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 July 2018

ZenPop July Stationary Box 2018

The July box came!  It shipped on the 4th, and since I didn't pay the extra for tracking I couldn't tell where it was, or when it would get here.

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).

When you get a plan the boxes ship by the 10th of each month.  Mine shipped out on June 4th and took just over two weeks to arrive.

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.

 July's box theme is Japanese Characters Pack

"We had a 'Favorite Character Showdown' on our social media during June.  We nominated 8 cute characters, then our community voted, and the first prize went to GUDE-TAMA!  Since Gude-tama is the most popular among ZenPop fans, we included two Gude-tama items in this Stationery pack.  But more characters are here too, even if they didn't make it to the top.  We hope you enjoy, and hope they bring you a smile!"

 Rilakkuma Face Memo Pad, 1 of 2 designs

"Rilakkuma is a bear who loves to be lazy and relax all day.  He is interested in foods, and his favorite is pancakes, pudding, omu-rice, and dango.  Korilakkuma is a white bear who loves to play pranks on Rilakkuma and other friends."

I like Rilakkuma, and this is a nice, cute memo pad.

 There are two paper designs, as shown above; Rilakkuma in the first half and the other characters in the second half.

 Cute Sticky Notes

"People in Japan love items with cute faces on it.  This might be the reason why there are many character goods all over Japan.  You will get one of four notes: panda, red riding hood, bear, or strawberry."

These are so itty-bitty!  I'm not quite so sure how you write on them, but they're cute.

These will probably work better as book tags.

 San-X Character Washi Tape

"Did you know that San-X has more than 100 characters?  Why do people in Japan like characters and create so many of them?  Cuteness is of course one of the reasons, and another reason is because a lot of Japanese feel 'healing' from characters.  Decorate your notes with this cute washi tape.  You will receive either Rilakkuma, Sumikko-gurashi, Korokoro-koronya, Sentimental Circus, or Jinbei-san.  A few packs may contain SANRIO characters instead like Hello Kitty or Little Twin Stars!"

There were, like, seven possible washi tape designs in this box.  On the website you can see four of them, this being one, and these cats are the ones I was hoping to get.  So cute!!  I typically don't get excited over washi tape, but I love these little cats.  So happy to get the one I wanted.

So cute.

 Gudetama Sketch Book

"'Gude' is a Japanese onomatopoeia for describing something or someone with no energy or strength, and 'tama' is from the word tamago, which means egg in Japanese.  Gudetama was born 5 years ago, so it is [a] relatively new character in Sanrio.  However, it became very famous among people and many kids now know the 'Gudetama Dance'." 

Gudetama reminds me of my trip to Japan in 2015.  This character was on a few items, and my brother, sister-in-law, and I were baffled and amused.  I'd never seen Gudetama before.  Suddenly this lazy egg was very popular in the States. Whenever I see Gudetama, I'm brought back to my visit to Japan.  Such good memories.

 A simple sketch book, but I like it.

 Pompom-Purin - Toast Eraser

"Pompom-Purin, born in 1996, boasts tremendous popularity with Sanrio fans even though it has been more than 20 years since then.  He even got first prize on the 'Favorite Character Contest' run by Sanrio in 2015 and 2016.  Moreover, Pompon-Purin was second place in ZenPop's own character showdown!"

During the Character showdown on ZenPop's Facebook page, I actually voted for Pompom-Purin.  This is a nice little eraser.  Usually Japanese erasers, at least the ones I have, are three-dimensional and so cute I don't want to use them.  This eraser is thick and made out of a nice rubber.

 Shibanban/Nyabanban Clip

"Shibanban and Nyabanban were created by Yasuteru Ogoshi, a creator of Mindwave.  The design was not so popular at first, but now Shibanban's stamps became the most popular character stamp used on Japanese SNS and messaging platform, LINE.  Shiba-inu dogs are loved in Japan and it's easy to see why.  They're so cute!"

A cute little doggie clip.  Pretty sturdy.

 Melon Kuma Puffy Stickers

"Melon Kuma is the mascot of Yubari city in Hokkaido.  He has a melon head because his hometown, Yubari city, is very famous for Yubari melon (and Hokkaido has a lot of bears).  He might look a little bit scary at first, but Melon Kuma also has a lot of cute goods such as these stickers!  He's not quite as famous as Kumamomo city's mascot that you may know about already: Kumamon!  But we think Melon Kuma is an interesting addition to the city mascot universe."

So . . . 0_0

Melon Bear is a little irreverent.  There are stickers where he's pooping, peeing, and farting.  And ZenPop had pictures of Melon Bear attacking other mascots/characters.  A character for those who don't like all the cuteness.  But still . . . 0_0

 POSCA Glitter Pen

"POSCA marker from Uni.  Posca is known as a pen which can write on to metal, glass, and plastics.  It is also waterproof and has a light resistance, so enjoy drawing and decorating heartily!  You can make your drawings more gorgeous with this glitter ink POSCA."

This pink pen has a nice glitter sheen.  It's a little thick, but I like the color.

 Gudetama Mimi Pen

"Mimi pen of Gudetama!! You will get either 'auu' or 'Hottoite-kudasai'.  Auu is kind of interjection which we use when we are so tired or lazy, and Hottoite-kudasai means 'Please leave me alone'.  Maybe Gudetama is too lazy to talk with his friends?!"

Another nice Gudetama item.  This pen has both black and red ink.  It's funny, love it.  I like how the bit you press down to get the different colored ink are different halves of a cracked egg shell.

 UNI - Hand Fit Sharp Pen

"Here's a sharp pen (mechanical pencil) from Uni called 'Hand Fit'!  The feature of this sharp pen is its grip.  It won't slip and also fits to your hands when you are writing notes.  It might be the best pencil if you spend a lot of time in your daily life writing."

Seriously the nicest mechanical pencil I've received.  Wish it was .7 instead of .5, but that's a little matter.  Love the color.  The grip is very comfortable. 

 Bonus Item (Subscription packs only)

 "This bonus handy bag is only sold in Japan!! Pompom-purin is taking a nap with one of his friends,  Muffin (a hamster).  Great to put small gifts in and give to your friends."

Another bag.  It's cute, and I agree with the sentiment that, "Naps are the best".  I'm not quite sure what to do with these.  Maybe storage bags for organization?  Last month we got gifts bags as well.  Just hope there aren't bags in the next box.

 Overall I really like this box.  Fun theme with nice items.