ZenPop November 2018, Japanese Stationery Subscription Box

ZenPop November Stationery Box 2018, Winter Magic Pack

This box actually made really good time this month getting here, arriving early last week, but I was in California.  It arrived around the 12th, which is really good.

ZenPop Japanese Stationery Pack has 10 or more stationary items per box.  You can make a one time purchase, or select a subscription plan of 3 or 6 months.  One box per month and those who get a subscription receive a bonus item.  A single box is $29.50, 3 months is $28x3 = $84, and 6 months is $27.50x6 = $165.  Shipping is free (boxes come from Osaka Japan so this is a great deal) and plans don't automatically renew (which is fantastic).

All quotations throughout this post come from the info paper.

November 2018: Winter Magic Pack

"2019 is a special year for Japan because the current emperor will abdicate in May.  The abdication will mark the end of the Heisei era, and the government will announce the name of the next imperial era in April 1, 2019.  We are so excited to welcome this special year with you.  We hope you like the adorable stationery in this pack.  And we hope your new year will be filled with peace and positive growth!"

I actually really like this box.

I'm starting with my favorite item.

It's so cool.

 Kokuyo Harinacs No Staple Stapler

"This is one of our most unique stationery items we have ever included.  You can staple papers without any staples!  Can you guess how it works?  This works great for about 5 sheets of paper or less.  It punches a hole and folds in on itself.  Perfect for keeping notes or receipts together.  And there are no staples if you have children around or you need to shred stuff.  Cool, right!?"

I'm constantly trying to find staples when I staple things together, and have since just resolved to folding paper in various ways to keep them together, which never works.  This little paper-less stapler does the job well and easily.  I'm so glad this was included in the box.  This will probably get the most use.

It's neat how the paper is punched out and then tucked back in.

 Doggy One Point Markers

"2018 was the year of the dog.  But dogs are cute no matter what year it is, so use these adorable sticky notes when you need a smile or for a little extra boost in your life."

Being a 1982 babe, I was born in the year of the dog.  This box is nice because they're celebrating the end of 2018 and beginning of 2019, having both dog and boar items.  I love these cute little doggies.  So adorable.

Otoshidama Pochi-bukuro

"Pochi-bukuro is a special envelope used to give Otoshidama.  Otoshidama is a custom where money is given from Parents and relatives to children on new year's day.  Children in Japan really look forward to getting their Otoshidama every year.  Make someone smile and give them something nice in these gorgeous little envelopes."

I've heard of this tradition, giving money in small envelopes.  I'm trying to figure our how to use them.  This pack comes with 3, and 2 of my nieces and my nephew are old enough to get excited by small amounts of money, so I should practice this tradition with them.  Or maybe I'll get gift cards or something.  Just the right size for that.  We'll see.

Winter Ippitsusen

"Ippitsusen literally translates as "one stroke paper," and it's meant to be used to write a quick note to yourself or someone else.  Of course you can use this pretty pad of paper any way you wish!"

This is really pretty paper.  These are suppose to be Winter themed, but with polar bears being in the north, and the nice constellation theme, I can use this all year long.  Sample pages are shown a few images below.

Kokuyo Beetle Tip Highlighter

"This highlighter has a tip that looks like a beetle horn, and you can use it 3 ways!  Make thin strokes, make double lines using two tips at once, or use the fat tip to highlight normally.  I'm sure there are more creative ways to use it as well, just gotta try it and see!"

This is an interesting highlighter.  Never seen one like it.  With the different shaped tip you do have to look before you mark, but getting different types of lines from a single tip is a neat feature.

Sakura Knock Ball Pen - Lamé

"This ball point pen has sparkly colored ink.  It's not lame it's lamé!  It has a translucent body, a unique shape and a handy little clip.  Use this pen anytime you need to add some color or sparkles to your day."

A nice sparkly pink pen.  I'll have fun using this.

