Options for Buying Japanese Denim

[Guest]

edit by TIP: Thanks to Pauken4 for starting this whole thing and helping everyone order direct from rakuten shops.

These shops will ship outside of Japan:

Rakuten:

rebirth

Super-Rag

Earth Market

VARI

More-net

2nd

Hinoya

CPOINT

Buster's Boogie

Take Off

non-Rakuten:

Guitarwolf.shop-pro.jp

Mil-mil.net

Samurai jeans

Fullcount

fabfour.co.jp

pants shop avenue

custom king

The following Rakuten sellers will not ship outside of Japan:

Shooting Gallery

Bears

Blue Beat

Vintage Paradise

D-Stock

Smaclo

OT-EMENS (ot & emotional mens)

FRISBEE

ACCEL-SPUNKY

ＭＡＧＡＺＩＮＥＳ

MIDAS

SILVER BULLET

Original post is by Pauken4

Hi:

I am far from an expert in these matters and gladly await input from the more experienced members of this forum.

As far as I can tell there are a number of options for buying denim from Japan. I have bought several pairs of jeans recently and thought that my experience might be useful to others.

Here goes:

Option 1: Visit Japan. This would clearly be the best way the see all brands and styles, try on, and buy at the best possible price.

Option 2: Have a friend buy them for you and have them carry or send them back. Size and fit will always the be inquestion. Fortunately there is a whole lot of info on this forum about size and fit, but as we all know, one man's skinny is another man's baggy.

Option 3: Rent a friend. There are individuals that are living in Japan that will shop for, buy, have the alterations done, and send you jeans for a commision. The service the Derrick (xcoldricex) offers in excellent! In particular, he can find things not available online and is willing to do the leg work, that would otherwise be impossible. It might be an imposition on a friend to hunt down an obscure shop, buy you jeans, have them hemmed and return in a couple of days to pick them up while on their vacation. The pair of PBJ AI-001's that I bought through Derrick are amazing! I paid on Monday and the jeans arrived hemmed at my door on Thursday.

Option 4: Buy online through a bid service. I have read alot about the bid services provided by Celga and Jun, but have not used them.

www.celga.com

www.bid-service.jp

People on this forum and at SF have all seemed to all have had good experiences. For a commission they will buy items online in Japan, have them shipped locally, then ship them to you in the US. The upcharge can be as much as 30% or more when all is said and done. They can bid on an eBay, Yahoo, or Rakuten auction for you as well as buying at online stores, which give you an option not available elsewhere.

Option 5. Find your jeans outside of Japan. Iron Hearts and Sugar Cane for example can be purchased online from english speaking vendors outside of Japan.

http://historypreservation.com

www.ironheart.co.uk

I'm sure there must be others as well. These are just a couple of brands that I was interested in.

Few shops in the US, deal in Japanese denim. See the thread on Blue in Green in NYC, just opened. I guess there is Denim bar in Los Angeles as well.

If others have sources, please share!

Option 6: Buy them directly from Japan without a middleman. This can be difficult if you do not speak Japanese. Samurai will sell directly to you, and answers email inquiries in English. Studio D'Artisan will not ship outside of Japan. I haven't tried others, but it can't hurt to try.

I bought a pair of black Sugar Canes last week, directly from a Rakuten shop, using the Google translator. I paid only price, plus tax, plus shipping to the US. The total upcharge was around $20. This is probably the most economical way to go, but may not always work and is only limited to what you can find at a Rakuten shop.

Here were my steps.

Update by Ayn

superrag's instructions no longer works, I was helping one of my blog readers with Rakuten and a Google search yielded this link:

http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/base/oversea/

At Super Rag, they have instructions to setting up your own Rakuten ID and account in english.

http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/super-rag/info-en/

I followed the instruction on "how to order". Once my Rakuten ID was set-up. I followed the instructions and order a pair of Sugar Cane Edo- AI's. The total was less than $300. I recieved an email from them the next day in excellent English, informing me that they were out of stock in the size that I had ordered, and offered to help me with anything else.

[minya]

That's so awesome -- thanks for the information. I might have to try it myself.

[digital_denim]

Great info! I've actually ordered stuff via celga from SuperRag...they got some good stuff, albeit not extensive.

I'm gonna give it a go soon.

Edited by digital_denim on May 27, 2006 at 08:06 PM

[ruach]

I think I've said it before in some thread or another, but I might as well mention it again..

