Monday, September 29, 2008

How Many Shogi Koma Make Up A Single Set Of Pieces?

Feedback and enquiries from customers or potential customers is always informative!

Here is an email I received just now:

"About the shogi pieces, when you write "complete set of pieces" is that for one or two players?
Just to know how many I need to buy."


That is a very good question! It is also helps me to see things better from the customer's point of view. When I wrote the phrase "complete set of pieces" it seemed obvious to me that it meant 40 pieces - enough for two players to play a game of shogi.

But, actually, it is not so obvious. Just because I deal with shogi sets every day and am used to my own terminology does not mean that it is clear to someone who might be interested in buying a set from me. The customer comes to my site with no prior knowledge of me or the goods I offer.

So, let's be clear about this... my website offers "complete sets of shogi pieces that contain 40 pieces - all the pieces that two players need to play a game on one board". (Some sets include a spare piece, to make a total of 41 pieces!)

David Hurley
http://japanese-games-shop.com

Sunday, September 28, 2008

I'm Back From My Holidays!

Got back from our family holiday in Austria yesterday afternoon. I have now taken the "away on holiday" notices down from http://japanese-games-shop.com and http://japanese-mahjong.com and so am officially "back in business".

If you have never been to the Austrian Alps before, I recommend it!

I also recommend 10 days away from computers and the Internet!

While I was away in Austria I received my largest order ever, from a mahjong club based in... Austria! I'll start working on it on Monday morning!

Ich danke Ihnen für Ihren Einkauf!

David Hurley
http://japanese-games-shop.com

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Autumn Break In The Alive-With-Music Hills!


We are off to Austria on a family holiday, so there will be no more shipments of goods until October 2nd at the earliest!

If you do not mind waiting, you may still purchase any of the items on Japanese-Games-Shop.com, but acknowledgment of your order and turnaround will be delayed.

We will be staying in Viehhofen, between Salzburg and Zell Am See. My daughter has been preparing for the adventure by watching The Sound Of Music, and studying German with the help of Shuan The Sheep - er, sorry, Shaun Das Schaf!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Pamper Your Mahjong Craving By Playing On A High Quality, Robust, Mahjong Mat!

Do you suffer from a mahjong craving? Then you should consider pampering your craving by playing mahjong on a high quality, robust, Japanese mahjong mat!

I have just upgraded the shipping method for the heavier of the two mahjong playing mats that are available on my website at http://japanese-mahjong.com/mjmat.html.

I noticed that the information about that mat was confusing as I had posted two different shipping rates. Also, due to the weight of the mat I used to ship it by surface mail to save the customer shipping charges.

There is no problem with shipping rubber-backed mahjong mats from Japan by surface mail, since the mats are so robust they can survive the journey in good condition. The problems are that surface mail takes sooo long and also that it is less reliable than express mail service. As if that was not enough, surface mail has no tracking service.

So, I have taken another look at the situation and decided to... gulp... cover the extra costs of Express Mail Service shipping on this item MYSELF.

Now, whichever of the two mats you buy, you will get it much more quickly as they both are now being shipped by EMS - and you'll be able to follow the progress of your parcel via the EMS tracking service... Delivery is within a week of dispatch in most cases.

Did I mention that insurance is included in the shipping price?

So, mahjong players, pamper your mahjong craving by playing on a high quality mahjong mat! Head over to http://japanese-mahjong.com/mjmat.html and get yourself a mahjong mat!

Best wishes,

David Hurley
http://japanese-mahjong.com