Yoseka Notebook. A year ago, we made our first notebook with Conifer, a Taiwanese company that has been making notebooks since 1955. In the past few years, they started working on some interesting papers. Their notepad - 習慣寫字 (The Habit of Writing) - sits at the center of our pen testing table. The Habit of Writing notepad uses their first version of paper called KBU, and the notepad is an iconic notepad that represents the writing trend in Taiwan in recent years. Earlier 2018, they came out with KBU2 - a smoother, thicker paper that’s more suitable for writing on...

Tsubame Note started in 1936 in Japan as a stationery company. Ten years later, in 1946 they started making their own paper and notebooks. Tsubame's paper, named Fool's paper, was a response to the popular high end Foolscap paper from England at that time. (Fool's Cap was used as a watermark for paper long before, and it became a standard unit for paper size and a synonym for good paper.) Typically, when a paper is designed for fountain pen, it comes with a tradeoff. It's smooth, but it takes longer to dry. It often takes so long to dry that ink...

Mini Dust Cleaner by Midori. Mini Dust Cleaner is a super adorable and functional eraser dust cleaner. When you push it across your desk, the little brushes sweep the dust into the back of the car. It might take a few runs to clean completely, but it makes work a lot more fun. It was first introduced in 1998, more than 20 years ago. A few improved versions have came out since then, and many kids from Asia grew up with it. Neil had one in elementary school too 😄See it in action here: https://www.instagram.com/p/BuChSLPhAWh/

So in love with our new store window. Over the weekend, Thoka (https://www.thokamaer.com/) designed and hand drawn our new window for us. It looks amazing and we are loving it right now! Thoka is an illustrator based in New York. Her works often feature in The New York Times, Calvin Klein, United Nations, Buzzfeed and many more. We are honored to feature her work on our window, and you can find her at hello@thokamaer.com

A new fun read for browsing in store. The book titled ‘500 Stationery Selection’ is produced by 趣味の文具箱 (Hobby Stationery Box). The title is self-explanatory. We have their magazines in our store for browsing too, and this book is a really condensed version of their magazines. From top 2018 trends, pencils, mechanical pens, pens to fountain pens, the book covers them all. Since 趣味の文具箱 focus more on fountain pens, this book goes more in depth comparing specific nibs between brands, and showing the nib differences in writing. This is published in Chinese, but mostly in pictures. Browse them in store...

A few months ago, Halt’s brand representative from Japan visited our store to introduce their new stationery product to us. They were really kind and we were really flattered they stopped by our store for a visit. We are so new and small, but they like what we do. It is really honoring when a new brand from far away believes in what we do 😊 Also they give us delicious chocolate and amazing cookies 😂 These are all the styles we have in store and the next post will show how they are used. The Halt sticker is a circular...

Pentel Kerry mechanical pencil. Kerry was first introduced in 1971 and named ‘万年CIL’ (Kerry). The term ‘万年’ implies fountain pen, and that’s what Pentel had in mind. Around the same period, Pilot had come up with many pocket-sized fountain pens such as Vanishing Point and the Elite series. And just like the Elite series, Kerry features small body with a long cap. When the pen is capped, the cap extends the small body to regular size, and the tip of the cap becomes the push button for the mechanical pencil. The body is thicker than a normal pencil especially near...

This month, we are excited to have two Calligraphy workshops with Sored and Becky. More new works from Queens artists, and lots of new pens and new arrivals in store. Open Workshops Watercolor Lettering - Friday Night from 7pm to 10pm, February 22nd. No prior experience required.           Queens Artists Miwa NeishiMiwa is a ceramics artist originally from Tokyo and now living in Sunnyside. She creates her art pieces just a few blocks away from us at Sculpture Space NYC. Each of her work is unique and an abstract mix of Japanese tradition and pop elements that...

We are really excited to kick off our year with an amazing lineup. All of the pens are available for testing in our Sunnyside store in Queens, New York.Fountain Pen:- TWSBI Emerald Green- Pilot Custom 823- Pilot Justus- Pilot Falcon- Pilot Vanishing Point- Kaweco Sports - New Colors- OHTO Tasche fountain penPen:- Brilliant ballpoint pen by Hightide- FriXion 0.38mmMechanical Pencil:- Mono Graph shaker- Uni Mitsubishi 2.0mm lead holder Cards:- New cards from Spaghetti & Meatballs- New cards from PingOther:- Arch Foam eraser- 5 minutes sand glass by Hightide- Mini Tool Box- Mr. Germ hand stamp- 60 new FriXion stamps- Automatic...

From left to right: 趣味の文具箱 Vol 48 (Hobby Stationery Box Vol.48): This edition features some of our favorite Japanese stationery stores, and many great stationery that are under 1000 USD. Browsing the pictures is quite satisfying, and it’s always great to learn what each writer’s favorite pen is and why. 老時代文具 (Vintage Stationery): The book re-introduces stationery items over the past 100 years. Some items simply become outdated, but some evolve through time. It’s really cool to see some old posters and vintage designs. ほぼ日手帳公式ガイドブック 2019 (Hobonichi Techo Official Guidebook 2019): The book goes through the different cover designs, and interviews...