Stationary Lovers Need To Book A Trip To Japan Just To Visit This Store
As if you needed ANOTHER reason to visit Japan.
Journals are amazing and can literally be life-saving.
Journaling has TONS of benefits: it reduces stress, encourages creativity, helps heal the past, contributes to personal growth AND contributes to the production of immune cells! Not to mention, it's always fun to get a fresh dose of perspective by reading through a journal from YEARS ago and realizing that the stressful mountains of yesterday are the small potatoes of today.
The old mantra says "Don't judge a book by its cover," BUT if a journal represents the writer's innermost thoughts and dreams, shouldn't that journal's design be a reflection of that?
This Japanese store creates journals that are intricately designed to represent the writers, and it's totally worth a trip to Japan to stock up on these beauties.
Ito-Ya is a stationery store that is over 100 years old, but it's managed to keep up with modern journaling trends.
This picture is a giant wall of possible journal covers.
There are hundreds of paper options for the middle section of the journal, separated by texture, rule, thickness and shine.
The store even has paper concierges to make sure every journal has the perfect style of paper for its writer.
Next, the cover of the journal and any interior designs are selected. Then the paper concierge binds everything together.
The journal making process can be pretty intense—just look at all of the tools needed to make the picture-perfect notebook!
While the paper concierge builds the journal, customers are left to peruse the beautiful store.
And then they battle the inner-urge to buy EVERYTHING.
The finished product is tailor-made for every writing style and journal aesthetic.
The best part? These beautiful, handmade journals only cost a grand total of NINE dollars.
One would think something so special would cost MAJOR dollars, but they're cheap AF. So, a trip to Japan to stock up on journals would be WELL worth it.
The Ito-ya journals are becoming increasingly popular with artists and calligraphers.
Their popularity is mostly due to the wide variety of paper available.
The thickness of the paper means that it's easier for a starving artist to draw back-to-back instead of drawing on only one side of the paper.
The store sells all of the journalling accessories one could need to truly make diaries come to life.
Ito-ya also sells high-quality paints and markers.
Their cards are also handmade and equally adorable.
Would you go all the way to Japan for some dope craft supplies?
Or would you just navigate your way through their online store instead? They also have a web store JUST for American customers, woot!