Stationery Shopping in Tokyo: Inkstand by Kakimori

March 29, 2017

Inkstand by Kakimori is a small fountain pen ink store in the Kuramae neighborhood of Tokyo, where you can custom-mix ink colors. I wrote about Kakimori, the parent shop of Inkstand, in this post if you’d like to read about it first.

Mr. Three Staples and I didn’t take many pictures inside the store at Inkstand because we were both preoccupied with ink mixing. I’m making it up with plenty of pictures of inks bottles we made, but as in the Kakimori post, I’ll mostly talk about our custom ink making process and the overall shopping experience. This post will not be a review of the inks themselves.

Side note on the shop name: I’m not completely sure if their official name is Inkstand or Ink Stand. I’ve seen examples of both, especially over at Kakimori’s website, but I’ll go with what Inkstand's website uses.

The Shop

Inkstand is located right next to Kakimori. It went through a brief hiatus last year but reopened in late 2016 with a new set of inks. We happened to be in Tokyo right after it reopened (thanks to Cindy for the heads up), and made a reservation (required) for a weekday afternoon.

I should mention right here that the inks they now use are pigment-based, not dye-based, which means they’re more water-resistant but can potentially clog up your pens if you’re not careful. Before the shop renewal, they used Private Reserve inks, but currently their inks are from Turner, a Japanese paint company.

Inside, Inkstand is a fairly small, straightforward space. You’ll see a long counter along the right side, and behind it is where the shop assistants will prepare your custom ink. Overall the shop felt airier and more modern-looking than Kakimori. You could say it had a laboratory vibe, with a shiny white counter and lots of glass bottles and beakers. Not to mention glass vials lined up along the right wall. The tall counter is where you work on your ink formulas standing up. Mr. Three Staples and I were the only customers during our reservation; I don’t recall exactly but I think the counter had space for 3–4 people. Later a group of tourists walked in but they were politely turned away.

The Process

On the counter was everything we needed to create our custom inks, or “order inks” as they call them. Each person’s workstation had: a set of base color inks in dropper bottles, a pad of paper, a glass dip pen, a glass rod for stirring, a stack of tiny plastic cups for mixing, a large beaker filled with water for rinsing, some napkins, a laminated color chart, and of course instructions. Basically, you create your own blend by determining the ratio of base colors that produces the color you desire. You do that by dispensing base colors, drop by drop, into the small plastic cup, mixing well with the glass rod, and then testing the result on the pad of paper with the glass dip pen. Your formula can can include up to 3 base colors (each bottle is labeled with the color name in English). The color chart shows you 1:1 combination of all 14 base colors, so you can decide which colors to mix first as a starting point. As you experiment, don’t forget to keep track of the number of drops you use of each base color in your mixture! This “recipe” is what you’ll eventually give to the Inkstand assistant to produce your custom ink. Also make sure to clean the mixing rod and the dip pen thoroughly in the water beaker and wipe them dry with napkins between different mixes.

I remember the guy who was in charge of helping me gave me a small intro talk, probably with tips and warnings, but I can’t recall what he said. I may or may not have been pretending I knew what he was saying, which was all in Japanese. Plus he wasn’t very friendly. Not rude, just very disinterested. After the intro, we were pretty much left to our own devices. No hand holding at all, which we preferred anyway.

The reservation was for 1 hour but we were told to decide on our formulas within 45 minutes. Apparently, it was plenty of time for Mr. Three Staples because he made two colors, while I just made one. This was probably due to my indecisiveness and timidness. The color chart helped a lot but it just took me a while to warm up to the technique. Let’s just say I used up all the little plastic cups that were given. Another thing that helped me: my own gel pen. I used it to jot down changes to the ratio and new base colors I introduced to the mix I was working on. I could’ve done that with the glass dip pen but it was far less distracting and faster with a separate pen.

Once we finalized our “recipes” and notified our respective assistants, they made swatches using our ratios and had us confirm the colors. After that, they had us write our names on our order sheets, and told us to come back in 30 minutes (40 minutes for 2 bottles). I believe the limit is 2 bottles per person. So off we went and walked around the quiet neighborhood. More on this at the bottom of this post.

