Reviewed by
Mary
Zenpop Stationery is a monthly box of stationery items from the country that produces the most gorgeous stationery – Japan! They send a selection of goodies such as notebooks, folders, washi tape, stickers, pens, and more.
The Zenpop mascot has had a little bit of a makeover this month! It’s a super cute bunny, and looking joyful on the box. As the brand design has had a bit of a refresh there’s a little booklet inside the box. As well as telling you about the new revamped boxes – Zenpop do snack, ramen, and special limited edition boxes as well – there’s a fun little article about a specialty of Japanese culture, vending machines! I knew there were a lot of them but I never realised they were so many and varied!
Anyway, on to what’s inside the box. This month’s theme has items from an exclusive collaboration with the artist and illustrator Saigetsu. She specialises in streetscapes, cities, and scenery.
ZENPOP x Saigetsu Original 3 pocket clear folder A5, ZENPOP x Saigetsu Original Notebook A5
Both these items feature exclusive designs by Saigetsu. The folder is a 3-section A5 size slip-in folder which is perfect for organising items such as notes, tickets, and receipts. The design is an Osaka street, but with a surreal twist – there are fish floating through the scene, as if the whole place is underwater!
The notebook is also A5 size, which makes it perfect for journaling, sketching, or carrying around. The cover shows a Japanese food stall in Osaka, during festival season. You can see little details of Japanese culture in the picture, and it’s really very pretty. The notebook itself is very nice quality with good paper, perfect for writing or drawing.
MILDLINER Yasashisa Mild 5 colors set from ZEBRA, uni-ball signo Black 0.5mm from Mitusbishi pencil
Zebra Midliners are very beloved, especially by students and fans of bullet journalling! They have a dual tip, one blocky, perfect for highlighting, and the other narrower. This set has a great selection of colours, pastel but not too light on the page.
The pen happens to be the same type that the featured artist uses! It’s a gel ink ballpoint and writes incredibly smoothly, and the ink itself is very fast drying. It’s very pigmented for a string colour, and it doesn’t bleed or smudge. I love these pens for my journals!
Marumi no Fusen M from BEVERLY, WHIPER PL from PLUS
This pad of sticky notes has rounded corners and come in colours in the pack. The rounded edges are actually really nice, it makes them look prettier than the usual square notes, and they are very good for writing reminders or even adding to a scrapbook or journal.
A ‘wiper’ is actually a white correction tape pen! These are lovely to use, so much better than a bottle of white-out. I’ve actually used these when I’ve made mistakes is my bullet journal (which happens far too often!) and even though it’s a white tape it somehow doesn’t look obvious on the off-white pages of my journal. After a moment you can write over it perfectly too. This is a cute and really useful thing to have on your desk.
KINTSUGI Seal from Kamio Japan, Pelto Postcard Size from LION, KITTA Color Bar from KINGJIM
While you can use the seals as just that, to seal an envelope, they’re basically stickers. The Kintsugi design is made to look like the Japanese art of kintsugi, which is that gorgeous method of mending broken pottery with gold to create something even more beautiful. These are fantastic stickers, abstract but incredibly pretty.
The folder is another small paper storage item, a bit smaller than the one above, but it has a popper closure for extra security. This would make it especially useful for travel, to make sure you don’t allow important documents to fall out! The purple colour is very pretty, and the size is compact enough for a handbag.
There’s always washi tape in a Zenpop box, and this month instead of a roll we have a packet of strips. There are various colourful designs, with dots and stripes, and the stripes are perfect for creating edging patterns and borders. You could make some great stripy designs too!
