 Aloha, this is Rob Hack again with another edition of Exporting from Hawaii. Today I'm very excited to have my friend Tom Sirivata here with his goldsmith assistant Hanae Matsuo and they're from Lahana Jewelry here in Honolulu on Bishop Street. They make customized jewelry and some standard products that they do very well in the Japanese market so we're here to talk to them about exporting their products to Japan and elsewhere. So welcome, Aloha. Thank you very much for being here. We have some samples of your products here but before we get into the samples tell us tell the audience Tom how did you get started in the jewelry business? I guess I started with my mom. We started at the stadium a low-state and flea market when I was doing high school and I have sent out most of my order to private company to do it but they keep doing the wrong thing that we asked for so that's how I end up telling myself oh I gotta learn this trade and this skill so I actually went to school in Kansas for firearm and gun engraving and then I was in San Francisco for dream-making with Allen Rivera Academy so that's how I kind of start out how to make jewelry how to engrave so it become my passion you know so I was a high school teacher and for like about three years and I found the hobby become like something that I can stay all day and work all day and I don't feel like it's working yeah so that's how I started it and then it goes from there one of the things that it shows in the products because one of the things I love about your products is that it's clearly infused with Hawaii and there's a lot of aloha behind this and that's that obvious right but how do you design your products so that that comes across first I try to figure out what the trends are and especially the shape shape is very important I think every year or two years shape change you know from the heart from the round from the rectangle that's what I'm trying to figure out like I would not only will do something and then I will test it out at a stadium that is my indications of what customers are looking for and certain styles certain technique is it for a woman or is full for men you know is this going to be for gifts or is for personal item so that helped me to determine what kind of design I should make so I kind of give them option either go with the traditional or they can go up to a modern you know niche so that's how I actually test out my market when you say traditional traditional would mean a traditional sort of Hawaiian bracelet yes well just the engraving part when you go into the high end part that require a lot then you have like a firearm engraving for something like this right so it's required more work more thinking about how you want the flow of the designs to be for Hawaiian jury it's a little bit more simpler because it's actually have a pattern but it repeat itself so that's more traditional you know so people will normally buy for graduation a birthday present yeah so I find it very interesting you're doing a lot of market research by going to the stadium yes just displaying the products and see what works and what doesn't right and you're still doing that yeah I still doing that yeah and that's like a key to test out your market because you have variations of customer from tourists from local depending on what they want so it's kind of help both you know so you can see the low end you can see the high end people can afford it so that you try not to figure out which market you're gonna go with so for me I choose Japan because I run into a friend of mine that actually kind of tell me hey you should come to Japan because we have a lot of Hawaiian events going on and that's how I started to kind of take that journey so but I want to stay on the topic for a second of the tourists that are coming here and you're doing market research with the tourists that are coming here do you find that there are a lot of Japanese tourists that are going to the stadium yes yeah I mean we have a bunch people comes in and we have people that don't know about the flea market and maybe the first time and they kind of surprised these products is here I'm surprised because some of these products are I mean especially the very intricate ones are these are not inexpensive jewelry it's what it's can be somewhat high-end and it's wonderful pieces it's just not the kind of thing you'd expect to see at the market that's great and most of your customers do you find they're male or female I wish it both like a 50-50 because I try to market actually I try to market to the males audience first because there's so many people are doing for female so I'm trying to capture the male market and then the females already there I mean my my piece that I make before is all female so I'm just trying to figure out how to get a male market but I know I would say both so are the males buying for themselves or is it mostly females buying from males actually male buy from themselves yes yes and then they will buy a female products so that's why that's what I'm trying to aim at I think because I think everybody's else competing with the females market I mean 80% of the you know jewelry is meant you know meant to make full female so I kind of like going the opposite so do you have his and hers designs yes we do we do yeah so we do and we have like males tend to be a little bit wider in millimeters and the design itself you know you can go it all like with flower or without flower and then depending on how the because I think female would dictate the design you know when they come in the couple come in you know I want this you know then I have to make something that it's not manly or it's not femininely so you have to be like kind of in balance so that's what I normally will