have heard that
The first one on August 6 : Itachi (weasel) and Canadian squirrel
The second : I will check.
I will write more when I know the details,
Thank you!
Toshiya
]]>Cle de Peau Beaute Rehausseur D'eclat (Highlighting Powder)
Will be renewed on July 21
https://store.fudejapan.com/products/cle-de-peau-beaute-rehausseur-declat?_pos=2&_psq=cle&_ss=e&_v=1.0
]]>
I got an order for Qusavi.
Qusavi's handles are made of Imari Nabeshima, Japanese traditional painting.
Nabeshima ware is upmarket porcelain manufactured in kilns controlled directly by the domain of Nabeshima in the 17th to the 19th centuries. Arita and Imari are known as Japan's representative production centers for porcelain.
]]>G5533 was replaced by G5533N.
'N' usually means 'mixed with synthetic' for Hakuhodo products.
We still have the stock of G5533 grey squirrel 100% which clients prefer.
Please check !
Thanks!
Toshiya
]]>
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Hi Everyone,
As you might know, Japan closed the country for 300 years, from the 17th century to the 19th.
Japan will close the country again.
But this time, for one month.
It seems that people get back to normal life these days.
So I was hoping to see more tourists in 2022, and I am still hoping so.
Prime Minster Kishida made an announcement yesterday to close the country for one month.
Prime Minister Kishida san.
Though he was raised in Tokyo and NY for a while, his father came from Hiroshima and he is representing Hiroshima City as a senator.
He went to the best high school whose graduates occupy Tokyo University.
Yet, he failed the entrance exams for Tokyo University three times.
In Japan, 20% of high school graduates choose to spend one year (or more ) to prepare for a university exam.
We call those students ‘Ronin’ which literally means ‘Samurai with no job.’
Nowadays, ‘Ronin’ means a student who is preparing for an university exam.
Yes, they have a huge pressure.
But I call them ‘ the most spoiled children in the world.’
Does any other country give 18 year-old students one year or two off with money?
It is not really ‘off,’ because they study days and nights but parents pay for a prep school (about 10,000 USD per year for school tuition+ living expenses).
In return, students ‘study’ and ideally pass an exam for a school they want to enter.
I say this because I wasted my parents’ money.
My high school time was my dark age.
I lost my motivation not only to study but also to do other things.
Naturally, I did not go to a university and preferred to do ‘nothing’ by the name of ‘Ronin.’
Kishida san tried to pass Tokyo University three times. And he was not successful.
He ended up with Waseda University that is also a prestigious school.
But, having a father who went to Tokyo University and became a politician, he must have suffered a huge setback.
My case is not as dramatic as his,
but,
when I take a long bath and get relaxed, my ‘dark age’ memory comes back from time to time.
But, you see, this negativity is a great motivation to do things.
I still survive and life goes on.
I suspect Kishida san also lives on his dark age and changes it into a good energy.
I hope ‘closing the country’ will work well in a longer term.
Thank you for reading,
Toshiya
Hi Everyone, I checked the history of brush-making in Japan. It started 1200 years ago at Nara. There are four major brush towns in Japan. The town of Kumano, as you know, produces 80% of brushes in Japan. Hiroshima Prefecture that has both Kumano and Kawajiri ( e.g. Koyomo and Bunshindo), occupies 90% of the market. Do you know the other 10%? The other two are : Nara and Toyohashi Nara is known for its history, temples and deers. I guess many of you have visited Nara. Toyohashi is located near Nagoya or the city of Toyota Car Company. ( the picture : Toyohashi makeup brushes ) These towns have histories of more than several hundred years. Nara brushes started 1200 years ago when one monk visited China and learned brush making. The monk, whose name is Kukai, crossed the sea to China. There were 4 ships but only 2 shipped arrived in China. Kukai, with other students, were planning to stay for 20 years, but for some reason, he came back to Japan with knowledge acquired in China after spending two years. One of them was brush-making. Nara was capital of Japan and the center of the Japanese culture. Brush-making started in Nara. Currently, Nara produces calligraphy brushes, not makeup brushes. ーーーーー When the World War II ended in 1945, the calligraphy was take out of school programs. That was a compulsory study at school before the war. It came back to an elementary school in 1971. The production of calligraphy brushes has dropped significantly. And Many brush companies shifted the focus to makeup brushes. Now Kumano is known for makeup brushes as well as calligraphy/painting. ‘Kumano’ became a brand name for makeup brushes. But the process of making calligraphy/painting brushes are more complex and most craftsmen can make makeup, calligraphy and painting brushes. Thank you for reading! Toshiya |
Online shop https://store.fudejapan.com Limited Products https://store.fudejapan.com/collections/all-limited https://www.pinterest.jp/toshiyafukuma/limited-products-brush-makeup/ Previous newsletters https://fudejapan.com/ |
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Kihitsu started as a sale division or company owned by Koyudo.
