Last year we did a trip to Japan Osaka and I managed to get most of the stationary I wanted to buy – mostly the travellers notebooks and sheening ink.
I was surprised that most of the stores were hard to find and whilst there was a lot of pens and highlighters not all stores had a good range. Also the stores I thought would have what I was looking for didn’t and other stores you wouldn’t expect such as supermarkets and book stores had a surprisingly good range.
I went to a lot of stores but not one store had everything so I will go through the best ones category. So here’s a run down of the places I found that were good for the different supplies I was after.
Full disclaimer: there were a few speciality pen stores I didn’t get to so this is not a comprehensive list.
Comic nibs / dip pen nibs
I’ve been using a free set of nibs from Temu and reading about flex nibs so was keen to try some comic nibs the gz zebra and blue pumpkin. Using flex nibs with a dip pen is also a good way to see if flex nibs are for me without having to invest a lot of money for a fountain pen with a flex nib.
The art stores tend to have this so found the comic nibs at
Sasabe art (not tax free) https://maps.app.goo.gl/gA7UkADG5yM2KDWa7
This was the cheapest and had the most types of comic nibs. I also picked up some fabriano paper on sale, some paint and a dip pen holder, masking fluid.
Unfortunately it was not tax free. But the price difference was worth it.
Kawachi – Umeda (not tax free)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/9UtundSGD5Crj9tt6
This story was super hard to find using google maps as it was on the lower level. I had my daughter in the wheelchair so couldn’t take the escalator straight down so had to walk around to find the only lift that would go to the lower floor on the other side of the floor. It was worth it and whilst slightly more expensive the sasabe it had most of everything I was after including the Leonardt blue pumpkin nib!
They also had most of the been travellers notebooks and Midori, a range of inks including a pink sailor fudemann and the sheening ink I ended up buying two of the exact same colour I had bought another which was purple in a speciality gift box but because of the tax free rules you cannot consume the products you buy tax free until you have arrived at your destination, I completely forgot I had bought a similar set.
Note to self: keep a list and prices of things I’ve bought with pictures as I go so that I don’t purchase the same thing again.
Paper
Not all shops had travellers notebooks and less had the full range. The Midori notebooks were also good value and the paper is quite good too.
Kawachi had the best range of travellers notebooks.
Hands – hankyu (Tax free! At the checkout)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/R5TVrRdAKGkvfwu66
This was linked to diamaru which we found had great baby changing facilities. They had a huge range of pens, highlighters inks and also Midori notebooks. There were some other notebooks that I recognise but mostly spiral bound or larger. They allow you to try so I spent a lot of time here. The pen section wasn’t staffed so I only picked up the basic pilot inks that I saw. It was my first time seeing the inks so I decided not to buy the more fancy inks. But this place turned out to be the cheapest so if you know what you want then buy it from here.
I also managed to pick up some platinum pens one of each colour. It wasn’t until I tried them out at home that I realised that they are different nib sizes some ef, medium and broad.
I also found some refillable markers blank in Hands. They are the same kind that inspired toms studio fine liner and the new wren. They potentially use same brush tip as it comes from Japan! I’ve been experimenting with refilling the pens using my sheening ink. The sheening doesn’t come out as well and seems to be lighter than from a fountain pen as the flow is slower. It’s nice you can use it to refill it using your ink. It’s lighter and more portable than fountain pens and means I can refill with all the different colours.
U-arts (tax free at the checkout)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/xSM5HQaeigQdsDPX9
This is on the second floor and is not accessible by lift at all only stairs. It was a quaint little shop tucked away in some side streets. It was amazing and is known to be cat themed.
They had a good range of travellers notebooks and I even picked up the 2024 travellers dated calendar marked down from ¥1540 to ¥200! It has two passport size travellers notebooks one for each half of the year!
