Privacy Policy

Effective September 2026

What We Collect

When you make a purchase, we collect your email address to take payment and deliver your order. Your email address is kept as part of your order record so we can deliver your files, answer your questions, and process refunds. We do not use it for marketing, we do not add it to any mailing list, and we do not share it beyond the vendors who process your payment and deliver your email. A copy of your order confirmation is retained for customer support and proof of purchase.

Order information. When you place an order we collect your name and email address. For physical items we also collect your delivery address. Some countries require an additional identifier for customs clearance, which we collect only when that country requires it and only for that purpose.

Card payments are processed by Stripe. PayPal is available on some checkouts, including scrolls and other physical items. Either way, your payment details go to the payment processor, not to us. We never see or store them.

When you browse the site, our web server automatically collects standard access log data: your IP address, browser type, pages visited, and the date and time of your visit. This data is used to maintain site security, diagnose technical issues, and improve the site.

When you search for a name, we store the search term to help us decide which new designs to create.

When you visit pages, we record which pages are viewed and general browsing patterns to improve the site.

Cookies

The site uses two small cookies to understand how visitors navigate:

• Session cookie (_sid): An anonymous identifier that links your page views during a single visit. Contains no personal information. Expires after 30 minutes of inactivity or 2 hours, whichever comes first. Cannot be read by JavaScript or other websites.
• Return visit cookie (_rv): An anonymous identifier that tells us you've visited before, so we can understand how returning visitors use the site over time. Contains no personal information — just a random code that links your visits. Expires after 30 days. Cannot be read by JavaScript or other websites.

Neither cookie contains your name, email, or any personal details. Neither is shared with third parties. Both are encrypted and cannot be tampered with.

During checkout, Stripe sets two additional cookies: __stripe_mid (device identification for fraud prevention, 1-year expiration) and __stripe_sid (session identification, 30-minute expiration).

No advertising or tracking cookies are used.

How We Use AI

We use AI to help us behind the scenes — specifically, Anthropic's Claude.

What AI does for us: research your name against our scholarly sources, assemble what we need to know about a customer when they write in (so Eri or Tim can reply with full context), and study aggregate site patterns — which names are searched, which pages get visited — to decide which new designs to brush.

What AI does not do for us: write replies to you. Every word a customer reads from us is written by Tim or Eri. AI also does not make our calligraphy — every Japanese character on this site was brushed by Eri Takase herself.

We value Anthropic's work on the safety and trustworthiness of AI. That's why we use them exclusively for any AI work that touches takase.com — there are cheaper providers, but trust matters more in something that can see what our customers send us.

We do use other AI tools (like xAI's Grok) for internal consults — research, second opinions, thinking through hard problems. Those tools never see customer data. Not your name, not your email, not your search, not your message. That line is firm.

Data Sharing

We do not sell or rent your personal information.

These third-party services handle data on our behalf:

• Stripe processes payments and the email address tied to your purchase. See stripe.com/privacy.
• PayPal processes payments when PayPal is selected at checkout. See paypal.com/privacy.
• Postmark delivers transactional email (order confirmations, replies to messages you send us). See postmarkapp.com/privacy.
• Anthropic provides the Claude AI assistant described above. See anthropic.com/privacy.

These services see only the data needed to do their job. None of them are advertising platforms.

Shipping. When you order a physical item, we give your name and delivery address to the United States Postal Service so your order can be delivered. For international orders, the required customs declaration accompanies the package and is available to the destination country's customs authority.

Other than these services and the delivery of your order, we do not share customer data with anyone.

Data Retention

• Order records: Retained for customer support, refunds, and tax purposes.
• Server access logs: Retained for site security and product improvement. When you order or write to us, we may connect your earlier visits to your order or message so we can better serve you.
• Search and browsing data: Retained indefinitely for product improvement.

Your Rights

To request deletion of your data, ask questions about this policy, or exercise any other right you have over your data, contact eri@takase.com.

If you live in the European Union, the United Kingdom, or California, you have additional rights under your local laws (access, deletion, portability, opt-out of sale). We honor those rights — same email.

Contact

Takase Studios, LLC eri@takase.com