Winter Washi Tape

"You'll get one of 8 different possible winter patterns of washi tape in this pack.  Cozy crafting time is coming!"

This washi tape is very pretty.  I love the deer with the simple Winter backdrop.

2019 Desk Calender

"In Japan, it is said that the animal of the year (from the twelve zodiac signs) will bring the luck to your family and prosperous business if you have the zodiac animal with you.  2019 is the year of the boar, so this desk calendar might bring good luck to you."

A nice simple desktop calendar.

Each sheet is double sided and features an image tied to that month.

Winter Letter Set

"In East Asia, there is a traditional way to think of "seasons", which we divide one year into 24 seasons.  Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter are all divided into 6 micro seasons."  There's some good info of each micro Winter season on the information paper: Rittou, Shousetsu, Taisetsu, Shoukan, and Daikan.  Right now where I live we're in Shousetsu: It begins to get colder and colder.  It starts to snow, although it won't lay at this period."

I'm so glad this stationery set is large enough to send in the mailing system.  Deer again, a theme I don't mind repeating, and the little chickens are cute, too.  Really like this item.

Shibanban Flake Stickers

"Shibanban's washi new year stickers!  Let's say goodbye to the year of the dog.  All the designs of the stickers are something to bring you luck, such as noshi (folded paper), daruma (good luck doll) or inuhariko (papier-mashe dog)."

More cute dogs.  I really like these stickers.

Fun designs, especially the dog on top of Mount Fuji.

BONUS ITEM

Only received by those who subscribe to a 3 or 6 month plan.

Kiguru - Me Eraser

"A cute addition to your pencil case, this eraser comes in black or white and features a costume wearing bird!"

A simple, but nice easier.

ZenPop Japanese Stationary Subscription Box August 2018

ZenPop August Stationary Box 2018, Japanese Summer Pack

This box is getting reviewed late.

The September box is still traveling, left Tokyo the last I checked, and is probably on one of those freight ships traveling across the Pacific ocean.

ZenPop Japanese Stationary Pack has 10 or more stationary items per box.  You can make a one time purchase, or select a subscription plan of 3 or 6 months.  One box per month and those who get a subscription receive a bonus item.  A single box is $29.50, 3 months is $28x3 = $84, and 6 months is $27.50x6 = $165.  Shipping is free (boxes come from Osaka Japan so this is a great deal) and plans don't automatically renew (which is fantastic).

In the Stationary Pack you can expect pens and pencils, washi tape, cute stickers, paper products, and accessories.   Brands included can be Sanrio, Tombow, ZEBRA, mt masking tape, Platinum, Kuretake, uni-ball, PILOT, and KOKUYO.

All quotations throughout this post come from the info paper.

 Japanese Summer Pack: "Summer in Japan is super hot but filled with many fun things.  Japanese matsuri (festivals) are events where you can play games, eat kakigori (shaved ice) and watch fireworks.  Or when you are at the beach with friends you play Suika-wari, where you don a blindfold and smash a watermelon with a stick.  We hope this month's stationary is useful, but also gives you a warm feeling of Japanese summer."

Manet Washi Tape

"Another beautiful washi tape from Manet this month!  You'll get either "Soft Ice Cream" "Space Ice Cream" or "Space Flowers" patterns.  Manet is known for their painterly kawaii designs and this month is no different.  These unique tapes have a cute summer feeling to decorate you life with."

I got the ice cream tape.  It's super cute.  Ice cream is always a good idea.

(The pattern is shown a couple pics down.)

Pens!  (I grouped them together)

 Top: Kuretake - ZIG Wink of Stella

"This Popular brush pen has glittery color ink!  You may have tried the Wink of Luna brush pen from a previous ZenPop pack.  The Luna versions have metallic ink, but this one is sparkly.  Of course, it is a great pen to do lettering, drawing, writing, and is great for crafting and decorating."

