Alfan Select | Japan Contemporary Crafts & Design Shop

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Terms of Service

Introduction

Thank you for visiting our website. This website at www.alfanselect.com (hereinafter, “Website”) is operated by Alfan Select LLC. Throughout this document, the terms “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Alfan Select LLC. Our Website offers information, tools and services which are intended to serve your shopping and other purposes (hereinafter, collectively “Services”). All Services provided by this Website are subject to the following terms and conditions, including those additional terms and conditions referenced herein under the titles of Privacy Policy and Return Policy (individual links available in Footer area of Website) hereinafter, collectively “Terms of Service”. These Terms of Service apply to all users of the Website, including users who are browsers, customers, vendors, and/or contributors of content.

By accessing or using any part of the Website, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. We reserve the right to update, change or replace any part of the Website and the Terms of Service by posting updates and/or changes to our Website. If you use the Website after such revisions, you will be deemed to have agreed to the revised Website and Terms of Service.

Use of the Website by Minors

Your use of the Website must follow the restrictions that (1) our Services are not available to persons under the age of 13, and (2) if you are between the ages of 13 and 18 (or between 13 and the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction of residence), you may only use the Services under the supervision of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to be bound by these Terms of Service. By accessing or using any part of the Website, you represent that your use of the Website satisfies the restrictions (1) and (2) stated above.

User Account

Your account, password and all of your transactions for which you use that account and password are solely your responsibility. Please treat your account properly and use your password with care. If any third party improperly uses your account, or your password, we are not responsible for any consequences arising from such use.

Purchase Agreement

Once you place an order for any of our product(s) sold on the Website, this constitutes your solid offer to purchase that product(s). We note that (1) the product photos you view in your computer or other viewing devices (smartphone, tablet, etc.) may not be an exact replication of actual products in terms of color and other product qualities (although we use high-quality cameras for professional product photos), and (2) due to the nature of the high-end, one-at-a-time craft-making processes of our craft artists, our products exhibit some variation in color and other product qualities. You agree that your offer to purchase our products entails your full understanding and acceptance of the two points noted above.

Once we receive your order, we will send you an “order confirmation” email, which will then establish a purchase agreement between the two parties. We may send you an “order cancellation” email indicating that your order is cancelled, regardless of whether an “order confirmation” email has been sent to you, if (1) the product(s) you ordered is not available due to any unforeseen circumstances, or (2) we reasonably determine that it is appropriate to cancel your order (e.g., inaccuracy of the information you provided to us, your violation of any provisions in the Terms of Service, etc.). If we send you an “order cancellation” email after you have made a payment of the product(s), we will promptly carry out the refund procedure through PayPal or Shopify Payments (powered by Stripe).

Product Price

Our products will be sold in Japanese yen only. The list price of each product in the product description page in the Website is indicated in Japanese yen. No sales tax is included in the list price. When we show a price in another currency such as USD in addition to Japanese yen, the price indicated in the non-Japanese currency is an approximate price for your reference only, not the actual price we offer.

Payment

You agree that you make a payment for the product(s) in advance via PayPal or Shopify Payments (powered by Stripe). Additionally, you will be responsible for any tariffs, import duties or other tax and customs fees when they are imposed by relevant authorities in the country to which the shipment is made.

Shipment

Upon the acceptance of your order, we prepare a package for shipment. Once a package is prepared for shipment, the package will be dispatched to Express Mail Service (EMS) or Registered Air Small Packet operated by Japan Post, the most reliable and fastest international delivery services from Japan to a large number of destinations worldwide. When the package is dispatched to Japan Post, we will send you a “shipment confirmation” email.

While many of our products are available in our or our suppliers’ inventories, some products are available only on the basis of make-upon-order. Thus the time from order acceptance to order dispatch to Japan Post varies significantly from product to product. We indicate, for your reference, an approximate number of days from order acceptance to the dispatch to Japan Post for each product on the product description page.

While Japan Post is known for its reliability and speed (just for your reference, a delivery from the dispatch at our location in Japan to a destination in Massachusetts in the United States via EMS takes about 4 days), cross-border deliveries can be delayed for customs clearance. We do not have control over customs delays, and hence we do not accept your request for order cancellation due to customs delays or any other issues related to customs clearance.

