It’s hard to say how I got here, beguiled by ruled paper and pencil shavings. I suppose it began with my love for school, which I associate with sparkly pencil cases and those folders with cuddly kittens that stopped being produced sometime in the ‘90s. As I got older, shopping for a new planner became an activity worth devoting hours to, and to this day, the sensation of a smooth pen gliding on a fresh new page pleases me to no end.
We all aestheticize things we need to some degree—clothing, furniture, food. For me it’s about the desk object. I can’t remember the last time I needed a rubber Milan eraser (made in Spain), or a Coccoina glue stick that smells like almonds (made in Italy), but that’s besides the point. I will go far and wide to seek the very best in office supplies, because there’s something really special about finding the foreign in the everyday (those who revel in international grocery shopping would agree).
There are certain so-called stationery cities—Florence, Berlin, Barcelona, to name a few. It was in London that I became obsessed with vintage wares, found at one-of-a-kind stores like Present & Correct and Choosing Keeping. But everyone who spells stationery correctly with an “e” knows the mecca is Tokyo. Like every other traveler who took advantage of the weakening Yen, I booked a trip to Japan’s capital last year with the intent of shopping the stationery stores I had only heard whisperings of throughout my many years of collecting.
A little bit of research on the internet led me to Ito-ya—if you can believe it, a stationery store consisting of 12 floors that’s been around for over 100 years—in Tokyo’s Ginza district. I was traveling with my brother on this trip, and once we made our way past Itoya’s glass doors, I respectfully told him to get lost. I needed at least four hours to roam the floors, unbothered and not rushed—and even that wasn’t enough.
You think you have some understanding of what stationery can be, and then you go to Japan. I’m talking walls of stickers featuring the most esoteric imagery, from gold-trimmed sea slugs to symbols of ancient Egypt; shelves upon shelves of fancy correspondence papers for those letters you’ll almost certainly start writing to your friends; the tactile delights that are distinctly Japanese, from origami kits and furoshiki wrapping cloth to washi tapes and calligraphy tools.
To put it simply, there’s no one who understands the intersection of whimsy and utility quite like the Japanese. I continued my stationery journey throughout Tokyo, stopping at other spots like Loft, a department-style store that leans more into lifestyle, as well as a few smaller shops, like Kakimori, where you can create your own original notebook on the spot, with a choice of cover, paper, rings, and fasteners. Pro tip: Make sure you carry your passport with you, as many of these shops offer tax-free transactions for international visitors.
I felt as though I got to know the city through this small channel, down to the artful way employees handed me my change and a paper receipt with a graceful bow. I returned home with bags of stickers for all my friends and made peace with the fact that I had only just scratched the surface of Japan’s stationery landscape. Thankfully, you can find Japan’s most popular planners and pens, no matter where you are in the world. Here are a few of my favorites.