Koyudo makes all of Kihitsu brushes and Kihitsu sells those brushes under the Kihitsu brand. (喜筆).
Kihitsu was selling fu-pa and BP series which are the same as Koyudo but not the entire products.
Now Kihitsu stopped selling them, and keeps selling only the inventory left.
Therefore, those are old hairs, and old hairs have better qualities.
For instance, this Saikoho is softer than the current saikoho.
https://store.fudejapan.com/search?q=kihitsu+pace&options%5Bprefix%5D=last
Old Kolinsky is softer than the current one.
https://store.fudejapan.com/search?q=kihitsu+kolinsky&options%5Bprefix%5D=last
Kihitsu BP
https://store.fudejapan.com/search?q=kihitsu+bp&options%5Bprefix%5D=last
Thank you for reading!
Toshiya
]]>
It is Saturday today.
When I take a walk on the weekend, I see many family on the road.
Fathers walk, smiling and holding hands with their daughters.
It reminds me of one TV commercial message.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z931azpmFyo
It is Universal Studio Japan (USJ).
A father says, 'Christmas of USJ. This may be the last chance my daughter comes with me. This is the moment I can give her now, this is the present I can give her now.'
Fathers in Japan, or maybe like the rest of the world, work hard, earn money and raise kids.
But, there are many funny (true) stories here in Japan.
Daughters, maybe at high school, don't talk to their fathers.
'When they carry the laundry of their fathers, they use a chopstick because they don't want to touch fathers' dirty clothes.'
This TV message depicts fathers’ bittersweet feelings toward their daughters, saying,
'When she grows, she prefers to go out with her friends and boyfriends. She will never hold hands with me.'
When I see happy faces of fathers when walking with their daughters, I remember this USJ message.
This message appealed to the market. People have come back to USJ after the long downturn.
Maybe some or many fathers see this and feel they should spend more time with daughters? Or it is only me thinking ?
-----
Chikuhodo told me that they might sell the sets again in December. The sets are almost sold out.
https://store.fudejapan.com/search?q=chikuhodo+kirameki&options%5Bprefix%5D=last
Thank you for reading!
Toshiya
]]>
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Hi Everyone,
Today I want to inform you that
I have new eyeshadow brushes L, M, and F(flat)
(these are L and M)
I already have
L , M and S
https://store.fudejapan.com/collections/fude-japan-1
The new ones' handles are different. The same type of hair : grey squirrel.
They are non-shinning as the current ones are.
It is the same type of handle as the SUQQU brush.
As you know, SUQQU discontinued grey squirrel brushes and switched to synthetic.
I still have SUQQU brushes that I bought.
I have my Fude Japan brushes.
And I have new ones.
The differences are not big.
You can choose brushes among those.
I look forward to receiving your feedback!
F (flat type) is the only one kind.
All brushes are 5000 yen.
Thank you for reading!
Toshiya
]]>Hi Everyone,
Dolce & Gabbana (D&G) has a Iicense contract with Shiseido, and is selling makeup in Japan, but Shiseido will end the contract at the end of 2021.
