Terms and Conditions

The shop lists Japanese glassware and ceramics, decorative art dolls and vases, table and kitchen pieces, and motif accessories such as printed apparel and embroidered bucket hats. Each product page gives a description, the materials or technique where we know them, the care the piece needs and the price in yen. A listing presents what we can offer; it is not a promise that every variant is on the shelf at this moment.

Availability is confirmed by us, by email, after we receive your order request. Many pieces are handmade or made in small runs, so colour, pattern and finish vary slightly from item to item and from the photographs. This variation is part of the character of the work and is not a defect. If a piece or variant is no longer available we say so in our reply, and you are free to choose something else or withdraw the request.

Photographs show the type and style of a piece. Screens differ, and a photograph may show a colour or a set other than the one you choose. Where a listing offers several designs or colours, please name the exact one in your request. If anything about a listing is unclear, write to hello@velvetriverdawn.com before ordering and we will check it for you.

The cart on this website is a list-making tool. Pressing the order-request button opens your email app with the items and quantities filled in, and sending that email is an offer to buy at the listed prices, not a completed purchase. No payment is taken on the website, and no contract exists until we reply to confirm that the pieces are available and the order is accepted.

Our confirmation email states the pieces, the total price including tax, the delivery charge, the dispatch date we expect to meet and how to pay. Payment methods and the payment deadline are agreed in that email, and we dispatch once payment is confirmed unless we have agreed otherwise in writing. Please check the confirmation and tell us at once if anything in it is wrong.

We may decline an order request, for example if the delivery address is outside the places we ship to, if a piece cannot be supplied or if the details given appear to be inaccurate. In that case we tell you promptly, nothing is charged, and anything you have already paid for that order is refunded in full to the account it came from.

All prices on the site are shown in Japanese yen and include consumption tax (消費税) at the applicable rate. Delivery charges are not part of the displayed price; they are stated in our confirmation email before you pay, so the figure you agree to is always the total that appears there.

Prices on the website can change over time. The price that applies to your order is the one shown on the product page when you send the order request, unless we have made an obvious error, in which case we tell you before confirming and let you decide whether to go ahead at the corrected price.

For parcels sent outside Japan, the destination country may charge import duty, customs handling fees and local taxes. These are the recipient's responsibility and are not part of our prices or delivery charges. Please check the rules of your country before asking us to ship abroad, since we can neither predict nor reduce them.

We deliver within Japan by an ordinary courier service. Shipments to other countries are possible only by agreement: ask by email before sending an order request, and we will tell you whether we can ship there and what it would cost. The delivery charge and the delivery method are fixed in our confirmation email.

We give the expected dispatch date when we confirm the order and write to you if it changes. Glass, ceramics and lacquerware are wrapped to withstand ordinary carriage, but delays caused by weather, public holidays, carrier disruption or customs are outside our control and do not make us liable for the delay.

Please inspect the parcel when it arrives. If a piece is broken or the parcel is visibly damaged, keep all the packaging, photograph the damage and write to us within seven days of delivery, as described in the Refund and Return Policy. Delivery to an address other than the one in your request has to be agreed before dispatch.

You may ask to return eligible items within 30 days of delivery, as set out in the Refund and Return Policy, which forms part of these Terms. Returns must be agreed with us by email first, and items must come back unused and in their original condition and packaging.

The Refund and Return Policy is available at velvetriverdawn.com/refund-policy and explains who pays for return shipping, how refunds are made and what applies to damaged or faulty pieces. Where it differs from a statement elsewhere on the site, the Refund and Return Policy and the notice under the Act on Specified Commercial Transactions take precedence.

Nothing in this section or in the Refund and Return Policy limits any right you have under the Consumer Contract Act, the Civil Code or other mandatory consumer protection law of Japan, including your rights where a product does not conform to the contract. Where the law gives you more, the law applies.

The text, product descriptions, page design and any photographs on velvetriverdawn.com are protected by copyright and related rights and belong to Velvet River Dawn or to the people who licensed them to us. You may view the site and print a page for your own use; copying, republishing or reusing its content for another business needs our written permission.

Craft and origin names that appear on the site, for example Tsugaru vidro, Mino ware or Wakasa lacquer, describe the tradition or place a piece comes from and belong to their respective owners where they are registered. Using them here does not mean that the makers endorse this shop or take part in running it.

If you believe that something on the site infringes your rights, send the details to hello@velvetriverdawn.com, including where it appears and why you believe it is yours. We read every such message carefully and will remove or correct the material where the complaint is justified.

As far as Japanese law allows, Velvet River Dawn is not liable for indirect or consequential loss arising from the use of this website or from a product bought through it, and our liability for an order does not exceed the amount you paid for that order. This does not apply where the loss was caused by our intent or gross negligence, which the law does not let us exclude.

We take care to keep descriptions, prices and availability correct, but we do not promise that the website will always be available or free from error. Decorative glass and lacquerware should be used and cared for as described on each product page; we are not responsible for damage that results from use contrary to those care instructions.

Where the buyer is a consumer, nothing in these Terms removes or reduces liability that cannot be excluded under the Consumer Contract Act or other mandatory law, including liability for death or personal injury caused by our fault. If a clause here would be invalid under those rules, it applies only as far as the law allows.

These Terms, and any dispute arising from them or from a purchase made through this website, are governed by the laws of Japan. For disputes that cannot be settled by agreement, the Tsu District Court has exclusive jurisdiction at first instance, unless mandatory consumer protection law gives you the right to bring a case elsewhere.

We would rather settle a problem by conversation than by procedure. If something has gone wrong with an order, write to hello@velvetriverdawn.com with the details and what you would like us to do, and we will look into it and propose a fair solution.

Consumers outside Japan keep whatever mandatory protections their own country gives them. These Terms do not take those away, and we will deal with such cases as far as is reasonable for a shop that sells from Japan.

We may revise these Terms when the way the shop works changes, for example if we add an online payment service or new delivery options. The revised text is published on this page with a new date and applies to order requests sent after that date; an order we have already confirmed stays under the Terms that applied when we confirmed it.

When a change affects customers' rights in a significant way, we will make it visible on the site and not only in this document. We recommend checking the date at the top of the page before you send an order request.

Questions about these Terms are welcome at hello@velvetriverdawn.com, or by post at Velvet River Dawn, 4-10-18 Yasujima, Yokkaichi, Mie 510-0075, Japan.