Cards for Unusual Occasions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Upon entering the store, my attention is immediately attracted by an eye-popping array of postcards and greeting cards. Somewhat easier to find today, these ubiquitous markers of high days and holidays in the west were once relatively hard to come by in Japan. Still, it is worth remembering a good source, and Sekaido has the lot; from somewhat kitschy skyline views, through pears with beaks that \u2018hatch\u2019 from onion-eggs, all the way up to a pipe-smoking dog. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apart from a few choice notebooks and pens, these psychedelic missives-in-the-making, are the main draw of this first-floor entrance hall, which is otherwise stocked with the useful, but not thrilling, glue-sticks and bulldog clips of workaday office life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Desirable Design Supplies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Riding the escalator in temptingly close proximity to on-offer prints and posters by the likes of Matisse, Mir\u00f3, and Savignac, I arrive at the second floor, where things really start to get interesting. Listed on the store guide as Design Supplies, the breathtaking array of materials on offer here seem pitched toward an intriguing alternate reality, where Adobe\u2019s inescapable software does not exist, and design is still the dominion of horn-rimmed inky-fingered bright young things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drafting boards, drawing boards, and every desirable shade of deliciously opaque gauche are here, alongside non-warping cardstock in a variety of weights, and spray paints in metallic and luminous hues. Every type of needlessly sleek mechanical pencil, glues of many strengths and stickinesses, colored pencils and inks, and sticky-back plastic (which can be cut to order), share shelf space with an overstretched spectrum of felt-tip pens. <\/strong>It is truly wonderful.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen I Paint My Masterpiece<\/h3>\n\n\n\n Mysterious creative ley lines converge on the third floor art department, sending invitational vibrations to every one-day, someday, and Sunday painter for miles, as well as the fortunate few who make a living refining Sekaido\u2019s oils into saleable art. There are walls of oil paints and watercolors, from the company\u2019s own-brand to deluxe European imports, canvases stretched and unstretched, primed and otherwise, and highly appealing pochade painting boxes which would look just the thing with a big straw hat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Clay of many colors and densities, as well as the somewhat more technical tools of the printmaker, fill the rest of the space, and there are bespoke framing options on the floors above, but I am overwhelmed and in need of a break. It takes all of my strength not to leave with a royal blue painting smock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shinjuku: Hands \u30cf\u30f3\u30ba<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Floating through an exquisite cloud of, no doubt costly, scent, I pass through the halcyon halls of Takashimaya Times Square, before finding myself, eventually, in the care of the ever-dependable Hands (formerly known as Tokyu Hands). Selling everything from parasols to cutting-edge kitchen gimmickry, the self-described “creative life store” offers an unbeatable mooch-about for genuine consumers and window-shopping potterers alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find the colorfully curated stationery, much of which seems aimed toward a young and fairly unserious crowd, on the fourth floor. Here, there are stickers in an infinite variety and at such microscopically miniature scale that if they happened to feature an image of my own tragicomic visage I would be none the wiser. Erasers are available in an encyclopedic array, resembling the flora, fauna and foodstuffs of the world, and there are cuddle-worthy pencil cases in the form of Shaun the Sheep and Elmo.<\/p>\n\n\n
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This abundance of kawaii<\/em> confections, however, is not at the expense of actual, functional stationery, which fills gently groaning shelves as far as the eye can see. There are notebooks suitable for scribblers and sages, days and days of diaries with pages in ever-more delineated detail, and for time travelers, there are Filofaxes, luxurious and leathery, with their special hole-punched paper also on offer in pleasingly categorized reams<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAs long as Hands remains, the denizens of Shinjuku will never go short of writing implements, or an air-conditioned and pleasant place to while away an hour on a sweltering August afternoon. Having achieved that goal to my own satisfaction, I\u2019m on my way again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shibuya: Loft \u30ed\u30d5\u30c8<\/h2>\n\n\n\n At the entrance to Shibuya\u2019s Loft, I stop to admire both the time-tested minimalism of the establishment\u2019s logo (designed by Ikko Tanaka), and the display of spinning cogs that repeatedly break and then repair its functional lines. This attention to detail is reflected throughout the building, which with its bold-yellow and muted-gray color scheme recalls the slightly sharp design trends of the 1980s, the decade in which the store was launched.<\/p>\n\n\n
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Similar to Hands, Loft presents itself as a slightly elevated form of department store, offering a “lifestyle” shopping experience aimed at sections of society that wouldn\u2019t set foot in the capital\u2019s fustier establishments. This demographic is reflected in the basement stationery and art supply department, where exuberant youths and fashion-conscious young families are browsing the carefully selected semi-affordable luxuries that are presented in skillfully planned displays.<\/p>\n\n\n
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These tasteful and on-trend wares include, notebooks ranging from flimsy and faux-utilitarian to indestructibly embossed and gilded, many limited edition pens and the ink with which to fill them (in delicate and unexpected shades), and writing paper in earthy organic tones, to be paired with individual envelopes (allowing you to mix or match the letters that you\u2019ll never write, to your own exacting standards). Here once again, arranged in color-chart order, just waiting for my trembling fingers to uncap them, are the felt-tip pens. Go home old man, you\u2019ve had enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overload<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nWhile each of these exceptional outlets, with their own distinct styles and offerings, cannot be recommended highly enough, deciding if a visit to all three in a single afternoon is too much of a good thing or not, probably comes down to whether, like me, you suffer an incurable and expensive obsession with the tangible tools of human communication and self expression, or you just happen to need a pencil sharpener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How to Get To Tokyo’s Best Stationery Stores<\/h2>\n\n\n\n Sekaido is only a short walk from JR Shinjuku Station which is one of Japan’s most connected stations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n