Utsuwa OKI, a tableware shop in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture, sells tableware it chooses by visiting makers across Japan, both at its physical store and through its online shop. The shop installed Howdy when it switched to new customer accounts, and our dedicated Howdy team handled the initial setup of its sign-up page.
| Store | Utsuwa OKI |
|---|---|
| Company | OKI Inc. |
| Location | Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture, Japan |
| Business | Sells tableware by makers from across Japan. Opened its physical store and online shop in 2021 |
| Online shop | https://oki-official.net/ (Japanese) |
| Feature used | Sign-up form |
| Initial setup | Handled by Howdy's dedicated team |
Q. Tell us about Utsuwa OKI.
Utsuwa OKI is a tableware shop in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture. We opened our physical store and online shop in 2021 under the concept of "enjoying the table with tableware."
Drawing on the owner's many years of experience in the restaurant business, we visit makers across Japan and choose tableware ourselves. We cook, plate, and use the pieces every day, and we share what we love about them along with ideas for enjoying them at the table.
Q. What products do you carry?
We mainly carry ceramics, along with glass, woodwork, lacquerware, and other pieces by makers from across Japan. Our range covers tableware such as rice bowls, plates, soup bowls, sake ware, and donabe clay pots, as well as flower vases.
Q. What is your top recommended product, and what makes it special?
There are many pieces we'd like to recommend each season, but if we had to pick one, it would be the rice-cooking pot from Mukaigama. It is also popular as a gift.
Mukaigama is a kiln that has been operating since the late Edo period. Its pots look good enough to set on the table, and they cook rice deliciously.
It gets used often at the everyday table, and it makes you want to use it again and again. Everything OKI values when choosing tableware comes together in this rice-cooking pot.
Mukaigama's rice-cooking pots and donabe are listed on the online shop's feature page, 2026 Iga Rice-Cooking Pots and Donabe: Mukaigama (Japanese).
Q. How did you handle the switch from legacy customer accounts?
We had heard in advance that the account pages would be switched to the new version, so we proceeded while consulting with the app vendor, including how things would be managed and reflected through the app.
Q. How did you come to choose Howdy?
It was developed by a Japanese team, and no other app let us keep a sign-up page after switching to the new account pages, so we decided to adopt it right away.
Q. Which Howdy features do you actually use?
We use it to keep our sign-up page.
Utsuwa OKI also left the following review on the Shopify App Store on April 18, 2026.
Being able to add our own fields to the sign-up form even with new customer accounts is a huge help. We could also freely change the popup's title and description from the admin. When we asked whether we could add a birthday-month customer tag based on the birthday entered, the team handled that request through support. Since it is a Japanese app, I think even first-time users can use it with peace of mind. The support team was also very attentive and kind, so installation and setup went smoothly.
Source: Shopify App Store: Howdy: New Customer Accounts Sign-Up Form reviews
Q. During initial setup, what did you consult Howdy Support about?
The admin was entirely in Japanese and made very easy to operate, but we didn't understand how the operations and integrations worked, so we asked them to handle the entire setup for us.
Q. How did Howdy Support respond to your request?
They listened to us very attentively and explained in careful detail how to achieve what we wanted to do, so we never felt uneasy at all. Takahashi-san was also a wonderful person to work with, and we felt reassured from start to finish.
Q. How are you using the customer information you now collect at sign-up?
At this point, we aren't making full use of it yet.
Going forward, we want to use it to keep sending news about new arrivals, exhibitions, and events to customers who opt in to receive them.
Q. Finally, what are your plans going forward?
As a shop that connects makers and users, we want to share the joy of using tableware with more people.
On our online shop, we will introduce work by new makers and put more effort into sharing plating ideas and how the pieces feel in use. We want to be a shop where customers far away can choose pieces while picturing their own tables.
We hope the tableware people find at OKI will make cooking more enjoyable and mealtimes something to look forward to, and we will keep making suggestions toward that.
Utsuwa OKI's tableware is available from its online shop (Japanese) and at its store in Sodegaura, Chiba Prefecture.
About the deprecation of legacy customer accounts
On February 26, 2026, Shopify deprecated legacy customer accounts and announced that it will stop providing feature updates and technical support for them. The final sunset date is scheduled to be announced later in 2026. With new customer accounts, the standard sign-up is completed with just an email address and a verification code. With Howdy, you can add a sign-up form with fields your store chooses, even on new customer accounts.
For what to check before switching, see 5 things to check before migrating from legacy customer accounts.
Source: Shopify Changelog: Legacy customer accounts are deprecated
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