Some shops will close at the year end while some continue to sell.
They seem to have 2022 January products.
Please see the picture on the left.
Kose will also end a contract with
Laduree
Anna Sui
I received several questions about Laduree.
They will keep selling products till the stock is 0.
They will not have new products, and they have stopped the production.
I talked to Isetan Laduree,
Rose blush is only available
01
04
I imagine some shops will have the stock for a while.
Thank you for reading!
Toshiya
]]>
Hakuhodo has been increasing the number of brushes with synthetic.
Today,
I was informed that
G5529 L grey squirrel is discontinued. M is still available.
G5529 will be sold but mixed with synthetic.
Kokutan eyeshadow T, grey squirrel, will be replaced by squirrel/synthetic mixed.
(the right one in the picture)
I have several of the current Kokutan T with grey squirrel.
Please let me know or order online.
https://store.fudejapan.com/products/hakuhodo-kokutan-eye-shadow-t-grey-squirrel?_pos=3&_sid=5aa22a19a&_ss=r
Thank you!
Toshiya
]]>I called Chanel for several questions today.
I wanted to ask if
Cambon Pressed Powder was available.
https://store.fudejapan.com/products/cn-lc?_pos=1&_psq=chanel%20pow&_ss=e&_v=1.0
I sold all of my stock, and I wondered if it was still available.
It is still available.
Maybe it is because the Cambon powder is limited to stores (four in Tokyo) outside department stores.
Each department store has a customer program which awards long term clients. These four stores are not department stores.
It is being sold at Ginza Six, where I rarely go and buy products.
Unlike other shops, LOL, this shop or a particular person I talk to has been very friendly so I asked a frank question in a friendly manner.
'Why are Chanel sales people so arrogant? Well, 'arrogant' may be too strong, so maybe I rephrased it as 'unfriendly.'
This impression I have was shared by other shop sales people.
They buy Chanel products on holidays and don't speak highly of Chanel.
Anyway, when I receive orders for Chanel, I begin to think which store I should talk to. That is not my usual process.
Shibuya Chanel (3 in Shibuya) are not my favorites so I call other shops, which means I cannot take pictures so I cannot show them to my clients.
This person from Ginza Six understood and agreed to my opinion vaguely.
Chanel sales are 'unfriendly.'
Though she said that the unfriendliness was not a company policy(LOL), she understood that it existed.
She also asked me to introduce Holiday Collections.
Thank you for reading!
Toshiya
]]>
A client of mine informed me of a new Hakuhodo set.
Cherry Blossom of Winter set
Please see this,
https://store.fudejapan.com/products/copy-of-hakuhodo-christmas-set-2021-hekiruri?_pos=1&_sid=2074ec370&_ss=r
It is mostly
goat
eyeshadow
and the lip brush with synthetic.
Please let me know or buy it from a link.
Hakuhodo has a Christmas set now.
https://store.fudejapan.com/products/hakuhodo-christmas-set-2021-hekiruri?_pos=1&_sid=55a8091a2&_ss=r
The summer set
https://store.fudejapan.com/products/hakuhodo-2021-summer-setのコピー?_pos=1&_sid=4b6e74de9&_ss=r
Hakuhodo will finish selling on November 10.
Please let me know if you are interested,
Thank you!
Toshiya
]]>(the picture is Elegance face powder) -12000 yen
Hi Everyone,
A good thing about Takeda is that since it is a small company, they make brushes more handmade.
They are flexible.
You can change a handle and ferrule to a different one from the default.
From black to red, red to black or to maple.
They call it customization.
You can change this
23OV D37 EXS
to red or maple too.
Sometimes it costs extra money, sometimes free.
It depends on whether you need to change a ferrule.
Thank you for reading!
Toshiya
]]>I visited Etvos.
It is relatively a new brand, and appeals skin friendly makeup.