A selection of pre-formulated inks. I believe they were available for purchase.

When we came back, our inks were all ready for payment at the register. It was ￥2160 per bottle, containing about 33 ml (about 1.1 oz), but these days, it’s ￥2500, about $23 USD at the current exchange rate. We got lucky with their special shop-reopening deal. Pricey for a small bottle but not unreasonable for a custom color and the unique experience. I also picked up one of their Kakimori-branded rollerball pens at the last minute, which are designed to work with fountain pen inks. Again, a little more about this pen towards the bottom of this post if you’re interested.

Closing

Overall, it was a very cool experience! Slightly intimidating and stressful but I’m happy with all three colors we made. Thankfully, they turned out to be unique in our small ink collection. I didn’t realize they were pigment-based until after the trip, but that hasn’t stopped me from enjoying them; I was going to try pigment inks at some point anyway. Now that I know, I’m learning more about them and being extra careful not to let them dry in my pens.

Each bottle comes in a minimal, black paper box with cut-outs on 2 sides. Inside is a little “how to use” info card and custom color recipe card that has your ink serial number you can use to reorder the ink.

Just like Kakimori, I wish Inkstand was in my neighborhood, so I could pop in whenever I have extra cash to burn (ha!) and create new colors. Perhaps it’s a good thing it’s on the other side of the globe? Another cool thing that make me wish I were a local is that you can order refills of your custom inks (possible online; no reservation needed). Your custom ink comes packaged with a “serial number” that you can use to reorder the ink. This service would be definitely something I would take advantage of if I lived there. (Note that if you made custom inks before their hiatus last year, they no longer source the same inks and you can’t reorder them anymore). Well, if we ever empty our bottles and have another chance to go to Tokyo, we’ll be sure to have our ink numbers handy.

Mine is on the far left; the other two are M’s creations. I really like them all.

I tried to make a color similar to, yet different from, my favorite J. Herbin’s Cacao du Brésil. I think I was successful. See 3rd from the bottom row.

And we’d check out this new set of Kakimori mix colors that they just introduced last month. These colors are made with the same pigment-based inks used at Inkstand, but obviously they’re their own custom blends and priced lower than custom inks. Such dreamy names, too. Perhaps they’d be good for those who don’t have the time to make a custom color but want something unique to take home?

If you’re planning to go, I hope this post was helpful. Be sure to check the Inkstand website, even if you don’t know Japanese, and familiarize yourself with plenty of pictures.

Kakimori Rollerball

This is the rollerball that I added to our order at Inkstand. Its tip size is 0.7 mm, and it was ￥1728 (about $15.50 USD these days). I don’t write with rollerballs on a regular basis, with such a thick tip no less, but it was unique to the store and the price seemed reasonable for a souvenir item. This is just a quick look, in case you’re planning to shop at either Inkstand or Kakimori. It’s a pretty chunky pen, by my standards, with clear plastic body and silver finishes at clip and finials. The top of the cap indicates that the pen is made in Germany and it comes with a Schmidt converter inside. Nice looking overall but I find its performance just okay so far. The whole construction feels a little “squeaky”, in sound and feel, for lack of a better word. The ink flow is good but the feedback you get seems quite sensitive to the angle at which you apply the tip to the paper, too.

The rollerball must be pretty popular because they also came out with the 0.5 mm version, and both sizes sold out recently (restock coming soon in April, with 3 pens per customer limit). Perhaps it’s a testament to how popular Inkstand and Kakimori are. They also promote the pen quite a bit, with several samples of it throughout both stores. They do stress that since their inks are pigment-based: if you load the rollerball with their ink, you shouldn’t let the ink dry in the pen, and it needs to be used at least once a day. It's also recommended that you refill the pen with the same ink because it’s difficult to clean it out completely. Maybe there are many people who buy several of these pens for this reason? Anyway, I can tell you that I tried it with one of the Inkstand inks, and it took a long time for me to clean it out. Now it’s loaded with a dye-based fountain pen ink. Anyway, the jury’s still out whether it was worth the money.