Also got some ink. I didn’t have much time as we had to go to Takashimaya across the road
Ink – fountain pen, sheening, shimmer
Takashimaya Maruzen (tax free counters)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/RcUEef7HsaWguhUU6
Loved being able to try all the different fountain pens. I’m still not ready to invest in a more expensive pen but they had someone there to assist so if I had more time or in the market it would be a nice place to buy. I managed to get a converter for my Lamy there so bought more ink and a profit junior pen and ink set it was a beautiful shimmery purple colour which matched the ink colour it had a bent nib and think it’s much the same as the sailor fudemann only it can fit in my pen case! This does have tax free but it is a bit of a process to claim it back.
Highlighters
Book first, Crysta (not tax free)
https://maps.app.goo.gl/FmWvoaNcPDmpedub7
This was a surprise on a whim after lunch I happened to decide to have a quick look at book first and was astonished at the amount of stationary they could pack into only a few aisles. Also whilst it was not tax free as it was part of Crysta subway they were running a 10% off promotion so it worked out the same.
They had a huge range of zebra midliner markers they’re like highlighters but also come with two tips the normal chisel tip and the other a fine tip. Also they have a brush tip version. I’ve heard about them so decided to get some pastel and earth colours. Also bought the ink this is new you can dip the brush pen in and soak it up to mix colours ok the paper just like if you were to pick up two colours on a paint brush. I bought it thinking I could refill my midliners but it says it’s not suitable as a refill on the packet. Oh well.
Life supermarket
Picked up a lot of discounted frixion markers and
campus notebooks
Daiso
Happened to find two brush zebra midliners pink and purple. Also got a no brand diy markers to see if they’re all my different. These were not as fine as the ones I had pickdd up previously and were a thicker tip.
I was disappointed with
Itoya (tax free) they have such a massive store in Tokyo which I hope to got to one day but I was disappointed by their range in the Itoya Osaka front. They are located next to the Starbucks in a tiny section of the book store at the back of the store. It was tucked away and hard to find. They had a selection of fountain pens and more eof the same ink but more expensive and not the same range as tools. They had a large range of paper and managed to get a limited edition notebook but the range for travellers notebooks was limited and also the midri didn’t have the size’s of paper I was after. even though it was tax free I didn’t buy enough to qualify.
I did have a large range of pens which you could try but by then I already had a lot of what I needed.
Ikeman (Tax free)
I went especially to find ikeman as they claimed to be the largest stationary shop in Osaka. Whilst I managed to pick up some washi tape and frixion stamps, cool novelty candles, stickers I wasn’t impressed by their range of notebooks. They had some Midori and travellers which I picked up a few of. And they had some different inks but there weren’t any prices on them so I had to keep asking them for the price. They were kind enough to accommodate but not sure if I was being ripped off. I couldn’t see any samples and was unable to try so not knowing how the ink would perform decided to pass. It was also quite expensive compared to the other inks I’ve bought.
Ikeman do however have the largest range of uni Jetstream 5 way pens ( includes red, blue, black, green and a mechanical pencil) you can get them in every colour and character theme and also with your name on it. Unfortunately I had already bought one from Tools and wasn’t interested in another.
They also have replacement parts and other stationary and gifts.
Between my daughter and myself were managed to buy enough to hit the tax free threshold.
Tips
1. Buy from tax free stores – I found I couldn’t get my tax back at the airport so if it’s tax free try to prioritise your purchases at that shop. They give you the tax back straight away in cash.
2. If you see it, price is right and want it buy it – Most stationary are the same price with some slight variation with the inks. I usually shop around but wasn’t sure if I would see the same thing again and decided to buy anyway as I didn’t mind stocking up.
I found the range differs from store to store and so I’m glad that I went with the motto of if I see it and like it it’s an ok price I will buy it. It’s completely opposite to how I normally ship which is to go to all the stores compare prices and but the best value. With the time that it took to go to each store it wasn’t feasible and the dollar is so cheap it would cost more to travel on the subway to shop around. I did do some shopping online so that I could target stores that I knew stocked the brands and products I was looking for but this took time and often the range was different.
Let’s see how long a stash of supplies last for til next trip!
Rachel Fong Art 