A Japanese friend set up an account on http://www.zozo.jp for me to use with her address, etc.

I was able to order things as I would on any site (but in Japanese, of course) with her account and my credit card. The site didn't require a name, address, or expiration date for my card and it suprisingly went through.

A few days later the package was at my friend's house who then sent it to me. Perfect.

Actually, writing this reminded me...

When I first ordered my shirt from Zozo Town, a charge was put onto my card but didn't go all the way through (not sure how to say it exactly.) Eventually the "part-way" charge disappeared and I just realized that I never was actually charged.. My friend told me "I think in Japan we charge later." I ordered it about two weeks ago so I wonder when it will be considered "later."

[xcoldricex]

great info. thanks OP. i'll have to try this when i get back from japan!

the charges don't shop up for awhile- if you're using a debit card, they'll hold the amount charged but they won't actually take it for maybe a week.

[Rockn]

How do you find the different stroes on rakuten that sell jeans?

[Rockn]

Edited by Rockn on May 27, 2006 at 08:25 PM

[digital_denim]

Figured it out. You are prompted to log in once you decide to check out.

Signing up was pretty simple.

Edited by digital_denim on May 27, 2006 at 10:04 PM

[greentea]

this looks very interesting. might use this to order next and save some money.

Julian Red Cali 32x32 *USED* 2 1/2 weeks. 130$ shipped -U.S only.

[url=" http://superfuture.com/city/supertalk/index.cfm?page=topic&topicID=11570"] <a href="http://superfuture.com/city/supertalk/index.cfm?page=topic&topicID=11570" target="_blank">http://superfuture.com/city/supertalk/index.cfm?page=topic&topicID=11570</a>

[digital_denim]

..

Edited by digital_denim on May 27, 2006 at 10:25 PM

[obsessis]

you started the thread off with 'i'm far from an expert' but this is one of the most informative threads that i've seen here, especially dealing with buying japanese denim. i'm surprised it is coming from someone with only 10 posts. I'm sure this thread will go up in the sticky.

[keyko]

Thanks for this gem of information! Co-sign this thread should be stickied.

Alien vs Predator, Freddie vs Jason, Nudie vs A.P.C.

[Pauken4]

Hi:

I've been reading alot of the invaluable info that many of you have posted for about a month now. I'm glad that I had something useful to contribute

As far as finding Rakuten stores with what you are looking for. I just Googled what ever it was that I was interested. For example, after eading about SDA D1177's. I Googled "Studio D1177" And sure enougnh C-Point's Rakuten's listing came up. They are sold out and are the only listing that I could find. If you wanted a pair you'd be out of luck, with this method. Derrick , Coldrice, had been able to find them, by doing in the threnches leg work.

Also, on Juno's site, he has a list of pre-linked Rakuten searches and links to Rakuten jean shops. If do try one of fhis searches and are looking for a different brand, just type it in at the top of the Rakuten page. Lucky for us most brand use English names. PBJ uses three katakana symbols, assuming that you have installed the Windows Japanese language pack, you can copy and paste the characters and do a Google search with them.

Edited by Pauken4 on May 28, 2006 at 03:22 AM

[john11f]

this is great stuff. your efforts are much appreciated! anyone who will try to use this method please post experience. thanks!

[synthi]

Great thread - thanks for sharing the ways. Will definitely try this soon, xcoldricex has sorted things out for now but when he leaves Japan I don't want to go back to the massive fees of Juno!

[horriblyjollyjinx]

use www.j-e-a-n-s.net and rakuten.co.jp to search for jeans. google also works and will find shops that arent on rakuten.

thanks for the page on super-rag, I was going to order from Hinoya who also ship internationally, and this will help. Hinoya unfortunately does not speak english.

I have ordered from Samurai and it works fine, you just need a translator like google's to know how to fill out the forms.

I was thinking of sending an email out to different shops to see who ship outside of Japan, but I've been lazy. Would be great if people shared their knowledge about this.

våran panel tycker att man ska koka pastan i två år

[Pauken4]

I sent a bunch of those emails out and none were ever responded to.

I don't know how easy it would be to order from a non-Rakuten site listed on J-E-A-N-A.net, especially if they don't speak english.

As far as payment options go. There were a whole bunch of choices about various payment schedules. I chose the one as shown in the Super Rag translation, which was paying by one lump sum. I figured that this would be easiest and least likely to draw a flag from the fruad alert system at VISA. The last thing I wanted to deal with was red tape, especially since I didn't speak Japanaese.

