Moe Yagihara is an exchange student from Japan. She offered us some cool tips for the best back-to-school items from Japan. Everything mentioned here can be purchased at the Kinokuniya store in Seattle. Mild Liner/Sarasa from Zebra The hashtag #studygram, which is a portmanteau of “study” and “Instagram,” was trending among teenagers recently. With this hashtag, students share pictures of their organized and colorful...
TERUO NAKAMURA RUNS a small family printer in Kita Ward, Tokyo. When his friend’s bindery business ran out of work, he took him in and gave him a part-time job. Nakamura was in his 70s and his part-time partner, also named Nakamura, was 80. The two soon became obsessed with making one last great product to help the family business. Their goal: to make...
This ballpoint pen, called FriXion, was a huge hit five years ago in Japan. Today it’s still a steady seller because of one special attribute: it can erase mistakes. It took the venerable pen maker Pilot 30 years to come up with a pen that erases with ease and leaves no marks behind. The little rubber eraser at the end of the pen works...
Capture your memories with paper and pen on your next trip. You’ll thank yourself years later, when you pick up the notebook and immediately travel in time back to that wonderful trip you once took. This Traveler’s Notebook is made in a small factory in the Nakameguro neighborhood of Tokyo. It was made with the traveler in mind. The carefully tanned leather cover feels...
As the name “Pure Malt” suggests, the pen uses material from whiskey- making. Whiskey is often aged in barrels made of 100-year-old oak; those barrels can be in use for as much as 60 years. The Pure Malt SS2005 is made from the whiskey barrels. Because they are made from the panels of the aged whiskey barrels, each ballpoint pen has a slightly different...
Casually sharpen your Flower Pencil and watch their reaction as the shavings drop from the pencil in the shape of flower petals! The brightly colored pencils, designed by Toshihiro Otomo in Japan, come in different shapes that create beautiful little petals when sharpened. The eco-friendly pencils are made mostly from recycled paper and are easy to sharpen. A set of five pencils includes a...
It’s Christmas Eve, and you haven’t even started buying those little stocking stuffers. What to do? We’ve got you covered. The following stocking-stuffer ideas can all be found at Uwajimaya grocery store in the International District, so you can get everything in one stop. Asian facial masks Uwajimaya stocks a wide variety of soothing facial masks from Asia to restore and revitalize skin. They...
