Japanese Stationery

Tissue-thin slips of paper for writing memos.

Incense for stationery - scented little inserts to put in letters.

More stationery incense.

Scented bookmarks.

Winter postcards.

Tiny accordion-fold booklets, about 1.5" high.

Postcards with gold accents. Japanese have a tradition
of exchanging New Year's Day postcards. 2010 is the
year of the tiger, so tigers are everywhere right now.

Postcard featuring bamboo with gold.

A vintage woodblock print from 1903 featuring stylized bamboo.
I like the citrus green on brown and art deco feel.

Kurodaya's handmade business card is decorated with
a piece of colorful goldfish chiyogami.

One of my favorite things: a stunning hand-printed
envelope with chrysanthemum design and gold accents.
The ink scent and paper texture are delicious.

Kurodaya's paper bags.

Maybe my second favorite thing: mini envelopes with
hand-printed elephants, about 2" square.

Autumnal postcards: mushrooms and
gingko leaves with a swirl of wind.

A set of 5 postcards featuring autumn leaves.
(Japanese products usually come in sets of 3, 5 or 6,
rarely 4, as one pronunciation of the number 4 -"shi" -
sounds like the word for "death" and is considered bad luck.)

A sweet set of whimsical owl postcards.

Artist Yumeji Takehisa apparently was not respected by his peers
during his time, but was popular with "ordinary people"
and is loved by collectors now.

There's a slight roughness to his work
which is part of the charm. Great color.

Playful kitty letter set. Cats and dogs are well-loved in Japan
and used as motifs everywhere.

This is beautiful...letter paper which tucks into a flap
to form its own envelope, and matching slips of memo paper.
Small slips of decorative paper for writing that "hito-koto" -
- literally, one word, or brief note - are popular items.

Sights of Japan's regions advent calendar/card.

Sumo card! The wrestlers perf out and players make them
bounce and "wrestle" in the sumo ring.

Delicately ornate, panoramic lasercut card. I love the
minimal palette, all brown with just accents of soft pink.

A simpler, elegant lasercut card featuring a
panel in the background with color photo.

I love these ladies in kimono, skiing and snow-golfing.

These floral cards are hand printed in rich jewel-tones.

I've devoted a decade of my life to the stationery industry so you'd think that would give me more than my fill of it, but even now I see a nice paper goods shop and I'm in love all over again.

Japan is the paper and stationery lovers' mecca. Much care is placed in the creation of paper and keeping up the various traditions of handmade paper crafts and seasonal letter-writing. I appreciate most Japanese design, but it's in stationery where you most readily find the expression of traditional Japanese aesthetics and values: respect for simplicity, reverence for nature and changing seasons, a sense of nostalgia, a love of whimsy.

Another thing I enjoy about good stationery is the almost full sensory experience it offers. A well-crafted postcard or greeting card engages your vision first as you take in and appreciate its design, then your sense of touch as you pick it up and feel the papers and other materials used. Sometimes even your sense of hearing and smell are involved if it happens to be a music card, and in Japan, I noticed the trend of adding incense adornments to your letters. The only sense missing out is taste, but who knows, maybe that will change in future. And then, there's the emotional aspect engaged in a card: perhaps the image or the sentiment evokes something, a memory, a longing, a laugh, a message you want to convey, or simply a deepened awareness for beauty and the urge to share it.

Japanese stationery is especially tactile, which I really anticipate and savor each time I enter a stationery shop. When crafted of quality paper, simple cards - some even bordering on being visually boring - change and come to life as soon as you pick them up and run your fingers over them. There is a pleasing texture to handmade papers such as washi that is like no other sensory experience. Its coarseness and warmth in your hands bring dimension and spirit to whatever you're creating.

There are stationery and paper shops all over Tokyo, but a few I recommend:

Kurodaya - in Asakusa right near Kaminari-mon and the subway. It was established in 1856. This is my favorite store - sometimes the larger stores can be overwhelming, and this shop is charming, unique and manageable (plus it's in wonderful Asakusa right at the Nakamise-dori shopping district). You can find traditional stationery and paper-crafted goods, kites, origami paper, washi (handmade wood fiber paper), chiyogami (elaborate silkscreened paper), and new and vintage wood block prints in a range of prices.

Ito-ya - this huge stationery and office/art supply emporium is in several locations, the largest found in Ginza (2-7-15 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, phone 81 3 3561 8311). I stumbled on a smaller one off the metro in Shibuya and still spent a good half-hour browsing through a wide range of greeting cards and postcards - traditional, contemporary and imported. At this time of year, you can find a variety of non-Western holiday and New Year's cards, many beautifully printed or with intricate lasercut designs.

Loft - there are several locations but I always go to the one in Shibuya for old times' sake. There's a good selection of housewares and gifts, but I pretty much head straight for the stationery floor. Cute letter sets, a large assortment of journals and planners, and nice art supplies.

Tokyu Hands - again, I go to the one in Shibuya. This place is so fun for the crafty DIY-ers. There's a lot of stuff for the "creative life," including wacky party supplies and costumes, supplies for beauty and health, housewares, art supplies, and of course, stationery. Their stationery seems to range in quality each time I visit, some years not so great, but this year, better, with a great collection of calendars (which was actually not in the stationery department) - so it's still worth visiting.

Check out my post on Japanese calendars here.