tackle my experience with your jewelry the ones that I've seen is there's a lot of silver but when I look at your website I also see gold so which do you sell the most of I think small silver I think gold because the price point is getting so high now but the market here I sell more silver but in Japan it's more gold so that's interesting from a manufacturing standpoint when you're hand making the jewelry is there a difference between silver and gold or do you yes it goes a little bit harder silver it's a little bit softer but she was harder to deal with because it oxidizes so if you don't have enough skills on those that you can easily oxidize it and it punishes really quickly so you don't get the bright cut the way you want it so go you don't have to worry because the top that the heat doesn't really affect them much so but it is the engraving part that is is tougher so it would require knife after knife you know sometimes you might be able to get away with it in silver but you kind of get away with gold you're gonna snap the knife so a lot of your products I would say that the majority that I've seen are rings bracelets earrings here's some necklaces some charms or pendants in the phone cases are there other things that I'm not aware of well I actually travel as artists sometimes I go to a car show I'd like engraving felt cover or gas cap even a mod you know e-cigarette so pretty much anything that come out from the street did they want me to do I pretty much agree anything from us yeah sometimes they I have a customer come in like hey can you engrave you know a bottle of a bottle of us salt with paper so yeah so I just etching you know that kind of stuff what is this on your neck oh this is a pendant I actually made this is like a spearhead yeah yeah so these are combinations of yeah top of design and Hawaiian engraving so well when I looked at your website recently I saw and I've seen other people wearing them there's a whale tail which is beautiful and some of the fish hooks of the Hawaiian designed fish hooks are gorgeous are those selling well in Japan yeah the fish hook selling really well on the whale tails too I think the heart shape now as of right now I think the heart shape that was taking off maybe because it's Valentine's Day is this past Valentine's Day probably and the pineapple pendants right I showed my words the plumeria she liked the plumeria I think yeah the plumeria is always you know the top the hot topic well the fish hook right now is the in thing I think in Japan I think because of because of the movie Moana comes out yeah so but I think Japan market is like a it had to be a very special niche female you know wouldn't wear a fish hook right but now I start seeing a lot of female wearing a fish hook because we make it a certain size and not just for the pendant but also for the earring as well so yes that's how I go and also I also do some like a bracelet too do you get many tourists visiting your shop it's all by appointment so we have a lot of refer so most of them is all refer that comes up so they normally will either tell us oh we're gonna be here this day this day can you know that's how I normally do it and tourist contact you I know Hanai-san obviously can speak Japanese is it important for you to have Japanese staff on board that can answer emails and take questions and this sort of thing I will say yes but most of my contact through Japan is to Miho is in Yokohama that's where all the contact is done and then when they come here they normally set up the time and the schedule for me to be there and we either they need something like for translation then I have to ask Hanai or you know another worker that I have but other than that most of the Japanese people actually speak English you know so that but if they don't they normally communicate with my partner up in Japan and then she will tell me oh what the customer is looking for what do they want so but of course having a Japanese speaking person with you is a plus yeah it's a plus let's talk about your office in Japan I've met Miho she's in Yokohama and you are how long has that operation been going we just we just thought I think in November we have an office just to get a return client comes in because I actually do an after-service so when a client buys something for me my guarantee was that I'd be doing them after service for like twice a year so I will fly up there in the office and actually cleaning or polishing you know to to actually help keep the jury to you know to the quality that it's supposed to be met wow that's incredible service yeah so that's why we have all this return client and refer client comes in so and right now and then we run like a family and a friend events so that they can come in and bring the jury to be service or to be you know look at and see what you know if they have broken maybe they don't have for me but they got from somebody else so that's my service to them that they have to you know pay for it or something like that well that's wonderful I'm really glad to hear that I think that the Japanese market the Asian market in general but particularly the Japanese market needs that extra after-sales service care to draw the repeat customers right they look more for the artist they don't want cookie I think the Japanese market they just want something that can touch the person behind the artwork I think that's what it is that Tom really particularly all his skills and that's a really good point because when when we're consulting to the local companies here I find the companies that are doing the best with Japanese customers foreign customers in general but very particularly the Japanese customers the companies that do the best with them are the ones that are able to convey