Hello everyone! Can you believe it’s already February? Have you gotten used to your new techos yet? As the opening batter, let me be the first to step up to the plate and introduce the stationery I like, no—it’s a level beyond that—the ones I’m obsessed with.

Leadoff hitter, right field (writing), Kawamura. Throws right, bats left. Favorite gear: writing tools.


I tried lining up the various pens I’ve collected over the years.

I was at a loss. These are items I’ve bought domestically or internationally in cities such as Taipei, Shanghai, Seoul, Paris, London, New York, and beyond. While the feel and functionality of Japanese manufacturers are undoubtedly the best, I find myself helplessly drawn to stationery from overseas.

I have wonderful friends who send me ballpoint pens from hotels and airlines, saying things like, “You’re a pen lover, right?” So, you get an idea about how much I like stationery, and how much I have but... The one that I’m obsessed with is...

The most primitive of all stationery, the pencil.


I use a pencil extender for leftover pencil stubs.

I suppose you could say I’ve traveled far and wide, run in circles, and finally arrived back at this state of mind. If you hold it along your index finger without bending the knuckle and let it glide, you can write smoothly without applying any pressure. The silky sensation of graphite sliding across white paper and the rhythmic “scratch-scratch” sound are music to my ears. And when the tip rounds off? That’s my signal to take a break.

Grinding the pencil in a rotary sharpener with a turn of the handle feels like a fresh start. There’s something so divine about using a freshly sharpened pencil.

Computers and tablets are daily necessities, but when it comes to writing manuscripts at my desk or doing editorial work, paper and pencil remain indispensable.


I just wanted to show you this giant eraser. Also, that thing that looks like a twin-lens reflex camera is a pencil sharpener.

My techo’s current partners include a ballpoint pen and an HB pencil tucked into a “Mimic”—a celluloid pencil extender from the shop Gojuon in Ginza.

My “cleanup hitters” also include a Tombow MONO B pencil with a Faber-Castell sharpener cap and the Palomino Blackwing, which has a soft lead and an outstanding writing feel.

Recently, I read in a book that “a 1.2mm mechanical pencil allows for the fastest writing.” This gave me an uncontrollable urge for a thick-lead pencil, so I bought the Stabilo EASYergo 1.4. It’s a mechanical pencil designed for children that doesn’t cause fatigue even after long use, and the green and pink colors are lovely. They even make a left-handed version. It’s become a go-to for jotting down notes and diary entries.


I put them in a ziplock bag. It looks like they’ll be used as evidence somewhere.

I haven't exactly stored or organized these carefully enough to call it a collection; most of these writing tools were bought blindly and remain almost new. No matter how hard I try, I’ll never be able to use them all up in this lifetime, so I’m thinking of donating them to a charity that accepts stationery. I find it hard to part with the pencils that have become tiny stubs, but I heard there are manufacturers that hold memorial services for them, so I might look into that soon as well.

Right now, the stationery I’m obsessed with are pencils and things pencil-adjacent. Tune in next time, when another member will share their current obsession!

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