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Joe Samalin
info@nihonsantools.com

These are the words of Will O'Connor, my great friend and head teacher at Nihonsan. Struggle is your best teacher. Now usually when he says this, I heckle him mercilessly. But at the same time, I have seen him up close, teaching a full class of students for 7 hours straight, steaming and bending 200 pieces of oak for a commission, bouncing around NYC from sushi restaurant to sushi restaurant hand planing cutting boards and repairing furniture. And he truly is a pretty strong example of this idea, that struggle can be our best teacher. 

I share this not to sing his praises but because I and Nihonsan have hit a seemingly Marx Brothers-worthy slew of struggles of late, some of which affect the business and (hopefully minimally) our customers and students. I believe in transparency - as much as is possible, comfortable, and safe (or as my partner so eloquently and accurately puts it, I have lots of talk and fewer filters). And so I wanted to share a few things with folks who have supported Nihonsan so far. 

Most of you have heard me say that I am currently looking for a new space to move to and expand the shop (yay!). After months of working with the team behind a new construction in Gowanus that offered everything I wanted and more, we found out abruptly last Friday that the deal is off the table. While not the end of the world, it was a pretty hard emotional hit and leaves me having to get myself out of some big plans I had for the new space.

Additionally, after months of waiting for the current import tariffs shoe to drop, it finally did. I got hit with 3 payment requests for tool orders from Japan already delivered to me (which is how it works apparently), and now owe thousands of bucks more than I had planned and allotted for that inventory, with the likelihood of more tariffs to come. 

Will teaching our very first ever Toolbox class in his backyard.

Seriously, the guy is a beast.

But, struggle is different from obstacle. Obstacles need to be removed. Struggle is a friend. 

This is the full point Will makes in his classes. And for me differentiating which are the struggles I should learn from and which are the obstacles to avoid or muscle through is a challenge for me, but here goes.

Running Nihonsan is a struggle and a delight. It is a passion project of mine and we survived a year so far and only have up to go from here. Thanks to everyone who has helped and supported us to date, it means more than you can know. And now the obstacles!

• Due to increased costs (tariffs and shipping), we will most likely be increasing our prices slightly in the coming months. We ask your patience on this, and to trust that our commitment to lowering the barriers of entry for everyone to Japanese woodworking remains strong, including our sliding scale prices for those who might need them.
• We are back looking for a new space. Around 1000 square feet would be ideal, hopefully not in a basement, and so if you know a guy who knows a guy, or have any ideas, or pass a nice looking storefront that has a for lease sign on the window, let us know! Thanks to all who have done that in the past, as well. 
• I have started looking into different ways of increasing Nihonsan's capital to support our growth and expansion. If anyone has info/expertise on business loans, investors, or is just crazy wealthy ;) please let me know. 

It really is all of you that make it possible to avoid the obstacles, and I hope to see you all this Thursday!

Nihonsan Tools and Hardware building the next generation of woodworkers!

If you have a story/project/question you'd like to share in the newsletter, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at info@ninhonsantools.com. Enjoy!  

—Joe Samalin

We didn't know what to expect when we got a call from someone late for the meetup a few months back, who said they were locked outside the building (it closes at 7pm) and wanted in. I don't think they knew that they would leave that meetup with an offer to join Nihonsan as our newest instructor! Please join is in welcoming Vaishu Ilankambam to the Nihonsan family, and keep an eye out for her classes which will be posted in the coming weeks! Here is a bit about her along with some pieces of her incredible work, which should convey how excited we are to be working with and learning from her. 

Just goes to show you, never miss a Japanese woodworking meetup!

Vaishu is an artist and woodworker with over 10 years of experience working across both furniture and sculpture. Originally from Southeast Michigan she got into woodworking at small community classes when living and working as an engineer in New Hampshire. She then went on to train at the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship in Maine where she recently spent a summer in residence as a furniture fellow. Prior to moving to New York, she served as a senior designer, craftsperson and woodworker for George Nakashima Woodworkers for five years. It was in the daily handcrafting of furniture for Nakashima that she honed in on her skills as a woodworker and hopes to share her love and appreciation for the craft and the material to others. Vaishu currently teaches woodworking to undergraduates at CUNY Hunter. 

The dark butterflies in the closeup shot on the right here might just be the focus of the first class Vaishu teaches with us!