The rollerball is made in Germany, and comes with a Schmidt converter inside.

Rollerball on top of a B6 spiral notebook from Kakimori for scale. It came packaged with a pipette and a small plastic cup. Handy!

Hard to see but there's a white wavey line and a “Kakimori”’ logo on the plastic cap.

The neighborhood

For things to do while you wait for your inks to finish at Inkstand, the obvious option would be to shop at Kakimori next door, or to take a leisurely stroll in the surrounding Kuramae neighborhood, which is what we did. There’s a green tea shop in one of the alleys called Nakamura Tea Life that we liked. We only tasted one type, so we can’t comment on the general quality of their teas but the shop itself was really charming and the owner was so cheerful and friendly. There’s also Dandelion Chocolate nearby, which at a quick glance looked similar to the original San Francisco shop/café. What’s cool about this space – just like the SF location – is that it’s also a factory where they make their chocolate in-house. We also had fun browsing Koncent, a homewares shop with a modern vibe; it had a small Sol’s Coffee stand inside the store. For more Kuramae links, please go to the bottom of my previous post here.

Stationery Shopping in Tokyo: Kakimori

March 22, 2017

It’s been several months since I returned from my Tokyo trip, so I thought it was about time I share some of my experience shopping for stationery there. I doubt this is going to be a long series of posts but at the very least I’ll do a couple, starting with my visit to Kakimori.

Kakimori is a stationery shop in Tokyo that is well known among stationery enthusiasts for their custom notebook-making service and Ink Stand, their spin-off located next door where you can mix your own fountain pen inks. In this post, I’ll focus on Kakimori, with details on my custom notebook making experience, and then I’ll get into Ink Stand in a separate post. Like most of my posts, this will be long and image heavy.

Kakimori

The shop was within an easy walking distance from Kuramae Station. Many stationery shops Mr. Three Staples and I visited were inside department stores, but Kakimori was a one-level store right on street level. It was on a main street but M and I found the neighborhood much quieter and relaxed than the touristy areas like Shinjuku or Shibuya. Inside the store was a different story though. We went on a weekday afternoon but it still got quite crowded at times. Definitely popular among locals and foreigners alike.

(Please note these are very quick snapshots from my iPhone with some questionable composition and focus level. Taking photos while shopping AND trying not to be obnoxious to people around you, in a foreign country no less... kinda challenging! I wish I could’ve taken more.)

A wall full of pens you can try. There were fountain pens, roller ball pens, ball points, etc, in a wide range of price points.

And I loved this store. The space wasn’t that big but it felt comfortable and warm, with lots of wood accents. I wouldn’t say their stock was comprehensive but there was no shortage of stuff to browse: several kinds of pens including fountain pens, pencils, letter sets, notebooks, desk accessories, etc. Just enough for you to test a variety but not too much to be overwhelmed.

What’s really neat about this place is that the store layout and displays felt designed for people to explore, to test pens and paper easily before you buy them. One wall was dedicated to pens, one for wooden pencils, one for choosing paper stock for custom notebooks, each section with smart displays, test paper, and writing surface. There are other stationery shops that offer samples and have testing corners, but at Kakimori it was clear it was not an afterthought.

A small but fantastic pencil section with wooden shelves. There were brands like Mitsubishi, Tombow, Conte à Paris, Caran d’Ache, Staedtler, Faber-Castell, and Stabilo. They’re organized by softness and each cubby has a little slender cup in front f… — A small but fantastic pencil section with wooden shelves. There were brands like Mitsubishi, Tombow, Conte à Paris, Caran d’Ache, Staedtler, Faber-Castell, and Stabilo. They’re organized by softness and each cubby has a little slender cup in front for the sample pencil.

There was a round table full of novelty pens and pencils, including Field Notes Brand’s Carpenter Pencils and designer Duncan Shotton’s Rainbow Pencils.

Corner for letter writing supplies, with envelopes and various accessories like labels, stickers, pens, etc. On the right is where you learn about the different kinds of paper you can choose for your custom notebooks.