[HEWSINATOR]

payment options? As in internet lay-away?

[Pauken4]

Not sure, as it was difficult to translate. But the gist was dividing it up into several smaller charges, rather than one lump sum.

[greentea]

Quote:

Not sure, as it was difficult to translate. But the gist was dividing it up into several smaller charges, rather than one lump sum.

--- Original message by Pauken4 on May 28, 2006 11:28 AM

Hey Pauken, so i created my I.D. You said there is a seperate instructions from Super Rag on how to order from a different online Rakuten shop? How did you order through Earthmarket?

Julian Red Cali 32x32 *USED* 2 1/2 weeks. 130$ shipped -U.S only.

[url=" http://superfuture.com/city/supertalk/index.cfm?page=topic&topicID=11570"] <a href="http://superfuture.com/city/supertalk/index.cfm?page=topic&topicID=11570" target="_blank">http://superfuture.com/city/supertalk/index.cfm?page=topic&topicID=11570</a>

[obsessis]

i don't think he said there are seperate instructions. i think he just put them in the basket, checked out, put in his rakuten ID and the rest was automatic.

[greentea]

man, now its finding out which shops ship internationally...

Julian Red Cali 32x32 *USED* 2 1/2 weeks. 130$ shipped -U.S only.

[url=" http://superfuture.com/city/supertalk/index.cfm?page=topic&topicID=11570"] <a href="http://superfuture.com/city/supertalk/index.cfm?page=topic&topicID=11570" target="_blank">http://superfuture.com/city/supertalk/index.cfm?page=topic&topicID=11570</a>

[Pauken4]

It would be great if everyone could share their successes and failures!

[tweeds]

i can confirm that Blue Farm on rakuten does not do international shipping. maybe minya could edit the thread post to include a list of shops which ship internationally?

[Pauken4]

Out of curiosity, what happened when you placed you order at Blue Farm?

I checked out their info page and it doesn't say that they don't ship internationally.

The reason why I'm curious, is that Super Rag on their home page specifically states that they don't ship internationally. THey also are the ones that have the info in english on how to set up yuor Rakuten account. I emailed them because it was contradictory na di wasa confused. While waiting for my return email, which never came. I decided to just place an order and see what happened. What would be the worst outcome? They would cancel the order? I just gave it a shot and found that they will ship internationally and it was no big deal.

I'd say unless you have already tried to place an order with your Rakuten ID and they cancelled it afterwards, I just go order whatever it is you want and see what happens.

[digital_denim]

I attempted to order from here:

[url="http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=http://www.rakuten.co.jp/butterf/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DSlick%2BP-coat%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN"]http://64.233.179.104/translate_c?hl=en&u=<a href="http://www.rakuten.co.jp/butterf/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DSlick%2BP-coat%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN" target="_blank">http://www.rakuten.co.jp/butterf/&prev=/search%3Fq%3DSlick%2BP-coat%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN</a>

I've ordered a couple of jackets from them (other methods) and have always been happy with their fit and style and prices. Seems like the Japanese H&M.

I have a feeling that they will ship international because on the shipping address it said overseas and then my address.

Here was a weird part of the google translation, not sure what this meant ( I would post the original japanese but it won't seem to work on SF) :

<Note> Because the customer of the customer becomes the below-mentioned shop, case there is an error in order contents the unclear point, to shop “butterfly caught†please inquire directly. Order contents below have reached in the shop of utilization. Please verify.

Edited by digital_denim on May 29, 2006 at 11:55 PM

[tweeds]

I placed my order (with the help of a japanese-speaking friend) on Blue Farm, and i actually completed the order without much hassle. Only that after that i received an email from the people there to request that i cancel my order, as they were unable to ship internationally. They were very nice about it though, apologising so many times i thought they accidentally murdered my cat or something in the process of writing that email to me...

I would certainly suggest to place orders whether or not the shop claims to ship internationally, and wait for the response from their side after completing the transaction.

[digital_denim]

Did you have to cancel the order yourself or did they just do it?

[horriblyjollyjinx]

I want to order from another site, but I'd also like them to answer my emails before I do that.

grr..

våran panel tycker att man ska koka pastan i två år

[Pauken4]

Super Rag cancelled my order for me whan they were out of stock. I would have no idea how to do that yourself..

I'd probably just go ahead and order elsewhere.