Here’s a warning: be very cautious about buying anything big overseas.

Neither Steve nor I are big shoppers at home or abroad, and we particularly try to limit any purchases while traveling. We almost never check baggage, and our carry-ons only hold so much. But on our recent trip to Japan we made a big exception — to our eventual regret.

By way of background, almost 40 years ago, when we were remodeling our house, we built a platform in our bedroom to hold a Japanese-style bed. From a local (San Diego) supplier we bought three tatami (woven rice-straw) mats that fit by design into the platform. We placed traditional Japanese futons on this base and slept on (and under) them. Eventually we traded the (very hard) bottom futon for a regular mattress, which we’ve replaced a few times over the years. But we never replaced the tatami mats. As we approached our recent trip, it occurred to us that it might be a great opportunity to do so.

In an earlier post I explained how we asked our old friend Yoshi for help; he kindly found a modest tatami-making business near our Tokyo hotel. Steve and I had a great time going there with Yoshi one afternoon and chatting with one of the chief artisans.

We picked out what we wanted but decided not to place the order until we could recheck all the dimensions back at home. The shop owner didn’t want to be paid until his crew had made the mats for us, but we insisted on giving him the $350 in cash, figuring it would be easier than trying to transfer the funds electronically. (To a startling degree, the Japanese still rely on paper money.) Steve and I felt certain, even cocky, that finding a way to ship the mats to San Diego would be a piece of cake.

After all, many Americans move to Japan (and back again). Surely shippers must exist to transport their household items. Steve dove into trying to find one not long after we got back in October. That’s when reality set in. He learned the mats were too large to be handled by a “common carrier” like Fed Ex or UPS. We needed an international freight company.

He called several including DHL and Yamato, one of Japan’s largest freight and package-delivery services. Some were polite but said they didn’t do business with individuals, only companies that ship a lot of stuff. Yamato said surface shipping our mats would cost $1,400 and they wouldn’t arrive for weeks. Another tatami maker quoted us $1,700. A smaller Japanese freight forwarding company strung us along for a couple of weeks, then wrote to say they couldn’t help at all.

As we were getting desperate, Steve found an online business called Tokyo Tatami. In their online photos, the company’s operation looked a lot like the shop we had visited. But Tokyo Tatami has clearly found a niche in making tatami mats for folks all over the planet — and getting the mats to where they need to go.

We sadly let the first folks know we would not be able to place an order with them after all. Then in startlingly short order, we were able to use Tokyo Tatami’s well-designed web site to order what we needed. We received a detailed quotation the next day and follow-up e-mails in good English asking if we had any questions. After placing the order, the mats showed up on our doorstep in just over a week.

The total price for the mats and shipping was more than the original $350 (for the mats alone) but less than all of the quotes Steve got for shipping alone. To our enormous relief, the new mats fit perfectly. We hand-sanded the wood platform, and now it looks almost like new.

The downside was that our poor friend Yoshi had to travel from Yokohama back to Tokyo to reclaim our cash payment. We’re hoping his daughter will help him send it back to us via PayPal.

We regret having dragged him into all this. We promise not to do it ever again. (But our new tatami does look great.)