their story into the products and the packaging and after-sales service and what have you and I know you do a very very good job of that trying to get the aloha into the designs but then I think the customers really feel that from the product and from you personally that's great now your office in Yokohama are you stocking inventory there yes we have we have quite a bit of inventory there as a live products so they can actually purchase it if they want to and then sometimes we have a client that wants something right away then it's better for them to ship directly and it takes a day to get there what percentage of the products are customized versus standard product okay right now I will say maybe about 45 customized and the rest like 55 we just buy off from what we got so it's pretty close you know yeah so it's pretty close so that's why I feel like it's getting stronger and stronger in the customized part before he said oh 20% and then whatever we have we just sell around the back but now it's more like customized because a lot of Japanese people in Japan don't get this privilege where to meet our artists and then to kind of like envision what they want to make and then you know to be able to actually can express that in the piece of jewelry if they go to the department store or any of the vendors in Japan they already have a template so you just have to pretty much have to follow what the template is in giving to you okay we're gonna take a quick break on exporting from Hawaii we'll be back with Tom and Hanai right after this short break thank you Aloha and welcome to at the crossroads I'm your host Keisha King you can catch me every Wednesday alive at five I'll see you there Aloha this is Winston Welch I am your host of out and about where every other week Mondays at three we explore a variety of topics in our city state nation and world and events organizations the people that fuel them it's a really interesting show we welcome you to tune in and we welcome your suggestions for shows you got a lot of them out there and we have an awesome studio here where we can get your ideas out as well so I look forward to you tuning in every other week where we've got some great guests and great topics you're gonna learn a lot you're gonna come away inspired like I do so I'll see you every other week here at three o'clock on Monday afternoon Aloha Aloha and welcome back to exporting from Hawaii we're here with Tom and Hanai from Lahana Jewelry here in Honolulu and we are talking about their wonderful products that they make and how they export to Japan and elsewhere are there other markets well I'm thinking maybe like Canada and Australia later you know in the future but clearly Japan is Japan is yes Japan is probably my priority right now I have seen you at various trade shows in Japan what are some of the trade shows you've gone to well we went to TIG right Tokyo International Gift Show and then also Aloha Tokyo now and also Nagoya show Hula festival and then we just got accepted into one of the department in Nagoya to do the show Hawaiian show too and I think so did you've been to the Haukew Hawaii thing yes yes so and then also we do some like Hula show in Osaka yeah so and then we do a small little show too just to test the market Hapuna Cafe they was nice enough for us to come and display our products and then they they have their own clientele you know come in there and then you know you learn a lot and from the customers idea or what you should do and you know so that helped us a lot for marketing part of it and what kind of products we need to put in there certain region of Japan is totally different that was the question I was just going to ask you so can you elaborate on that a bit well like Tokyo versus over Nagoya right so different but different is Tokyo is like they want something more like modern you know something different and it's not about the price point it's pretty much about what uniqueness you have in Tokyo you know so in Osaka the thing is you need to tell the story what why do you make this piece you know so and they are more frugal too they like certain fashion but they need to get something that we mild remind them of when they come to Hawaii like certain thing that remind them oh when we was in you know Hawaii and we was doing this and then this is a homey agai cannot yeah yes yes so that's that's thing in Osaka in Nagoya I mean that's a tough market people that are so frugal they want to have a quality piece but yeah they don't want to spend that much money until they learn about your skills and your work your credential before they purchase it sometimes some customer comes like six time back and forth back and forth you know I think if you can actually do business in Nagoya you can do business anywhere in the world that's how yes that's how different you have customers in Japan who have never been to Hawaii or yes or does it help that they have been to Hawaii it would help it would be more helpful it would be more easier to close the deal but some of these people haven't been to Hawaii and then you have to persuade them or show them or kind of give them idea what this work is all about and for me I think the best thing for me was to demo right so to show them like this is a hand on and it's not something that mass produced you know so it takes time to make one piece so that's what helped me a lot when I in Nagoya so but I guess once you can pass it like what you can pass anywhere but telling the story again I harp on this subject because I think it's really important getting the story into the product is extremely important and Hanai-san does a very good job of explaining it like like he Tom just mentioned like Japan doesn't get the privilege of getting into the