6 Unique Stationery You Should Get in Japan | Guidable - Your Guide to a Sustainable, Wellbeing-centred Life in Japan

6 Unique Stationery You Should Get in Japan

By Guidable Writers Sep 2, 2017

We all know that Japan has a ton of cool merchandise that always amuses us. Today, I would like to focus on stationery, and share some of the most popular stationery in Japan. Although new types of stationery come out every year, I want to introduce the never-get-old products that so many people enjoy using.

 

1. Kuru-Toga

 

This mechanical pencil was so innovative when it was first released, aimed at students and writers. I myself went to a Japanese elementary school where we were only allowed to use normal pencils. So for us, using mechanical pencils was a kind of a super cool thing back then. Fast forward to today, and I’ve been using mechanical pencils from this brand for the past 10 years. The most amazing thing about this pencil is that it doesn’t break often when writing with it. There is a small rotating part in the pencil that moves the lead as you write so you can always be writing with a sharp point.

 

2. Staple-free stapler

http://www.kokuyo-st.co.jp/stationery/sl-stapler/

The motifs of this product are ‘environment’, ‘safety’ and ‘efficiency’. As you can tell from its name, this stapler does not need any metal staples. This is obviously environmentally-friendly and much safer for children and the elderly. Personally, I like using this one just because it feels so good when you staple papers together. They now have two types of this stapler for putting sheets of paper together. The first one is the most basic, making an incision and folding the other sheet of paper into the cut. The other one is press type, which does not cut the paper but just ‘presses’ to stick them together. The cool part about this type is that the bound part can be easily taken off, and also since there’re no staples, paper thickness is reduced by 60%!

 

3. Personal information protection stamp

https://bungu.plus.co.jp/product/security/keshipon/keshipon.html
This stamp was invented to conceal your confidential personal information just by adding stamps. In Japan, people usually tear up or use a shredder to destroy their envelopes or documents with important information on it. As you can imagine, as the amount of these papers goes up, it can be such a pain in the neck. This stamp can help you hide sensitive information with the random arrangement of special patterns. They also have a roller version, and once the ink is used up you can replace it with new ink. If you ever worry or get paranoid about the confidentiality of your information, this is a must-buy item for you!

 

4. Scissors pen

https://goo.gl/nXez39

This window highlighter was first released in 2000 from the same Kuru-toga, and has been a very popular product ever since. The best thing about this highlighter is of course its small window at the tip of the pen. It helps you see where you are drawing a line so that you can highlight the exact part you want. They also have a quick-dry ink version, which was released in 2015. This new ink dries up in one-third of the time it used to take, so you won’t get ink on your hand after writing. Pick your favorite version and try it out at the store!

 

5. Tape glue

http://www.askul.co.jp/p/042459/

Have you ever struggled with using a glue stick? The excess glue would always stick to your hand, and it’s hard to remove it. Also, the glued paper would roll up on itself, which makes it harder to attach. Tape glue will help you reduce any stress from gluing! Recently the quality has been improving, so gluing is completely stress-free. It’s generally reusable as well. The only thing you need to do is open the container and replace the old tape glue with a new roll. Check out this stress-free tape glue and add it to your desk!

 

6. Kado-keshi

カドケシ

http://www.kokuyo-st.co.jp/stationery/kadokeshi/products/

Kado-keshi is an eraser with eight corners. It was released by Kokuyo in 2003 and won the Kokuyo design award in the same year. Now they have a Disney version, key-chain version and even a Kado-keshi shaped couch! When using an eraser, it ends up getting too round and erases a much wider area than you want it to. I’ve been seen so many people using Kado-keshi, and they love it. If you want a cool and efficient eraser, this is your choice!

 

These are just a few of the intriguing and useful little stationary products that you can find around Japan. Add a little style to your life with some of these cute items!!