Terms of service

Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the online store and related services operated by WATASI JAPAN LLC (“WATASI JAPAN,” “we,” “us,” or “our”).

By accessing our website or placing an order, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use our services.

1. Scope of These Terms

These Terms apply to all use of our website and services, including browsing, account registration, inquiries, and purchases.

The following policies and notices form part of these Terms:

Return & Refund Policy
Shipping Policy
Privacy Policy
Legal notice and information required under applicable law
Product-specific terms displayed on product pages

If a product page or a separate policy contains terms that differ from these Terms, the product-specific or policy-specific terms will apply to that matter, subject to applicable law.

2. Eligibility

To use our services and place an order, you must have the legal capacity to enter into a contract under the laws of your country or region.

If you are under the legal age of majority, you may use our services only with the consent of a parent or legal guardian.

You agree to provide accurate, complete, and current information, including your name, address, telephone number, email address, payment details, and shipping information.

3. Product Characteristics

Many WATASI JAPAN products are handcrafted from authentic vintage Japanese kimono, traditional textiles, and upcycled materials. Our products may include one-of-a-kind, custom-made, and made-to-order items.

The following may be natural characteristics of our products:

Variations in color and pattern placement
Minor stains or color irregularities
Weaving irregularities and small thread knots
Needle marks or fold marks
Natural signs of age
Differences in texture, thickness, and sheen
Minor variations in measurements resulting from handcrafting

Characteristics disclosed in the product description or shown in the product photographs are generally not considered defects.

Please carefully review all photographs, descriptions, measurements, materials, and care instructions before placing an order.

4. Product Information

We make reasonable efforts to ensure that product descriptions, prices, photographs, sizes, inventory information, and other content are accurate.

However, differences may occur due to:

Monitor or mobile-device settings
Lighting used during photography
Individual pattern placement and textile variations
Handcrafted production methods
The use of representative product images

If we discover an obvious pricing error, incorrect inventory information, technical error, or material error in a product listing, we may contact you to correct or cancel the affected order.

5. Prices

Product prices are displayed on the relevant product page or at checkout.

The taxes included in the displayed price may vary depending on the destination, currency, and applicable market settings.

Customs duties, import taxes, VAT, GST, customs clearance fees, and similar charges are the customer’s responsibility unless checkout expressly states that WATASI JAPAN collects them.

Prices may change because of currency conversion, exchange rates, tax rates, shipping charges, or other circumstances. Once an order has been accepted, the price at the time of the order will normally apply, except in the case of an obvious pricing or system error.

6. Orders and Contract Formation

Completing checkout constitutes an offer by you to purchase the products in your order.

An order confirmation email may be an automated acknowledgment that we have received your order and does not necessarily mean that the order has been finally accepted.

A binding sales contract is formed when we accept the order and begin shipment processing, or when we send a shipping confirmation, unless applicable law provides otherwise.

7. Order Refusal and Cancellation

We may hold, modify, decline, or cancel all or part of an order where reasonably necessary, including when:

A product is unavailable or discontinued
Product, inventory, or pricing information contains an obvious error
Payment authorization is declined
We cannot ship to the destination
Order information is incomplete, inaccurate, or false
We reasonably suspect fraud or unauthorized payment
We reasonably believe the order is intended for unauthorized resale
An unusually large quantity is ordered by the same customer or to the same address
The order may violate laws, carrier rules, sanctions, or import/export restrictions
Other reasonable circumstances prevent us from fulfilling the order

If we cancel an order after receiving payment, we will normally refund the amount received to the original payment method, subject to any deductions permitted by applicable law.

8. Payment

You agree to pay the product price, shipping charges, taxes, and other amounts shown at checkout using an accepted payment method.

You confirm that you are authorized to use the payment method submitted and that all payment information is accurate.

Payments may be processed by Shopify Payments or another third-party payment provider. The payment provider’s own terms may also apply.

9. Shipping

Processing times, delivery methods, tracking, customs charges, delays, incorrect addresses, refused deliveries, loss, and transit damage are governed by our Shipping Policy.

Delivery dates are estimates only and are not guaranteed.