touching the jewelry itself wearing it feeling it if online or picked a catalog that's touched so they what they do is they search they love the history of Hawaii they have this mesmerized feeling towards Hawaii and then they do study about the history the background the Queens what they were wearing why this got into Hawaii they go there and then what Tom brought in is that the authenticity that when Queen Kapilani Princess Lilo Kalani when they first got this gift from Victoria Queen Victoria it was so beautiful they wanted to give it as a present and then that's how it spread out but then this that he what I thought that he could articulate his art and his craftsmanship his skill is all goes in there just like it was how the Queens and the princess was just miss mesmerized right that's why yeah well I agree completely and again getting the story into the silver into the gold is such a fantastic marketing tool you know I bet some of these customers can't control themselves they just will take it will take it all you know once they see it in person that's great let's talk about shipping for a second because a lot of the companies we talked to they have a difficult time with shipping to foreign markets shipping to Japan for example it's expensive and quantities can be complicated in the jewelry business do you have these kinds of issues with shipping yes we do because I think have everything to go to the custom the shipping part depend on what company using we're trying to use black cat but it's super expensive yeah and they're very how would I say this they really need picking every single thing like you know you need to come up with the scientific name for thing like we don't want to see silver you know because sometimes I try not to send some gift box like when you see here right and then even this I have to write everything down you know what is for and where is made up from and with that normally when you send it to those kind of a private company it tends to get stopped and then it can be very expensive what it's nice about Tom is sometimes I'm surprised that are you sure you're going to keep this price this low compared to the competition out there who make all these Hawaiian jewelry he just tends to bring it down so reach all these people who wants it and who wants it true beauty and there you know as a gift or for themselves but all this that tax and all this adds up and and then he has to put that on that's the hurting part of us too of course just not the money but it just hurts that when we want to render give all this beauty to the people out there over the seas yeah so I think the best shipping is USPS flat rate yes yes yes I think that but even that unit has stopped me just a map we have some snag now and then like I don't know the I feel like the policy when you try to ask the people here and you try to cope with the custom in Japan sometimes it's not like in the same level yeah so one person has said something like okay you're gonna follow this policy and by the time you get Japan is like out of window the policy changes yeah so we have to like adapt every single time and we try not you know so they tell us like oh you put a you know like inventory number into the box and we used to do that and then like they still send tell us okay since this is the number this is how much we gonna charge you right so and then some stuff charging they all charge it differently depending on what what kind of finished product you put in you know it's not like okay silver it's silver right so but because they see the design on top of the silver then they assume is like oh this is high-end so they want to charge you according to what the actual piece would be but you don't have to worry about any product being stolen in the shipping process no not not not to Japan yeah so now I don't now I don't bring back anymore because I don't want them to ship it back to me I just leave it there and then yeah just keep it there saving them the you know this the cost of shipping I think that's the part of doing business in Japan I think because when you come to the custom even come to the airport you know they have to go through all that stuff again and then you just still have to pay taxes coming back right because you kind of use Kanye we call it like sample whatever goes out have to come back in you know so but I mean I would love to know more about that you know if we can have some expert that I can explain things to us yeah it's difficult we're on all these our companies here are just out in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and trying to ship product but it's very complicated I assume most of your product goes by air right not but all right we're going to wrap up this episode of exporting from Hawaii okay let's tell people how do they find lahana jewelry how can they order I know lahana a la hana jewelry comm is one source but where's your office of business 1088 Bishop sweet 205 and they can contact you by my telephone number or email 3 8 6 1 3 5 9 is my contact number and the email is under Tom at lahana jewelry calm THOM ok also Wednesday Saturday Sunday we are rain or shine time out there and listen to the ball game yeah and also good now we just recently started launched out if see oh really see oh that's why just hit Tom's your body he'll come out on Google switch thank you for bringing that up I didn't know I also demo at the stadium so you want to come see a live demo yes wonderful well thank you very much I wish you nothing but continue to excess success and expansion in Japan and beyond with your exporting activities so thank you again this is Rob hack wrapping up another episode of exporting from Hawaii thanks to Tom Srivata and Hanai Matsuo from lahana jewelry mahalo mahalo