Harajuku Haul - August 2024
Harajuku is known around the world for alternative fashion, but in Japan, most people think of cute cafes! This month’s stationery set fits right in with Fairy-key fashionistas and sweets shops, while still delivering innovative stationery Japan & ZenPop is known for!
mitte Rame Binder from Sunstar Stationery
Have you seen our “Mini Journal" videos? Now’s your chance to create your own! This fashionable iridescent sparkling ring binder is all about self expression. It’s packed with 20 sheets of matching grid paper, one clear card pouch, has pockets on the inside of the cover and even a hole for a keychain. Decorate to your heart's content by putting designs or stickers in the pockets, perhaps add the cotton candy clear tape in this box for even more iridescence and have fun taking it on the go thanks to the protection of the sturdy vinyl and stitching! The colors are inspired by Y2K fashion.
KiraKira Clear Tape Cotton Candy from Worldcraft
We cannot say no to extra iridescence so we included this water resistant clear tape with a dreamy cotton candy design! It looks great on its own, but give it a single color background and the iridescence will truly come to light. Don’t stop at journal spreads, this works equally well on bottles, mugs, umbrella handles, phone covers etc. It can really change the atmosphere of a design, and works great for adding as a final layer in a design. You’ll need something sharp to cut it 20x5
KiraKira Masking Tape Saengil Cake from World craft
Strawberry shortcake, cherry mint or even literal rainbow sprinkle cake, are just some of the 11 designs you’ll find on this double foil washi tape. The foil details are incredibly accurate to the cakes and come in gold and amethyst. If you’re feeling crafty, you can cut or tear the cakes out individually to make your own little birthday stickers! Thanks to the Washi nature of the tape, it’s also easy to write on and use for layering. Kirakira is a Japanese Onomatopoeia for shiny or glittery!
Kissa Fusen from Hisago
Glassine paper is a water, grease and air resistant paper that makes these seals amazing as bookmarks, diary decor, and fun messages. The transparency and durability of the 15 sheets allow for any use case except for drawing on it with water based tools. Harajuku is known in Japan for the many fashionable dessert shops in between all the colorful clothes, and these animals surely got that message! You can get one of three designs with cute animals enjoying pancakes, ice cream or parfait. Designs are done by Iwasaki Yushi 55x70
awaii from Sunstar Stationery
This is a completely fresh highlighter from stationery behemoth Sun Star. The square base, the rounded cap, the matte surface, it looks more like it belongs in a cosmetics display window than in your ZenPop box. It’s far from all looks though! The flexible tip allows for easy calligraphy, the pale colors make layering a breeze and the nib shape turns edges and corners from a challenge to an afterthought. The name is a mix of kawaii & awai which means cute and pale respectively.
Chram in Pencil Cap Clear tea time from Kamio Japan
Avoiding pencils on the go because sharpening can be a challenge? Simply pop on one of these caps to protect the lead and ensure the sharpness of your tool wherever you are! Not only do they look cute, they’re filled with charms that have a peach scent to them. You can also open the charm compartment and change what goes inside. Another practicality is that once your pencil starts getting tiny, you can attach the charm on the back of the tool and you can keep using it. Equally good as a protective cap for cosmetics such as eyebrow pencils!
Tsunomaru Stationery Aclyric Charm Pencil 2B USA from Q-lia
A classic trope in Harajuku fashion is combining innocence with something a bit more sinister. The characters from the “Tsunomaru” series embody this with their adorable appearance, but, for some reason they all have tiny horns?? This pencil with Tsunomaru characters focusing on “Usa” is a 2B pencil which is a darker tone of lead, and features Usa as a cool charm on the back. Usa does not refer to the nation, it’s an abbreviation for Usagi (rabbit)
WHOMEE Letter set Sugar Green from Ryu Ryu
This letter set made waves in the Japanese stationery community when it was released as a special collaboration between cosmetics brand “WHOMEE” and stationery legend “Ryu Ryu”. The set includes 4 envelopes, 8 design letter sheets, 4 silver foil heart seals and 4 pink address labels. The envelopes are made of tracing paper creating a beautiful haze to the letters adorned with WHOMEE’s signature product packaging. You can play with the transparency to create your own designs, though the sherbet like colors are hard to resist using them as they are.
Sweets Nerikeshi 2 From Seed
Harajuku is a melting pot for creativity in Japan and fashion designers sketch out their ideas before ever touching fabric. This eraser may look like a gimmick, but it’s an essential tool for those who wish to erase lines flexibly in a way that does not damage the paper. This clay-like eraser can stretch 100 times its original size and can be shaped into just the type of eraser you need. Oh and did you notice that it has a scent? 202nd product by Seed, who have made erasers for over 100 years.(1915)
