Reviewed by
Mary
If you want some of the most beautiful and quality stationery there is, you want Japanese stationery. And as it’s a bit far to go just for that, you can get a beautiful assortment of Japanese pens, paper, washi, and other beautiful stationery items from ZenPop every month!
This month’s box celebrates the beauty of spring, with lots of nature and floral-inspired items and of course that most Japanese of spring symbols, sakura!
Compact Monthly Notebook from El commune, CHARME Mini Card Set Tulip from El commune, goyururi Origami Otegami from El commune
The monthly notebook is really a pocket calendar. Inside each month is laid out in squares across two pages, just like a calendar page. For a fast reference to your month ahead this is very useful. There are also lots of notes pages in the back as well. Initially I thought that it was just for 2023, and of course as we’re in March already so I wasn’t convinced that it would be that useful. But then looking through it I discovered that the calendar pages inside go all the way through to March 2024! So it does cover a full year. The cover has a delicate foil decoration which is very pretty indeed, and there’s also a little loop for your pen plus a slot to keep business or ID cards.
These little card and envelope sets are very popular, and come in all kinds of designs. This one is inspired by decoration on antique tableware, with the flower pattern around the edge. They can be used as tiny notecards or gift cards, but I actually really like them for my scrapbook or journal, they’re perfect to add a tiny bit of text or even for a small photo.
The letter/paper set all has more than one use. It can be used with the envelopes as regular letter-writing paper, but as it’s square you can also make origami! There are also stickers that can be used as letter seals or simply decorative. The design shows various wagashi, which are traditional Japanese confections.
Sakura no Hanabira -Saku- from BANDE, Sakura limited Flake Sticker from BGM, Gradation Sticker Momiza from Ryu-ryu
Every ZenPop stationery box contains at least one roll of washi, the pretty decorative paper tape with the special adhesive that can be removed and reused. This washi is slightly different, instead of a single piece of tape in a roll, it’s individual cherry blossoms petals that can be peeled off and stuck on. This is perfect for adding petals to drawings or decorating anywhere. I’ve got plans for using these in my journal next month!
Flake stickers are small and frequently very detailed stickers. These are all about the spring flowers, and are a great complement to the sakura washi.
The last stickers have pretty yellow mimosa designs. They are shiny and very slightly raised, with a narrow gold edge to make them pop.
ZENPOP Original Mono graph lite from Tombow x ZENPOP,, Mix Line from Sakura Craypas, Omoshiro Keshigomu Wagashi from Iwako
The first pen in the box is a bit of a dream pen. It’s an exclusive collaboration by Zenpop with Tombow, who make some of the finest pens you can buy. The pen itself is black ink, with a very fine tip. It does sound rather ordinary but it writes absolutely beautifully, incredibly smooth and even, no smudging, beautifully balanced and comfortable in the hand, and it really is a pleasure to use.
The highlighter is a pretty wild product that I haven’t come across before. It’s a combination fineliner and highlighter, but with a twist. On one end is a regular fineliner, in darker ink, but the highlighter tip also has a fineliner tip placed right against it, so if you angle the pen correctly you can both highlight and underline at the same time! It’s fun to use, though it does require a bit of practice to make both tips contact at the same time, but it gives a really cool effect. I can see this being used for titles or similar in my journal.
Finally, one of those classic Iwako mini erasers that are beloved everywhere for their cuteness and awesome detail. They come in a ton of different designs, and this one is going with the wagashi theme from the writing paper above. The fish is actually representing a dorayaki or taikayi, which is a sweet pastry shaped like a fish (really!) with a variety of sweet fillings and is very popular as a street food in Japan.