I had fun trying different pens and pencils, but I spent majority of time and energy making my own custom notebook, which as I mentioned is what Kakimori is known for. When you step in, the whole right side of the store is dedicated for this “order note” service, with shelves filled with different kinds of paper and cover stocks. Again, the selection wasn’t too overwhelming but there was enough variety to make your notebook quite unique.

Custom Notebook Making

Now I’ll go over how the process was for me. It was not complicated but it still involved lots of decisions. First, you choose what kind of paper will go inside your notebook by testing different kinds here ↓

Testing corner for paper that will go into your custom notebook. Each cubby holds sample paper that you can pull out and test with 4 different types of writing tools seen on the bottom: fountain pen, rollerball pen, ball point pen, and woodcase penc… — Testing corner for paper that will go into your custom notebook. Each cubby holds sample paper that you can pull out and test with 4 different types of writing tools seen on the bottom: fountain pen, rollerball pen, ball point pen, and woodcase pencil. Cropped from this picture, but visible on the previous one, is a writing surface, with two slots where you can discard the sample papers when you are done. Neat.

As you can see, there were several types of paper to choose from, and each type had a short explanation next to it on a card, with information on how many sheets there are per pack (they’re sold in prepackaged packs), price per pack, size availability (B5 or B6), ruling, types of writing tools that are best with it, even shelf numbers where you can find the paper. Mostly in Japanese, but it did have helpful keys for each type of writing tool (fountain pen, pen, and pencil): double circle ◎ for best, circle ◯ for good, triangle △ for so-so and ✕ for not good.

I wanted to choose a paper well-suited for fountain pens, so I looked for ones where fountain pen had the double circle ◎ mark. The best were “fools paper” (for foolscap) and “bank paper”. They also had Tomoe River paper, but interestingly it was graded with just a regular circle ◯. That’s not why I didn’t choose it, but I went with the “bank paper” for reasons that escape me now. These fountain pen-friendly papers were available in plain, ruled, graph grid, and dot grid, by the way. And upon closer inspection, I see that the bank paper has the “Three Diamonds” watermark, which leads me to believe this is manufactured by Mitsubishi Paper Mills (see Sola’s very informative post on bank paper here). It is indeed fountain pen friendly. I have not started using the notebook yet but a quick test shows no feathering or bleed-through. A bit textured and toothy. Unfortunately, I don’t know much about this “foolscap” paper or where Kakimori sources it. (Doh, I wish I’d brought a sample sheet home.)

They also had plenty of other types of paper, like “comic” paper that’s good with pencils, kraft paper suitable for scrapbooking, and even watercolor paper. Which means this custom service is not limited to just notebooks for writing but also for albums and sketchbooks... Oh the possibilities! This is definitely when you start thinking about which orientation your notebook will be (portrait or landscape) and size (B5 or B6).

Decorative covers and sample notebooks on the top.

How to make your custom notebook in 4 steps.

To the right of the testing area are the shelves where you can locate the packs of interiors pages you want and choose your front and back cover stocks. They have you use a metal tray here for shopping and assembling your notebook, and they recommend 2–4 packs of paper per notebook. It can’t get too thick since there’s only one spiral size. Anyway, even though I’d already decided which papers to get, I had a lot of fun checking each shelf here because there were some “extras” that I didn’t expect, like decorative envelopes and letterpressed calendar sheets. As for covers, they come in a variety of materials: paper, linen, plastic, leather.. I went with paper. They felt stiff and sturdy enough. In addition to solid colors, they had many pretty patterned ones, so I chose a floral pattern that I thought would make my notebook more unique. (Browsing Kakimori’s blog tells me their selection of covers is ever evolving. Sometimes they partner with other artists and brands to bring different cover designs and materials. For example, the floral pattern on the cover I selected is by a designer named Chihiro Yasuhara.) The leather covers looked nice, too, but I was on a budget. :)

My custom Kakimori notebook in size B6: inside are two pouches (envelopes), un-dated monthly calendar pages for one year, one letterpress sheet with 2017 calendar and then 3 (I think) packs of bank paper in graph grid.

