Hello from Japan!

[tokyo_penguin]

Hello, I am a US expat (grew up in the Boston area) living in Japan near Tokyo. I started making soap last spring and love it so much!
This forum has been an invaluable resource and the daily new posts email I get are one of the very few emails I actually open and read. So thank you so much to all the helpful people here!!

If there are any other soapers here in Japan please send me a message I would love to get to know you and also get some questions answered like why are ingredients so expensive here?? Especially fragrance oils?? I am so jealous of people in countries like the US who have access to so many wonderful and affordable fragrances

If anyone has any advice or tips on suppliers I am all ears. For now, I buy most EO's from iHerb and buy FO's in South Korea since my family lives there and I visit a couple times a year.

Anyways, nice to meet you and I will try to become an active user here as I am generally not an active posting type of person... Thank you and as they say in Japan, yoroshiku onegaishimasu! (roughly translates to "please take care of me")

 

[Meena]

Hello! Fellow Bostonian, here. Welcome, welcome!

 

[Donee']

I am a complete Japanophile - I adore it - when i am rich and famous I shall come and visit Japan and we can make soap together.
It could be a while but watch this space....................

 

[shunt2011]

Hello and welcome! One reason everything is so expensive is it has to be freighted in more than likely. That seems to be the theme for many in other countries. Which is sad.

 

[lsg]

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

 

[Donee']

My absolute FAVOURITE country (apart from Alaska) in the entire world.
Only want to see another two countries and those are above.
WELLLLLLCOOOOOOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

 

[Relle]

Welcome .

 

[midnightsoaper]

Welcome!

 

[IrishLass]

Welcome tokyo_penguin! I grew up 60 miles south of Boston.


IrishLass

 

[Jararie]

My dream place to visit is Japan in a few years I hope to have enough saved to travel the country for a month I always think it would be interesting to see what kind of molds you can find for soap embeds in Japan.

 

[sarasvati]

Hello and welcome! I am a Japanese soaper (originally from Kamakura) living in California.

I have never shopped for soap materials in Japan but I can imagine that those are expensive there.

Do you live close to a COSTCO store by any chance? At least, they must have decent prices for olive oil and coconut oil.

I would also check OK (https://ok-corporation.jp/), Donki (http://www.donki.com/) and 100 yen shops. I found some cute silicon molds that are quite cheap at Daiso out here in Southern California and I would imagine that they have those there in Japan, too.

If you live in Tokyo or its vicinity, you might want to visit some areas where there are a lot of wholesale stores or small local stores that specialize in products from certain regions around the world. For example, you might be able to find some local independent stores that carry products from Africa where you might find shea butter or red palm oil as red palm oil is used a lot in African cooking.

There are some websites such as [https://aromaoil.ocnk.net/], [https://jfish.jp/category/274.html], [http://www.orangeflower.jp/] and [https://kawachiya-foods.com/] but afterall, maybe it's cheaper to order the materials from U.S.-based websites, have them shipped to your family or friends's home and ask them to send them to you in Japan.

Best wishes〜

 

[jules92207]

Welcome!!!

 

[Martha]

Welcome! My daughter is in love with all things Japanese. She’s applying to a summer program there. Fingers crossed..Maybe she can pack soap supplies in her suitcase.

 

[tokyo_penguin]

I am a complete Japanophile - I adore it - when i am rich and famous I shall come and visit Japan and we can make soap together.
It could be a while but watch this space....................

You don't have to be rich and famous to visit Japan!

Welcome tokyo_penguin! I grew up 60 miles south of Boston.


IrishLass

Wow! Whereabouts? I spent my kindergarten/elementary school years in Weymouth and Marshfield

My dream place to visit is Japan in a few years I hope to have enough saved to travel the country for a month I always think it would be interesting to see what kind of molds you can find for soap embeds in Japan.

Yes I hope you can!! Japan was my dream place since middle school and now I am living here! And you honestly don't need a huge budget to travel in japan I think. But of course it depends on what you want to do/see
100 yen shops like Daiso and Seria have lots of super cute silicon molds! ^^

Hello and welcome! I am a Japanese soaper (originally from Kamakura) living in California.

I have never shopped for soap materials in Japan but I can imagine that those are expensive there.

Do you live close to a COSTCO store by any chance? At least, they must have decent prices for olive oil and coconut oil.

I would also check OK (https://ok-corporation.jp/), Donki (http://www.donki.com/) and 100 yen shops. I found some cute silicon molds that are quite cheap at Daiso out here in Southern California and I would imagine that they have those there in Japan, too.

If you live in Tokyo or its vicinity, you might want to visit some areas where there are a lot of wholesale stores or small local stores that specialize in products from certain regions around the world. For example, you might be able to find some local independent stores that carry products from Africa where you might find shea butter or red palm oil as red palm oil is used a lot in African cooking.

There are some websites such as [https://aromaoil.ocnk.net/], [https://jfish.jp/category/274.html], [http://www.orangeflower.jp/] and [https://kawachiya-foods.com/] but afterall, maybe it's cheaper to order the materials from U.S.-based websites, have them shipped to your family or friends's home and ask them to send them to you in Japan.

Best wishes〜

Hello! Thank you so much for your detailed reply and helpful links!! Like 80% of my soaping materials (bowls, spatulas, etc) are from Daiso ^^
I didn't know about African specialty stores, I will check that out! I have been using orangeflower but some materials are literally 10+ times more expensive than other countries :/
I live in Kanagawa now and still haven't been to Kamakura... I will go there soon!!

Welcome! My daughter is in love with all things Japanese. She’s applying to a summer program there. Fingers crossed..Maybe she can pack soap supplies in her suitcase.

Thank you! I hope your daughter is able to attend the summer program!!
Haha that would be nice!


Thank you so much for the warm welcome everyone!!

 

[IrishLass]

Wow! Whereabouts? I spent my kindergarten/elementary school years in Weymouth and Marshfield

New Bedford, N. Dartmouth and Swansea. We moved around a bit, but we stayed within that general area in MA until I was 15. My grandma always said mom had gypsy feet. When I was 15 she moved us 3000 miles away to the southwestern US, which is where I've lived ever since. I guess I must've inherited my dad's lead feet instead of my mom's gypsy feet. lol


IrishLass

 

[hungryhawaiian]

My absolute FAVOURITE country (apart from Alaska) in the entire world.
Only want to see another two countries and those are above.
WELLLLLLCOOOOOOMEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Alaska I’m from Hawaii, living in California, and work summers in Alaska! I go up for the salmon season. It is absolutely gorgeous in Alaska! I dream about it all year long until I’m there and get to live it for a few salmon infested months...