Tax and Duties 

You will be responsible for any tariffs, import duties or other tax and customs fees when they are imposed by relevant authorities in your country

Transfer of Title

When we send you a shipment confirmation email upon the dispatch of a package to Japan Post, title of the product(s) in the package will be transferred to you. From that point forward, with the exception of the provisions stated in our “Return Policy”, any loss, malfunction, or any type of damage to the product(s) will not be our responsibility.

Return Policy

We may accept or reject your request for returning the product(s) you received, according to our “Return Policy” posted on the Website. Please refer to our Return Policy for full information

Privacy Policy 

This “Privacy Policy” describes how your personal information is collected, used, and shared when you access or use any part of the website operated by Alfan Select LLC. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for full information.

Prohibited Use

In addition to other prohibitions as set forth in the Terms of Service, you are prohibited from using the Website: (1) for any unlawful purpose; (2) to solicit others to perform or participate in any unlawful acts; (3) to violate any international, federal, provincial or state regulations, rules, laws, or local ordinances; (4) to infringe upon or violate our intellectual property rights or the intellectual property rights of others; (5) to harass, abuse, insult, harm, defame, slander, disparage, intimidate, or discriminate based on gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, race, age, national origin, or disability; (6) to submit false or misleading information; (7) to upload or transmit viruses or any other type of malicious code that will or may be used in any way that will affect the functionality or operation of the Services or of any related website, other websites, or the Internet; (8) to collect or track the personal information of others; (9) to spam, phish, pharm, pretext, spider, crawl, or scrape; (10) for any obscene or immoral purpose; or (11) to interfere with or circumvent the security features of the Website or any related website, other websites, or the Internet. We reserve the right to terminate your use of the Services or any related website for violating any of the prohibited uses.

Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

The Website and products and services delivered to you through the Website are, except expressly stated by us, provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without any representation, warranties or conditions of any kind, either expressed or implied, including all implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, durability, title, and non-infringement. In particular, we do not represent or warrant that our Website (1) will provide uninterrupted service or access, (2) will be free of defects, inaccuracies, or errors, (3) will meet all your requirements or (4) will operate in the configuration or with hardware or software you use.

We will not be liable for any direct, indirect, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages that may result from the use of our products, including economic loss, injury, illness, or death. Similarly, we will not be liable to you or any third party from any consequential, incidental, indirect, punitive, or special damages, including without limitation damages relating to lost profits, lost data or loss of goodwill, arising out of, relating to, or connected with the use of our Website, even if we are advised of the possibility of such damages.

Intellectual Property

All, without exception, of the contents included on this Website will be deemed our properties, or the properties of our content suppliers. These contents include, but are not limited to, blog contents, logos, images, illustrations, photos, graphics, audio, video clips, flash animation, all text and all written information, and are protected by the Copyright Law of Japan and any other applicable laws. If you post or transmit any contents (including but not limited to all listed above), these contents are determined to then be our properties and thus you grant to us the non-exclusive, royalty-free and unlimited, indefinite and continuous right to edit, reproduce, adapt, translate, copy and publish such contents unless otherwise expressly stated by us on the Website. With any contents that you transmit or post on the Website, you represent and warrant that those contents are exclusively your own copyrighted contents and therefore they do not in any way infringe on the rights of any third parties.

Privacy Policy

We handle your personal information according to our “Privacy Policy” posted on the Website.

Termination of Services

We reserve the right to modify, suspend or discontinue any or all parts of the Website and the Services that are normally available to you. Additionally, it is at our sole discretion, and without any notice, prior or otherwise, to take actions to restrict your access to any or all parts of the Website. We are not liable for any damages incurred by you arising from such actions.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms of Service and any separate agreements whereby we provide you our Services shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Japan. If at any time, any disputes arise from the Website, or any transactions based on the Website, the Tokyo District Court shall be the court of first instance and will have exclusive jurisdiction over any such disputes.