Department stores are still not crowded, but I found THREE and Etvos occupied with customers.
This is a Holiday kit.
https://store.fudejapan.com/products/etvos-2021-holiday-kit?_pos=2&_sid=c16e75325&_ss=r
It is 10800 yen,
Thank you for reading!
Toshiya
]]>
This is a new kokutan eyeshadow brush.
It was sold at events in Singapore , but not at any other shops.
It is called
[Kokutan Eyeshadow brush GS]
5040 yen
It is grey squirrel mixed with synthetic.
The hair shape is similar to that of B004.
From the top,
Kokutan eyeshadow SG (goat/synthetic)
Kokutan SC (tamage)
B004G (goat)
Kokutan eyeshadow GS (grey squirrel/synthetic) > new one
Kokutan eyeshadow ML (grey squirrel/synthetic)
Kokutan eyeshadow MLL (grey squirrel)
Kokutan eyeshadow GS (grey squirrel/synthetic) > new one
I thought it was 100% grey squirrel but it is mixed with synthetic, I was informed by Hakuhodo today.
I know most of you like 100% natural hair.
Hakuhodo told me that this shape is difficult to make with 100% squirrel because it is too soft.
Thank you for reading,
Toshiya
]]>
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I wrote that I would get Kokutan eyeshadow brush made with grey squirrel.
I haven't seen the real brush, but the price is 5280 yen.
All I know are:
The shape B004
The handle Kokutan SG
I will follow up on more details,
Thank you!
Toshiya
]]>
I visited Hakuhodo today.
They told me that
there is Kokutan (ebony) eyeshadow made with grey squirrel.
It has never been sold, they said.
It is not a new product, but not in the market.
Kokutan
and
The shape of hair is the same as B004.
It is grey squirrel.
Please see these pictures of Kokutan SG and B004.
The handle is like SG and the hair shape is like 004.
They will show me the sample, and I will post it to instagram and newsletter.
Thank you!
Toshiya
]]>
Koyudo restocked the Makie saibikoho.
There are 2 sizes - 80,000 and 50,000 yen.
Please take a look,
https://store.fudejapan.com/collections/all-limited/products/kd-ssb
Thank you!
Toshiya
]]>Suqqu brush
Hi Everyone,
I wrote that SUQQU grey squirrel brushes might be discontinued in my previous blog.
Today, I called SUQQU to buy brushes, and was told that Cheek brush was out of stock at that shop.
It cannot be ordered to the factory, so I think it is official now.
Each shop has own stock and that will be the last ones they can sell.
This shop I called did not have Cheek brush but should be ok in other shops.
I believe I can buy them somewhere in Japan for a while.
But SUQQU grey squirrel brushes will be replaced by synthetic in coming months.
Please let me know if you are interested.
Thank you!
Toshiya
]]>Hi Everyone,
It was a three day weekend, and people had three-day off till Monday.
Kumano had a brush festival, not the same as usual. The festival was online.
Maybe some of you bought brushes online.
I was asked by a client of mine why this brush in the picture was so expensive.
It was 400,000 yen or 4000 USD.
It is made with a Yakusugi handle and hair of horse (or deer they say) .
The hair cannot be imported now due to the restriction by the Washington Treaty.
Maybe that is one reason, but doesn’t explain why it is 4000USD …..
So I googled it.
The company is called Bunkodo, which seems to focus more on calligraphy brushes, and sells makeup brushes made by another Kumano brush company.
Bunkodo has a history of more than 100 years.
This is a picture around 1910, so right before the World War I.
They were making brushes in the picture.
The era is called ‘Meiji,’ after the Tokugawa era, Samurai.
By the way, I had a colleague whose name was ‘Tokugawa.’
I asked Tokugawa-san, ‘Is your ancestor a sumurai shogun?’
He said he chose Tokugawa. Well, I cannot choose it….
Then, he explained.
He was a Malaysian and became a Japanese citizen. And he chose it.