Next you decide on the type of spiral you want (one long, or two shorter spirals), and the type of fastener (elastic band, leather snap button, or button & string), all in a variety of colors. It helped that there were several sample notebooks out on display. With the leather snap button, you could either get it in plain or in the pen-holder type, which I think had an elastic band sewed on the inside, if my memory serves me right. You can also get your name printed on the cover but that apparently takes about 3 weeks. By the way, with all these parts, you just note your choices in your head. The actual parts are behind the counter where they assemble the notebook, so you don’t have to have them ready in your tray like you do with the body paper and covers.

When we were there, it was quite busy, with several shop assistants doing the assembly by the windows, but I didn’t have to wait that long for mine. The friendly guy who took my order went through all the details and confirmed my choices, down to the direction the flap on the envelope was going to face, and then went off to work. (Actually, I don’t remember whether I paid for the notebook at this point or after the assembly.) I was worried that I’d picked too many pages and that my notebook would be too thick for the spiral but he assured me that it’d be okay.

I chose “bank paper” with graph grid (5 mm). The grid is light blue, and there’s a tiny “Kakimori” logo on each page in the same blue color. A stiff dark brown cardboard was included in the back. Probably to be used as a pencil board or a blotter?

I should mention, it would help to have all your packs of paper in the correct order, and everything double checked before you approach the counter, because I intended to have 3 identical packs of “bank paper” but somehow handed in 2 packs, plus 1 pack of Tomoe River paper. They were all graph grid and looked really similar in the clear packaging. I think the guy realized this after my notebook was assembled and apologized for not double checking with me earlier. I thought it was my fault! Thankfully it was a quick fix and in no time I had my very first custom notebook in my hand.

A side note on communication. Most of the signage was in Japanese but I think you could get by without knowing the language. You’re shopping for something physical and they had plenty of examples that you can refer to, even at the ordering counter. Plus the shop seemed accommodating enough to foreigners, with at least one clerk who could speak English.

The shop guy seemed a bit puzzled by my placement of this calendar in middle of the notebook. Hey, that’s what I wanted! I wanted it after the monthly-view pages but before the “main” section of graph grid pages, and I didn’t want it next to the bro… — The shop guy seemed a bit puzzled by my placement of this calendar in middle of the notebook. Hey, that’s what I wanted! I wanted it after the monthly-view pages but before the “main” section of graph grid pages, and I didn’t want it next to the brown pouch in the front. My reasons were totally valid. :)

I think my notebook came out to be about $25 USD. Their website says it can range from 1000 yen to 3500 yen in most cases (about $9–32 USD at current exchange rate), depending on what kind of paper, cover, and accessories you choose. If you’re a local, you can even reuse the covers by having them take the used pages out and replace them with new paper of your choice (you’ll have to pay for the replenishment, of course, and for the service). Overall, it was not cheap but worth every penny for the uniqueness and the experience, in my opinion.

And what a wonderful experience it was. I highly recommend Kakimori as part of your stationery shopping itinerary in Tokyo (but avoid weekends, I’m told). To those who are seriously planning to go, I hope this post was useful. It’s one of those stores that you wish were in your neighborhood, not half way across the world. But I’m really grateful that I got to go and bring home something unique, made even more special by the fact that it’s from a place far, far away. I didn’t really have a specific plan before making the notebook, other than to make it versatile yet different enough from what I already have. And I still don’t know exactly what I’ll use it for, but you bet it’s going to be for something special.

Kakimori even had a free illustrated map of their neighborhood. Charming!

If I ever go back to Tokyo, there’s no question I would go back to Kakimori and explore the Kuramae neighborhood some more while at it. I learned that it has long been an area for handicraft businesses and that in recently years has been attracting the younger generation of artisans. Indeed, on a short walk around the neighborhood, we passed by several interesting stores, including a textile store called Maito and M+, a leather accessories store. And of course, right next to Kakimori was Ink Stand, where we made our own fountain pen ink colors, and I'll write about that in my next post.

WELCOME

I’m Jinnie!

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