Coronavirus COVID-19 - Impact on international Shipping
Update: May 7th, 2020
- We recommend all customers to upgrade the shipping method at checkout if the displayed shipping method is "Japan Post".
- We will email you on or before the announced shipping date if your order cannot ship. We may offer you a paid shipping upgrade if you want your order shipped via one of the few priority services that remains active with one of our carriers (FedEx, UPS and DHL).
- Packages that are longer than 120 cm are subject to additional restrictions so all packages containing weapons longer than 119 cm are more subject to delays than others.
- As of today, we are still able to ship almost normally to:
United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, France, Belgium Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, Singapore, Finland, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Norway, Romania, Mexico, Denmark, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, Philippines, South Korea and Slovakia.
(This is not a guarantee that we will be able to ship, especially items above 120 cm in length, but we do not expect major issues for those destinations). - For other countries, please contact us PRIOR to placing your order or your order might be put on hold for several weeks
- Other orders will be put prepared, packed and stored until one of the 5 carriers we are working with reopens the destination (you will be updated via email).
Side effects and production issues:
The Japanese government has issued a temporary closing order for all schools in Japan, canceled all major events, and put heavy restrictions on flights coming from Korean and China. If KuSakura's products consist of high-end products, the Japanese economy is heavily dependent on the importation from China and so are KuSakura's workshop.The current restrictions have for consequences the slow down of the overall production even for our 100% Made in Japan products.
The shortage of some chemicals causes some manufacture processes to slow down or stop (bleaching process, fabric dyeing, etc.).
The country also suffers from a lack of production capacity due to the fact that an important part of the workforce manufacturing clothes is composed of mothers who have to stay at home and watch over their kids, and because of the relatively old age of some craftsmen who absolutely need to stay away from any risks of contamination.
As a result, we are expecting to suffer from Dogi, Obi, and Hakama shortages.
The situation is already very tight at the workshops and since our craftsmen must take all precautions and avoid coming to work if they suffer any flu-like symptoms, we also expect further delays regarding weapons production.
As you all know, unlike any other companies in our industry, KuSakuraShop has a very well-made system that announces the production time or restocking dates of all products. We cannot guarantee that we have all the elements that would allow us to give you a 100% accurate information, but we can guarantee that we are updating product information every day, weekends included, so it reflects the current situation to the best of our knowledge.
Sanitary risks of products originating from Japan & Financial Situation
The coronavirus is transmitted by one person to another in respiratory droplets. That means the virus can spread when an infected person coughs or sneezes and releases these droplets into the air, where they are either inhaled by others, or can land on other people's mouths or noses if they're near enough generally at a distance of about six feet (1.8 meters).
At the time, it is considered that touching infected surfaces isn't' a major source of transmission, but transmission is possible.
However, given that our packages have a lead time of 3 to 7 days for delivery and that packages are subject to temperature, pressure and hygrometry variations during transportation (especially in cargo) surface transmission in these conditions is considered extremely unlikely.
The number of cases in the general population (outside of the confined boat case) stays very low in Japan. Our team is proceeding very carefully and the vast majority of our staff don't have to travel on crowded trains often.
Two members of our staff are trained medical professionals and worked in medical environment in the past. If any doubt was raised about potential infection in the team, all necessary measures (including full disinfection of our facilities) would be immediately taken.
Despite the very reduced risk of contamination when ordering from KuSakuraShop, we have already seen an important decrease in orders in the past 2 weeks. As an economically strong company is a company with cash reserves, rest assured that we will be able to hold this situation for quite a while. However, this will be at the cost of our side projects, the blog articles, the new product development, and even worse, our charity programs, so please understand that for everything that does not directly concern Budo equipment, things may change in the near future.
Thank you very much for your understanding.