Make Your Own Custom Journal In Tokyo At Kakimori

[grilledcheese]

One of the things I very much wanted to do on my recent trip to Japan was make a custom journal. I knew that you could do this at Itoya in Ginza, and I did make one there, but it was a bit more of a novelty, with a simple paper cover with some cute foil printing, rather than something I'd keep for a long time. For that I went to a place that provided the highlight of my stationery shopping in Tokyo (and indeed one of the highlights of my trip overall), Kakimori. See my posts on pen shopping at Kakimori here and making custom inks at the sister store, Ink Stand, here.

 

As Kakimori was busy when I visited, and is a smaller store, I didn't take many photos while I was there, but you can see some here on their website (this is from the English-language section): http://www.kakimori.com/works/pg11.html

 

The process is straightforward and the same as it is elsewhere. You fill a tray with the front and back covers and insert papers in the colors you want, and the clerk shows you all the different options for closures and bindings. I chose a leather cover with leather-and-string binding (my daughter chose a leather tab, which gives you an option of having an elastic pen loop sewn in):

 

 

For back cover I chose from their large selection of unique, colorful paper board designs. Apparently they rotate the selection so there is always something fresh.

 

 

I wish I could give you more details about the papers they had available but I got rather caught up in the moment and went by feel and look, even though I had actually prepared a specific shopping list in advance. The papers come in packs, with a maximum capacity of four packs. I believe this works out to a 40-page max but I might be misremembering that detail. This time I chose two packs of blank, one grid, one dot grid. Note that their little Kakimori logo appears in the corner of the page.

 

 

Things I loved about this experience: that there was a leather cover option available, that the paper covers were sturdier and high quality than just a simple sheet of cardstock, that they provide a stiff paper sheet for setting between pages for more comfortable writing, that an envelope insert is available as a pocket for holding extras, and that you can sample all the different papers -- they have a display with a stack of small squares of every kind of paper that you can test out with your own favorite pen, or any pen or pencil from the store's excellent, thoughtfully chosen collection.

 

Top it all off with reasonable prices and utterly stellar (even by comparison to the rest of Japan) service, and I think this shop is a must-see for stationery nerds who want to do more than just pull products off a shelf.

Edited May 3, 2017 by grilledcheese

[inkypete]

I would be like a kid locked in a lolly shop. Would love to have a crack at this.

[dennis_f]

I think if I visit, I'd end up having the same experience as you: go in with a game plan, but then get wowed by all the options and just start choosing on instinct. I took a look at the website you linked to, and the choices are truly impressive.

 

D.

[grilledcheese]

Honestly, when I got home I started looking at the prices of twin-wire binding machines, thinking "I could marble my own endpaper! I could embroider the cover! I could shibori dye it in an indigo vat!"

 

I had to take a deep breath and step away from the computer.