About the products
How do you choose your products?
My aim with Imouto is that you get to enjoy Japanese and other cute characters in your everyday life through everyday items! So I am always trying to think of items that you would use on a daily basis such as umbrellas (essential for British weather), thermos mugs for your take-away coffee, lunch boxes etc.
To get the maximum cuteness, I choose products based around characters with fun personalities rather than just cute items. I love all the products to have a story behind them - this means you can enjoy the products even more and immerse yourself in the lives of the characters.
Do you have the latest items from Japan?
Sadly we are not always able to stock the latest products from Japan. Often there is an exclusivity clause that means a product has to be sold in Japan for 6 months before it can be sold elsewhere in the world! So you will find many of our products are technically older stock but they are new for the UK market.
Are your items authentic?
Yes! It’s so important to me that all the items we stock are genuine and authentic - I know from personal experience how disappointing it is to find it’s not as you expected. Some are original products from Japan and others are from official license holders and I make a note of this on each product for you.This means that you can be sure you are receiving top quality items that are actually character merchandise - there are many knock-offs that can be found that are meant to be the characters but don’t actually look like them!!
Related to this is also your health and safety. Cheap counterfeit items can contain toxins etc. that you do not want to come into contact with. The EU and UK also have the strictest laws in the world relating to the flammability of materials and even genuine items from Japan meet these regulations as they have different laws. Some do but some don’t.
Everything sold here on Imouto meets the EU and UK laws so you know you are buying safe products. There is also a warning on all our products regarding their safety for younger children - please keep these in mind if you are buying a gift for someone younger!
Stock availability
Many of our products have limited stock on them - once they are gone they are very hard to restock. This is because the Japanese manufacturers plan in advance how much they will sell in Europe and the rest of the world - thus they make a limited number of items! Argh!
If you find an item you loved is out of stock and it hasn’t reappeared on the website, do get in touch and I can let you know what the situation is.
Alternatively, if you’ve discovered an item you love elsewhere and would like Imouto to stock it just get in touch to let me know at hello@imouto.uk!
Images
Please note that products may look slightly different in reality than the pictures on our website. This is due to photography and editing that I do so the product looks its best for you. However, I am extremely careful about keeping the authentic colours and so you won’t find strange filters of effects applied to our items, expect perhaps on Imouto Social Media accounts where I like to make posts sparkly :3! All those on the website are as true to the product as possible.