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January 10, 2011

the best stationery itemsI used in 2010

There are several things in this world that help me release stress.
One of them is buying stationery.

Stationery can be divided into various types…today I would like to focus on paperclips and notebooks.

For work and for my “research” I think I have settled on the Cornell Method Note that can be bought in Japan through Gakken.

Kokuyo, the largest stationery/office equipment company
(http://www.kokuyo.co.jp/), has many notebooks that I have been using for my book diaries for the past 10 years or so.

(By the way, if you understand Japanese, the Kokuyo website currently has videos of Ryuichi Sakamoto talking about Ecology and Creativity. From the second video, Everett Kennedy Brown appears to talk about his experience in Japan etc.  and what people can learn from Nature.  His website is here:

This year, my schedule book is from Muji (http://www.muji.com/) and I just found out that they have apps for the iPad and iPhone too.
The scheduler comes with a canvas type cover that I am thinking about dressing up with iron-ons later.

I added a trim with decorative masking tape as well as ribbon bookmarks.
The checkbook-like notebook on the right is for the months and the notebook on the left is for the weeks.

I think this will be very easy for me to use this year and I am looking forward to filling it up with fun events!

More notebooks that I really liked last year and kept buying for various reasons were:
The one on the left is from Midori (http://www.midori-japan.co.jp/md/).
The pink one in the middle is one that I found in a store in Kyoto called karankoron (http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/karancolon/index.html).  My favorite from last year is on the right.
It is from Tsubame Note and this series comes in all sorts of sizes and shapes (http://thinkbeforesearch.com/) and the pages are perforated but sturdy so they don't fall apart.

Now, for paper clips...
My favorite elephant shaped ones and fruit shaped ones are not here but this is to give you an idea of what is out there and what I actually use. 

I use these kinds of paperclips as often as I can because I read somewhere that the most circulative stationery is the paperclip.  

This means that more than any other stationery, the paper clip is the least likely to stay in one place.  It is reused and passed on to people so you never know where your paperclip is going to end up!  I figure if that is the case, why not send around a bit of happiness and excitement too?!

And last but not least one of my most favorite items carries my paperclips and post-its...

It is an amazing piece of vinyl that I bought at the Nagasaki Museum a while ago and it is awesome.  I bought a larger one for my receipts too.

Have a nice day!


5 comments:

Destination Infinity said...

I noticed that I have never looked at the brand of the notebooks I buy! In fact I am still using one notebook that was given to me in college before about 8 years! For me, buying stationery creates more stress as I always overshoot budgets! :)

Destination Infinity

Frances said...

Tulsa, this is a delightful post. I admit to a weakness for beautiful stationery supplies, too.

I recently spent an hour in a big shop here in NYC called Paper Presentation. They have all sorts of wonderful things, but no paperclips as clever as those in your photos! Funny thing is...I did not buy anything after that hour-long wandering. I know I will be back there soon.

(I am also a Muji fan.)

Merisi said...

Thank you, Tulsa,
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post!

Unknown said...

I bought a few of those Cornell Method Note notebooks and fell in love with them. Big problem: can't get them in the United States. Any thoughts on what I can do?

Thanks and I'm now subscribing to your blog!

I_am_Tulsa said...

Weszt, thank you for stopping by and subscribing!
I'll check around to see if you can buy the ones they have here in Japan via Internet....had no idea they couldn't be found in the states! I do know that there are some websites that let you download the "format" of a Cornell method notebook. You can google Cornell Method and a few websites will pop up!