For the first time in 23 years, Temari — Center for Asian and Pacific Arts won't be selling New Year's kadomatsu decorations because of substandard bamboo, triggering a scramble for replacement kadomatsu.

Temari already has refunded dozens of orders totaling about $8,000. But many of the group's normal customers for more than 500 kadomatsu probably haven't even begun to think about finding replacement kadomatsu this year, said Ann Asakura, the group's co-founder and executive director.

"The panic doesn't set in until after Christmas," Asakura said yesterday outside Temari.

The loss of Temari's supply of kadomatsu has disappointed many long-term, loyal customers, said Shayna Coleon, spokeswoman for the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i.

The Japanese Cultural Center regularly refers kadomatsu customers to Temari, and Coleon said she knows of no other large community group that regularly produces kadomatsu for sale.

This year, Temari had expected to transform 5,600 feet of bamboo into 400, 12-inch to 18-inch small kadomatsu; 125 "grand" kadomatsu 3 feet tall; 30 5-feet- tall kadomatsu for corporate clients; and a new, 6-inch, "mini kadomatsu" that Temari officials expected to draw new customers.

The costs would have ranged from $24 for a mini to $275 for a corporate kadomatsu.

The loss of kadomatsu sales means Temari won't generate its usual $18,000 to $25,000, representing 25 percent of the group's yearly operating budget.

"We're going to have to lessen expenses and do a lot more fund-raising," Asakura said. "We'll have to go back and do what our grandparents did, make do."

The tradition of kadomatsu — or "gate pine" — came to the Islands with the first generation of Japanese immigrants, who transformed their customs using bamboo and ironwood branches from their plantation windbreaks.

The matsu, or pine, symbolizes consistency, morality, vitality and eternal youth, according to the Japanese Cultural Center of Hawai'i. The bamboo represents both strength and flexibility.

Kadomatsu are often placed on both sides of an entry, with one representing a female through the smooth surface of the pine and the other representing a male with its rough bark, according to the Japanese Cultural Center.

Temari gets its bamboo from a regular supplier on O'ahu whose name is a closely guarded secret, Asakura said.

"There's a lot of bamboo in town, but it has to come up to our standards," Asakura said. "Unless it's beautifully dark green, with a lot of moisture and without scars, we won't make kadomatsu."

Temari officials learned in November that this year's bamboo crop was "kind of dry and still kind of white, with some patches," Asakura said. "We said, 'Geez, this is not going to work.' We weren't going to get the quality we want."

Four years ago, Temari officials churned out kadomatsu using substandard bamboo from a different supplier, and customers weren't happy.

"We had a lot of complaints that year," Asakura said. "We didn't want to have a repeat of that loss of quality."

Sheraton's four Hawai'i hotels had planned to buy two to three pairs of kadomatsu this year for each of the four properties' New Year's celebrations, said spokeswoman Krislyn Hashimoto.

"It's important for our hotels to understand the importance of perpetuating the cultural practice of having the kadomatsu up for our visitors, and locals as well," Hashimoto said. "But we understand that there's nothing they (Temari) can do."

So Sheraton officials found another source of bamboo and are paying a florist to transform it into kadomatsu, Hashimoto said.

She could not describe the quality of the replacement bamboo. But in general, Hashimoto said, "it has to be very, very straight, especially for the big bamboo that we use."

But other regular Temari customers don't know where to turn.

Irene Kawaguchi has bought Temari kadomatsu for each of the past 23 years and has even volunteered in the past to make kadomatsu arrangements for Temari.

Kawaguchi usually buys a few kadomatsu for her business, Wabi-Sabi craft store in Kaimuki, and for herself and for friends.

"It's a big, big disappointment," Kawaguchi said. "I don't know what I'm going to do this year."

Reach Dan Nakaso at dnakaso@honoluluadvertiser.com.