When I subscribed to this box I was hoping for a brush pen to practice kana/kanji with.  I love this pen and the beautiful sparkly gold color.  It writes nicely.

Second: Pilot - Metallic Juice Gel pen 0.5

"Juice pen is a well known brand, but did you know that it comes in metallic colors? With this metallic ink Juice pen, you can write on not only paper but it also works great on photos and black paper!  Decorate you photos and other things with this pen and make them more gorgeous."

A simple pink sparkly pen.  Can never have too many.

Third: Sakura - Micron Pigma Pen

"This cool pen PIGMA uses pigmented ink, so it is waterproof and has light resistance.  Free from bleeding even if you draw a line over it with highlighters.  Great to use for drawing, illustration, and more!  This time it comes in blue, black, or green."

Micro pens are quickly becoming my favorite type of pen.  I have another that I've been using quite often, so having another is nice.

(Bonus item for subscribers)

Fourth: Sakura - Ballsign Pen

"In case this pack wasn't sparkly enough, here's one more item to add a bit more "kira kira" to anything you write or draw this month!  This ink looks awesome on dark paper."

A simple green sparkle pen.  I should try it on darker paper, as suggested.

Summer Letter Set

"This letter set is made of "Iyo Japanese paper", from Ehime prefecture.  It is called Iyo in the Edo era.  You will receive either a sunflower or watermelon design.  Sunflower tells us that the summer has come, and watermelon is popular for "Suika-wari," a traditional Japanese game that involves smashing a watermelon with a stick while blindfolded."

This is a very small set.  All the spoiler pictures I saw it with I thought it would be typical letter size, but instead it's like a mini set for quick notes.  Not big enough to comfortably send through the mail system.

 Summer Post Card Set

"In Japan, there is a custom to send a postcard in summer to say hello to friends or relatives.  It is similar to new year cards in Japan, but compared to new year card, summer greeting cards are not as popular these days.  Sending a card with your handwriting is always great to express your feelings!"

Cute postcards.  This set came with 3 of the same.  I'll be sending these through Postcrossing.

 Planner Sticky Notes

"Cute sticky notes to write your to do list or a small memo!  These nicely sized sheets will fit to your weekly or monthly schedule book.  Put this sticky marker on your summer pages and make the page more summer-ish!  Combine with your new ocean themes flake stickers to make it extra summery!"

These are memo sheets for planners.  Funny, I have a planner, just not using it.  It would be good to pull it out and give these sticky notes a try.

 Mini Memo Pad - Small Animal Ball

"Cute memo pad from Mindwave!  It has 6 colorful and lovely designs.  The small animal ball is a capsule toy, which we call "Gacha-gacha" or "Gacha-pon" in Japanese.  "Gacha-gacha" is really popular among many people, especially kids in Japan.  When you insert a 100 yen coin and turn a handle, then a capsule (A small toy is inside of it) comes out from the machine.  The most fun point is that you don't know what you are going to get."

I love that this set came with 6 different designs.  Very cute.  And I love the Gacha-gacha design.  When I was in Japan I did get a couple toy capsules.  A must do if you visit Japan; they're not hard to find.  

 Folding Ruler

"By this folding ruler, you can measure up to 30 cm of you open it up!  Moreover, you can measure angle with the protractor on the middle of the ruler.  You will get either pink "ice cream" based designed ruler or blue "summer drink" based one."

A metric ruler.  This fold-able ruler will be useful.

Flake Stickers

"These ocean themed flake stickers are so pretty and shiny.  You probably don't want to get real jellyfish stuck on you but these stickers look so pretty and they won't sting!  Enjoy the feeling of the summer sea and stick these anywhere you need a refreshing little reminder of a sea breeze."

 Super cute, nice stickers.  Seeing jellyfish is my favorite part of visiting an aquarium.  I like the gold accents and pretty watercolor.

This is a nice box with useful items.

Sad Summer is coming to an end, but these items will let me hold on a little longer.