Contact Information

Alfan Select LLC

2378-2 Terao, Takasaki

Gunma 370-0865, Japan

support@alfanselect.com

Privacy Policy 

This “Privacy Policy” describes how your personal information is collected, used, and shared when you access or use any part of the website operated by Alfan Select LLC (hereinafter, “Website”). Throughout this document, the terms “we”, “us”, and “our” refer to Alfan Select LLC.  

Collection of “Personal Information” 

When you visit the Website, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including information about your web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies that are installed on your device. Additionally, as you browse the Website, we collect information about the individual web pages or products that you view, what websites or search terms referred you to the Website, and information about how you interact with the Website. We refer to this automatically-collected information as “Device Information”. 

We collect Device Information using the following technologies: 

“Cookies” are data files that are placed on your device or computer and often include an anonymous unique identifier. For more information about cookies, and how to disable cookies, visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org.

“Log files” track actions occurring on the Website, and collect data including your IP address, browser type, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps. 
“Web beacons”, “tags”, and “pixels” are electronic files used to record information about how you browse the Website.

Additionally, when you make a purchase or attempt to make a purchase through the Website, we collect certain information from you, including your name, billing address, shipping address, payment information (including credit card numbers), email address, and phone number. We refer to this information as “Order Information”. 

When we talk about “Personal Information” in this Privacy Policy, we are talking both about Device Information and Order Information. 

Use of your Personal Information  

We use the Order Information that we collect generally to fulfill any orders placed through the Website (including processing your payment information, arranging for shipping, and providing you with invoices and/or order confirmations). Additionally, we use this Order Information to: 

Communicate with you; 
Screen our orders for potential risk or fraud; and 
Provide you with information or advertising relating to our products or services, when in line with the preferences you have shared with us.

We use the Device Information that we collect to help us screen for potential risk and fraud (in particular, your IP address), and more generally to improve and optimize our Website (for example, by generating analytics about how our customers browse and interact with the Website, and to assess the success of our marketing and advertising campaigns). 

Sharing of your Personal Information 

We share your Personal Information with some third parties to help us use your Personal Information, as described above. For example, we use Shopify to power our online store, and Google Analytics to help us understand how our customers use the Website. You can read more about how Google uses your Personal Information here: https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/. You can also opt-out of Google Analytics: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.  We may also share your Personal Information to comply with applicable laws and regulations, to respond to a subpoena, search warrant or other lawful request for information we receive, or to otherwise protect our rights. 

Your Rights

If you are a European resident, you have the right to access personal information we hold about you and to ask that your personal information be corrected, updated, or deleted. If you would like to exercise this right, please contact us through the contact information below.

Moreover, if you are a European resident, we note that we are processing your information in order to fulfill contracts we might have with you (for example if you make an order through the Website), or otherwise to pursue our legitimate business interests listed above. Additionally, please note that your information will be transferred outside of Europe, including to Japan.

Targeted Advertising and Marketing Communications 

 As described above, we use your Personal Information to provide you with targeted advertisements or marketing communications we believe may be of interest to you. For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page at http://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising/how-does-it-work.

You can opt out of targeted advertising by using the links below:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=ads
Google: https://www.google.com/settings/ads/anonymous
Bing: https://advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/policies/personalized-ads

Additionally, you can opt out of some of these services by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out portal at: http://optout.aboutads.info/.

Do not Track

Please note that we do not alter the Website’s data collection and practices of using collected data when we see a “Do Not Track” signal from your browser.

Data Retention 

When you place an order through the Website, we will maintain your Order Information for our records unless and until you ask us to delete this information. 

Update  

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to our practices or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons. 

Contact 

 For more information about our privacy practices, please contact us by email at support@alfanselect.com.

Return Policy

The “Return Policy” stipulated in this document applies to all products you have purchased or will purchase at the Website (www.alfanselect.com) operated by Alfan Select LLC. In this document, the terms “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Alfan Select LLC.

The return eligibility of our Return Policy lasts 10 days from the date of arrival of the product to you. Once this eligibility period of 10 days expires, no return will be accepted and hence no refund or exchange can be provided to you.