You are responsible for providing complete and accurate shipping information. Additional costs caused by an incorrect address, prolonged absence, refusal of delivery, unpaid customs charges, or other circumstances attributable to the recipient may be charged to you.

10. Cancellations, Returns, Exchanges, and Refunds

Order cancellations, returns, exchanges, refunds, damaged products, defective items, and incorrect shipments are governed by our Return & Refund Policy.

Custom-made, made-to-order, altered, personalized, or specially commissioned products may not be eligible for cancellation or return, except where required by applicable law or where the product is materially defective.

11. Title and Risk

Title to the products will normally pass to you after we have received full payment and dispatched the products.

The transfer of risk for loss or damage is determined by the delivery method, destination, and applicable law.

Nothing in this section limits any mandatory consumer rights that apply to you.

12. Prohibited Uses

You must not use our website or services:

For any unlawful, fraudulent, or abusive purpose
To submit false or misleading information
To use another person’s identity, address, or payment information without authorization
To gain unauthorized access to our website, accounts, or payment systems
To transmit malware, viruses, or other harmful code
To infringe intellectual property, privacy, publicity, or other rights
To reproduce or commercially use our photographs, text, designs, or branding without permission
To interfere with the security or operation of our services
For unauthorized resale, fraud, money laundering, or other improper activities
In any other manner that we reasonably determine to be harmful or inappropriate

13. Intellectual Property

All text, product names, logos, photographs, images, videos, designs, illustrations, trademarks, product descriptions, and other content displayed through our services are owned by WATASI JAPAN or the relevant rights holder.

You may not reproduce, republish, modify, distribute, sell, publicly transmit, or commercially use this content without prior written permission.

Purchasing a product does not transfer any intellectual property rights in the product design, photographs, trademarks, or related content.

14. Customer Content

If you submit a review, photograph, comment, suggestion, or other content, you confirm that it does not violate any law or third-party right and does not contain unlawful, false, discriminatory, threatening, or harmful material.

We may remove or hide content that we reasonably consider unlawful or inappropriate.

Where required, we will obtain separate permission before using customer photographs or reviews in advertising, social media, or promotional materials.

15. Third-Party Services and Links

Our services may use or link to services operated by Shopify, payment providers, carriers, social media platforms, and other third parties.

Your use of those third-party services may be governed by their own terms and privacy policies.

To the extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for interruptions, changes, or content of third-party services that are outside our reasonable control.

16. Service Changes and Suspension

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue all or part of our services where necessary for maintenance, security, system failures, legal compliance, or operational reasons.

Orders already accepted will continue to be handled in accordance with these Terms and applicable law.

17. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability

We make reasonable efforts to provide our products and services properly. However, access may occasionally be interrupted or delayed by networks, systems, carriers, customs authorities, third-party providers, or other circumstances outside our reasonable control.

Except where we have acted intentionally or with gross negligence, where a product is materially defective, or where liability cannot lawfully be excluded, we will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential losses arising from circumstances outside our reasonable control.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability for death or personal injury, fraud, intentional misconduct, gross negligence, statutory product guarantees, or any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

18. Responsibility for Violations

If you intentionally or negligently violate these Terms or applicable law and directly cause loss to WATASI JAPAN or a third party, you may be responsible for losses reasonably resulting from that violation.

This section applies only to the extent permitted by applicable law and does not impose disproportionate liability on consumers.

19. Personal Information

Our collection, use, storage, and disclosure of personal information are governed by our Privacy Policy.

20. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms to reflect changes in law, our services, or our business operations.

Updated Terms become effective when posted on our website or on another date stated in the updated version.

Orders accepted before a change will normally remain subject to the Terms in effect when the order was accepted, unless applicable law requires otherwise.

21. Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, unlawful, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in effect.

The affected provision will be interpreted or modified only to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable, where permitted by law.

22. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms and contracts formed through our services are governed by the laws of Japan, excluding conflict-of-law rules.

Disputes relating to our services will be submitted in the first instance to a court having jurisdiction over the location of WATASI JAPAN in Japan.

However, this section does not limit any mandatory consumer protection rights or rights to bring proceedings in your country or region that cannot lawfully be excluded by contract.