And he said that the Tokugawa name was ‘cool.’
I was not able to recognize him as non- Japanese because his Japanese was impeccable.
Back to brushes,
I will do more research and write about Kumano.
Thank you for reading!
Toshiya
]]>
Hi Everyone,
The other day,
I talked about matchmaking.
Some people asked me to talk more.
Not in general but more personal experiences.
I will write more today.
--------------
Before I write about it,
I want to update what I found today first on brushes.
1. Koyudo/Kihitsu informed me that they could make
Canadian squirrel face L in Black Makie (picture on the left)
https://store.fudejapan.com/products/koyudo-canadian-squirrel-makie-face-l-brush?_pos=2&_sid=a3da16484&_ss=r
White Canadian squirrel face in Black Makie
They did not tell me when they would make them, so I will keep you updated.
2. Takeda
Red squirrel puff brush might be discontinued due to a small stock of hair.
(picture on the right)
https://store.fudejapan.com/products/takeda-red-squirrel-puff-brush?_pos=1&_sid=acd8ec598&_ss=r&variant=40134005915798
3. Here is a link for Brush Festival
https://kumanofude-v-fudematsuri.myshopify.com/collections/化粧筆?sort_by=price-descending
(please click 化粧筆)
--------------
I worked for Canon, a Japanese company, and after Canon, I worked for foreign companies.
Naturally, I got connected with people who worked for foreign companies.
There was one guy who worked for a Swedish mobile company.
He was 35 years old, from a good university, an English speaker.
He was earning a little more than 100,000 USD.
He has already begun real estate investment. Maybe Robert Kiyosaki influence, LOL.
I arranged a party, which I invited him to.
As an arranger,
What I need is someone who can entertain other people.
Funny and intelligent person who can take care of many kinds of people.
Some people are shy.
So I need to pay more attention to those people and make sure to have them socialize.
It is my role but I cannot take care of everyone.
I need some more people who can make people laugh.
This guy was funny and intelligent.
Besides, he was able to entertain people around him, and I really appreciated it.
At the end of the party, I asked him, ‘have you met anyone interesting?’
He said, ‘no one’ 'but, thank you, I enjoyed the party!'
That is ok.
Maybe he exchanged an address for Facebook, Instagram or LINE.
This is the SNS era.
It is not my place to push. I am not a marriage adviser.
What I liked about him was to try to amuse other people even though he was not interested (he said).
I mean,
Some people know how much time I spend on arranging an event and inviting interesting people.
For free, LOL.
One guy told me, ‘the party was not fun, and I was not interested in anyone ‘
At least I wanted to hear ‘thank you, Fukuma-san, for your time.’
He said he would like to come to another event, but I did not invite him to any of them since then.
Maybe that is something he or she could show.
"Gratitude"
It may not matter much how good looking or intelligent he or she is, if he or says to me, 'thank you for the party!'
By the way,
I saw a guy and girl exchanging LINE address.
I asked her if she was comfortable with giving him personal information.
She said, ‘It is ok. I will delete it after I go home.’
I leaned it is how SNS works in this century, LOL.
Thank you for reading!
Toshiya
]]>
Hi Everyone,
In Japan, there will be a new Prime Minister in October.
There are 4 candidates:
2women
2 men
I hope Japan will have the first female Prime Minister, which many people look forward to.
We will see.
Speaking of Prime Minister, I liked ‘Love Actually’ Hugh Grant as Prime Minister.
I like his humor, whether it is his own or not. Not straightforward, but subtle. Japanese joke is like that.
There was a conversation in the movie ‘Notting Hill,’ between Hugh and hotel man.
Hugh wanted to explain how stupid his flatmate was.
Hugh
‘Imagine, if you will, the stupidest person you’ve ever met. Are you doing that’
Hotel man
‘Yes, sir, I have him in mind mind.’
Hugh
‘And now double it.’
‘That is the…what I can say, the git that I am living with.’
This is a type of humor I like especially when he says, with a serious face.