To be eligible for a return, your product must be unused, in the same condition, in the original packaging, and accompany a proof of purchase. We recognize two circumstances in which you may wish to return your products: (1) Some defect is found which existed before shipment or occurred during shipment, and (2) no defect is present but you wish to return for reasons attributable to you. For the case (1), we will bear the cost of return shipment, and for the case (2), you will be responsible for the cost of return shipment. We will consider your request for exchange only in the case (1), and will not accept your request for exchange in the case (2).

Once your return is received and inspected, we will notify you of the approval or turndown of your refund or exchange, following the terms and conditions specified above. If your return request is approved, then proper actions will be taken promptly: namely refund processing to your credit card or shipment of exchange product(s).

Due to the nature of the high-end, one-at-a-time craft-making processes at our craft studios, our products exhibit some variation in color and other product qualities. Please note that no request for return or exchange will be considered for such variation that our quality-conscious craft artists consider as an intrinsic norm within their discipline.

For a return that meets the terms and conditions specified above, please mail your product(s) to:

Alfan Select LLC, 2378-2 Terao, Takasaki, Gunma 370-0865, Japan.

Complementary Shipping Note: Due to COVID Free Shipping may be Delayed. Contact us for Details when Ordering

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Some of Japan's best "hard-to-find" Contemporary Crafts and Designs:

You probably already know that Japan has amazing traditional crafts. Some, like Urushi Lacquer, boast origins dating back 9000 years! Yet traditions are only part of the current, contemporary story of craftsmanship and design in Japan.

At Alfan Select we offer that which is authentic, rarely available, or even known outside Japan: some familiar in a traditional sense, others unique, unexpected, and many with historical or even curious backstories -- such as the metalworker who perfected how to color with light! So discover something new about Japan, explore, read and shop and Welcome to Alfan Select!

Explore All Collections

Alfan Select Products Bamboo Vase, Hammered Blue Pour-over Coffee Pot, Titanium Cocktail Neon Pink Tumbler

New! Starry-night Blue Urushi Bangle

The amazing, warm, silky glow of Japansese Urushi Lacquer shines in starry-night splendor with this handcrafted bangle. This contemporary design born of traditional skills passed down generations assure made-in-Japan craftsmanship and quality. Urushi Lacquer, an exceptional and culturally-rich craft, you can read more here about this bangle. A unique, quality gift from Japan.

Featured Designs

Cocktails Beer Sparkle Blue/Pink Tumblers via Japan Titanium Innovation

Living Color Tumbler Series | Horie

Colors from light alone! Find out how this Metal Craftworker did it and see more here!

Japan Silk Stole Pure Plant Dye Orange, Yellow Alfan Select

Whisper Plant-Dye Silk Scarf | Maito

Can vivid colors be coaxed from nature? Japan Dye Artist says "Yes"!

Urushi Lacquer Bangles | Urushi Sakamoto

Urushi Lacquer Bangles | Urushi Sakamoto

Conceived by designer R. Sakamato: ancient tradition in contemporary form.

Urushi Lacquer Earrings | Urushi Sakamoto

Urushi Lacquer Earrings | Urushi Sakamoto

Depth of color best describe the designer concept in traditional Urushi lacquer.

Handcrafted Bamboo & Metals

Japanese Bamboo Basketry Art | Suruga Guild

Japanese Bamboo Basketry Art | Suruga Guild

Calming in form: elegant curves, diamond spaces filled with the morning’s light.

Ikebana Teal Wall Vases with White Flowers in Sun

Ikebana Mini Wall & Table Vases | Momentum

Metal coloring of traditional origins. A Buddha statue inspires new patina colors.

Blue Patina Hand Hammered Pour Over Coffee Pot Japan

Hand-Crafted | Copper Coffee Pot & Canister | Shimakura

One way to exercise arm muscles: create a shape by hammering over 100,000 times!

Hand-Hammered Blue-patina Copper Vases | Shimakura

Hand-Hammered Blue-patina Copper Vases | Shimakura

The amazing dimpled surface of a hand-hammered vase is pure crafstmanship.