Furniture - Experience with Nissen

[Pogopuschel]

I was looking for places to buy furniture for my new room. In particular sofa, rug, chairs, table, etc. There's Muji close to my place so that's good for small things but their furniture is a bit on the expensive side. I haven't been to Ikea or Nitori yet as they're a bit further away but I'll drop by soon.

Anyway, my friend recommended me Nissen (www.nissen.co.jp). Things on there are for some reason dirt cheap. Especially sofas. Why? So I am a bit worried about the quality. Does anyone here have experience with furniture from nissen?

[hml]

I was looking for places to buy furniture for my new room. In particular sofa, rug, chairs, table, etc. There's Muji close to my place so that's good for small things but their furniture is a bit on the expensive side. I haven't been to Ikea or Nitori yet as they're a bit further away but I'll drop by soon.

Anyway, my friend recommended me Nissen (www.nissen.co.jp). Things on there are for some reason dirt cheap. Especially sofas. Why? So I am a bit worried about the quality. Does anyone here have experience with furniture from nissen?

Things are smaller than they look. Be sure to check the dimensions before you buy!

[rich dude kryptonite]

My kids have a sofa from Nissen. Crap. Same as Nitori. Muji is generally slightly better quality, and Franc Franc a cut above that.

IKEA is hit and miss as well. I like their sofas. Not great quality, but you get what you pay for. I thought a pleather sofa would be the way to go with kids as you can just wipe it up but it turns out that you will likely wipe most of the pleather off as well. I'd rather get the IKEA sofa with washable covers.

[RonBurgundy]

My kids have a sofa from Nissen. Crap. Same as Nitori. Muji is generally slightly better quality, and Franc Franc a cut above that.

IKEA is hit and miss as well. I like their sofas. Not great quality, but you get what you pay for. I thought a pleather sofa would be the way to go with kids as you can just wipe it up but it turns out that you will likely wipe most of the pleather off as well. I'd rather get the IKEA sofa with washable covers.

What are you using on those couches, Formula 88?

If it doesn't come off with water then your couch just became custom. My nissen couch is "THE NUTS". It turns into a bed after my house parties end and makes me the master of my living room/drinking area. The best part of the cheapness is if it does get too fuuccked up I just throw it away and buy another. I give nissen the thumbs up but be careful ordering because the item might be out of stock. They'll tell you 1 month wait but it's going to be longer than that.

[trip_hop]

My kids have a sofa from Nissen. Crap. Same as Nitori. Muji is generally slightly better quality, and Franc Franc a cut above that.

Nissen have been pretty good over the years here, good range, and they do provide a lot of information on their size measurements, most of their stuff is designed for the Japanese male body, short legs and long abdomen, so it can make seats hard to sit in. I also like that they take their time to make sure you are available for delivery, rather than turning up out of the blue and leaving the 'Not in' memos. Quality is reasonable for the price, if you want better, try places like Illum's Bolighus in Higashi-Totsuka.

[ttokyo]

It really depends what your expectations are. If you only stay a couple of years, investing in durable staff does not make so much sense.
Ikea and other non-mail order stopres has the big advantage that you can actually see and try the stuff before you buy. At Ikea it is generally expected that you take your staff home and assemble yourself, but they also offer shipping.
Also watch out for 'sales' at 'regular' furniture stores - over the last years I was able to buy leftover/display sets of chairs/tables twice at substantial discounts.
If you don't mind second-hand, also check sayonara sales on metropolis and craigslist.

[Pogopuschel]

Thanks a lot for the responses and tips. I don't think I will stay at this place more than 1-2 years so I don't care about durability too much. I just don't like the IKEA style, that's all. I've always furnished my previous places with IKEA and I'm getting sick of it. I guess I'll go with Nissen and see what happens...

[Since1990]

Once I bought an enormous sofa from Nissen. But it couldn't get through the doorway even after taking the door off its hinges. So I sent it back and got the smaller one that was in the catalogue. That sofa still works after 8 years of daily usage.

[well_bicyclically]

I have cabinets from Nissen, tatami bed as well. Table and chairs from Ikea. All are cheap. Look good for now. Easy to dispose of when they throw me out of this country for being too damn sexy, baby!

http://www.thespec.com/whatson/artse...ustin-powers-4

[hml]

I have cabinets from Nissen, tatami bed as well. Table and chairs from Ikea. All are cheap. Look good for now. Easy to dispose of when they throw me out of this country for being too damn sexy, baby!

Let's us know when you are too damn sexy, k?

[Trichophyton-in-my-pants]

I got a sofa from Nissen. Uncomfortable to sit on, but turns in to a guest bed in 2.6 seconds. It was cheap I give it that, but would gladly trade it for a proper clothes rack as that's its main function right now.

Testing before buying should be available online within the next three decades.

Edit: In case you're wondering WHY it's so damn uncomfortable to sit on, it's because the back rest is designed for little people. Two available modes include: (1) No upper back support, and (2) Sitting like your mom always told you not to. Looks fine in the pics though with a 140cm housewife.

[hml]

Edit: In case you're wondering WHY it's so damn uncomfortable to sit on, it's because the back rest is designed for little people. Two available modes include: (1) No upper back support, and (2) Sitting like your mom always told you not to. Looks fine in the pics though with a 140cm housewife.

Ah, a fine point! I remember going in to a furniture store and sitting on several sofas and a couple of them felt *really* nice. I wondered what made them so different and then I realized - they had tall backs. It makes a huge difference!!

[well_bicyclically]

Ah, a fine point! I remember going in to a furniture store and sitting on several sofas and a couple of them felt *really* nice. I wondered what made them so different and then I realized - they had tall backs. It makes a huge difference!!

I prefer the sofas at Costco.

I also prefer them with a pallet underneath them so they are raise to a height that is comfortable for freakishly-large sized humanoids... like the millions found infesting my home country...

kids being allowed to play on them as if they were items in a public playground is extra....

[trip_hop]

Just found a large IKEA catalogue in my mail box along with festival notices and the usual junk mail, they must be having a campaign now. It was full of pictures of furniture and goods in spacious European apartments and houses, overprinted with prices in Japanese Yen.

Clearly, whoever produced the catalogue had never been inside a Japanese house or apartment on a hot, humid summer day!

It just didn't work.....

[issen]

+ check http://www.nitori.co.jp/en/index.html

[bleedingkyo]

I've gotten tons of stuff at nissen over the years, including clothes. Easy to order, easy to send back, big selection. I have a nissen bed frame and mattress, kotatsu, tv stand, floor sofa, blanket sets, kitchen storage rack, rugs. Many of their items come in a variety of sizes and colors too. You get what you pay for. I got one of the more expensive beds and kotatsus on the site,and both of them are of decent quality. The bed is exceptionally comfortable for japan. The other stuff was not bad for the price. But yes, do check the measurements carefully, alot of the stuff does look bigger in pics. But one thing I liked alot about nissen instead of ikea, it is made to fit in japanese sizes apartments. I second the short back issue on the sofas. I had a sofa bed with a short back. It was really uncomfortable and I didn't use it much. I ended up selling up for a floor sofa, and this time i checked carefully how high the back was, and its much better. I'm even shorter than most japanese though, so the small furniture is mostly okay, but if you're tall, be careful. In general, I like nissen alot for its prices and convenience, but quality is hit or miss. As far as I know, they are mail order only and have no show rooms or anything. So it sucks to not be able to check the stuff in person before buying, but this is probably a big reason for their cheap prices, no need to keep actual stores.