——
By the way,
Do you know Hakuhodo doesn’t have ‘saikoho’ goat now?
They used to have it.
The shop manager explained to me, why.
Hair provided to Hakuhodo didn’t meet the standard of Hakuhodo to be saikoho.
It differs from company to company. Some companies have more relaxed standard, I guess.
At that time, Hakuhodo stopped dying hair, which makes hair softer.
No saikoho after that, but there is no dyed hair.
Maybe some of you have saikoho that Hakuhodo made.
There was a number beginning with SJ as well as S.
——
Generally the quality of saikoho goes down in almost all companies.
I think Koyomo has plenty of stock whose standard has been the same.
Thank you for reading!
Toshiya
]]>
Hi Everyone,
Yesterday, I was walking around to get my new ID.
Today, I sat and called several shops.
One of them was Hakuhodo.
The shop manager informed me that
S123 Kolinsky will be out of stock.
It is not today or tomorrow, so no need to rush.
But within some months, it will be not available.
Here is a link or please let me know.
https://store.fudejapan.com/products/hakuhodo-s123?_pos=1&_sid=3920fe20b&_ss=r
G537 black long
Kolinsky
This may be out of stock this month.
https://store.fudejapan.com/products/hh-g537?_pos=3&_sid=da812fc36&_ss=r
G539
Kolinsky
will be discontinued, but there will be
B539, the same brush, except for the logo.
https://store.fudejapan.com/products/hh-g539?_pos=1&_sid=2b7d25235&_ss=r
Another one my client informed me of was the brush in the picture.
I bought this goat brush for sever clients today.
It is 14400 yen.
Please let me know if you are interested.
Lastly,
There will be a Kumano Fude Festival from this weekend.
It is virtual again, and I will share a link for online shop once it is available.
I can buy brushes there.
Thank you for reading,
Toshiya
P.S.
I received good feedback about a matchmaking role I once played.
Thank you !
and I will write more in the future.
(these are eyeshadow brushes of pine squirrel - kihitsu )
2500 yen each)
Hi Everyone,
Today,
I went to a local government office to get an individual number.
It is almost the same as Social Security Number.
The country manages tax payments while we can use it as an ID to get public paper. Good for both, but it benefits the country more.
It is a picture ID so it will function like a driver’s license. That is good.
One thing that impressed me was the government office treated me very well.
I felt like a being a guest to The Ritz-Carlton except that they didn’t serve afternoon tea. They treated me better than some makeup shops, LOL.
Long time ago, JR (Japan Railway) and Japan Post were nationalized.
Now they are privatized.
When JR was nationalized, I felt that I begged them to sell me a ticket.
They did not have the concept of ‘providing good service to a customer. ‘
When I was a kid, I was playing with a cigarette case that a passenger left. It was at a JR train in Hiroshima.
It was a small box, and I was throwing like a juggler. There were very few people on the train.
All of a sudden, an old guy came to me and, without saying anything, he crushed a box and gave it back to me.
He did not say anything, so
I did not understand what happened.
Later, I realized that he thought I was smoking. That is all I can think of.
The incident badly damaged my feeling, and I can remember the scene clearly. Even now.
He wouldn’t have done if I had been an adult. I was a small boy, knowing nothing. At least he could have asked, ‘you don’t smoke, do you?’
I had plenty of good memories from the time I was a boy, but from time to time, this scene comes back to me.
Especially when I took a train in Hiroshima.
It was around 6PM near the Hiroshima station.
---------
I have just remembered one story.
Tommy Lasorda, a great baseball manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He was a pitcher when he played baseball himself.
He pitched to a veteran hitter, with no reason, Lasorda hit the guy by a pitch.
That guy asked Lasorda, ‘I did not do anything bad to you, why did you hit me?’
Lasorda said,
‘You did not sign a autograph when I asked you long time ago’
Memory when you are a child never goes away, doesn't it?
Thank you for reading!
Toshiya
]]>