Over the last few weeks, Sara and I have been planning this year’s Japan trip. This year, we will be spending two weeks meeting with the craftsmen we work with. I will also be spending a significant amount of time training with these guys… sharpening, blade polishing, handle replacement and repair, etc. During the time we are in Japan, our store in Venice, CA will be closed and we will not be shipping out any orders. However, you can still place orders online. All orders placed within the two weeks we are gone will ship on the Monday after we return.
This year, we will be leaving Los Angeles on September 17, 2011 and returning on October 2, 2011. Our store will close from September 16, 2011 and will reopen on October 3, 2011. All orders received on September 15, 2011 before 2pm PDT will ship before we leave. All orders placed on September 15, 2011 after 2pm PDT until October 3, 2011 will ship on October 3, 2011.
While in Japan, we do our best to still make ourselves available to our customers. We will have internet access for the majority of the trip and will be answering e-mails while we are there. We also have Skype if you feel more comfortable with that. We may not always pick up phone calls, but we will do our best to call back if we can. Here is our contact information while we are gone:
Last year, we did our best to take lots of pictures and update our blog as much as we could. This year, we intend to do the same. However, I will also try to shoot much more video this year… hopefully covering some cool sharpening techniques and knife skills.
Over the course of the two weeks we are there, we will be traveling to Tokyo, Sanjo (Nigata), and Sakai (Osaka). We will be spending time with craftsmen in various fields- blacksmithing, sharpening, handle making, etc.- as well as some chefs and other non-knife-related artists.
We thank you in advance for your understanding. If you have any questions or if there is anything we can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Jonathan Broida
Author