Care & Returns
Your whisk is a living thing. A good chasen lasts a few months with care: rest it on a whisk stand to keep its shape, rinse gently in warm water (no soap), never press it hard against the bottom of the bowl, and let it dry fully so it doesn't mold.
Returns: unused items within 30 days, posted back at your cost. Breakage on arrival: write within 7 days with photographs; there is nothing to post back unless we ask. The details are below.
Care by material
| What it is | How to clean it | How long it lasts |
|---|---|---|
| Bamboo whisk (chasen) | Soak about 1 minute before use. Rinse in warm water only — never soap, never a dishwasher. Dry head down on a whisk stand, or stand it head down with the handle up | A few months with daily use |
| Bamboo scoop (chashaku) | Wipe dry. Do not wash or soak | Years, unless it is soaked |
| Ceramic bowl (chawan) | Hand wash in warm water. No dishwasher. Avoid sudden temperature change | Indefinitely, if it is not dropped |
| Tin sifter (furui) | Do not wash it. Wipe it with a dry cloth; the canister rusts if it gets wet | Indefinitely |
| Resin caddy (natsume) | Dry soft cloth only. No water, no detergent | Years. Keep out of direct sun |
| Lacquered ware | Dry soft cloth only. Keep away from heat, damp and sun | Generations, treated properly |
| Incense | Nothing to clean. Store sealed, away from heat and damp | The scent fades in an open box within months |
Returns and breakage
| Situation | What to do | Window |
|---|---|---|
| Unused and unopened | Write to hello@shoptomari.com | 30 days |
| Arrived broken | Write to hello@shoptomari.com within 7 days of delivery with three photographs. Keep the box and the pieces for 30 days. We send a replacement or a refund at no cost; nothing to post back unless we ask | Within 7 days of delivery |
| Wrong item sent | Send a photograph. We put it right at our cost | As soon as you can |
| Used, and you changed your mind | Write to us anyway. We would rather talk than have a rule about it | — |
| Whisk has worn out | That is not a fault. A chasen is a consumable and lasts A few months | — |
If something arrives broken
Write to hello@shoptomari.com within 7 days of delivery, with your order number and three photographs: the broken piece, the inside of the box, and the outside of the box with the shipping label showing. For orders over US$50, a short video of the parcel and what was inside helps us resolve it faster, if you are able to take one.
Please keep the box, the packing and the broken pieces for 30 days. If your parcel went by Express (EMS), Japan Post’s insurance requires the parcel to be kept as it arrived and reported to your local post office, and we will guide you through it.
Every piece is photographed before it is packed, and we check your photographs against ours. Once the damage is confirmed, we send a replacement or a refund, whichever you prefer, at no cost to you. You do not need to post anything back unless we ask.
Tomari (とまり) is an old word for a mooring — the place a boat ties up for the night. A bowl of tea is meant to be the same: a few minutes to put the day down. You do not need to know the rules to begin.
Who chose this
I choose everything here by hand, in Japan. I practice tea rather than simply selling the tools for it — I am not a tea master and I do not claim to be. I am a practitioner, which mostly means I have ruined enough bad whisks to know what a good one feels like in the first second of holding it.
Nothing is drop-shipped and nothing passes through a third warehouse. I pack each order in Tokyo and post it from Japan, ceramics double-boxed by hand. If something arrives broken, write within 7 days with photographs of the piece and the box, and I send a replacement or a refund; there is nothing to post back unless I ask. Who writes and chooses all this, and the longer version of why this shop exists.