…and now for something a little bit different! If you follow me (hi I’m Joy, Nikki’s VA!) on social media, you may have noticed that I’m a bit of a bookworm. Stationery, journaling and reading just seem to go hand-in-hand, don’t they? Homebody hobbies, if you will.

I was over the moon when Manilla Press reached out to me a few months ago to offer a copy of one of their new titles, Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop by Kenji Ueda. I read a lot of Japanese and Korean “healing fiction” as it’s commonly known. These books usually follow a similar episodic format, introducing a cast of characters who are unhappy with their current situation, but are reassured, comforted and/or transformed by a service that pops up, right when they need it most. These services are often provided in a seemingly innocuous location - a cafe, convenience store, laundromat, or in this case, a stationery shop.

A book from one of my favourite sub-genres with a beautiful cover that also features a stationery shop? SIGN. ME. UP. I actually read this all the way back in December in the cosy glow of my Christmas tree and I’m not sure why it’s taken me this long to write about it. I loved it so much that it actually ended up being one of my favourite reads of 2024!

Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop features five chapters, each named after an item of stationery: Fountain pen, organiser, notebooks, postcards and memo pads. The chapters start by introducing the character in need of a little stationery-based healing, and follow them before, during and after their trip to the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop. The descriptions of the store and its contents are so inviting that I could vividly picture it as both a Ghibli animation and a live action show in the same vein as The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House (which is an underrated gem and I suggest you watch it immediately).

“A mild scent greeted me as I entered the shop. Maybe it was incense? Unlike a self-asserting cologne, this aroma wrapped me in a tenderness that soothed me amid all my struggles“

"The shelves he led me to were packed with paper and envelopes. A high-class paper that you could tell from a single glance was handmade washi, a fancy one made with pressed flowers, a light blue one with reddish-brown Western-style horizontal ruling - even just looking at them all made it seem like this would be fun.”

I wanted to include a photo of a traditional Japanese stationery store, but this is the closest I could find and it's actually a model of the original Ginza Itoya stationery store, displayed within the modern store!

While many popular titles in this genre contain elements of magical realism such as time travel, the characters in Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop achieve catharsis through writing letters. Store owner Ken Takarada encourages patrons to use the workshop space above the shop, offering guidance about which supplies to use, and how best to express themselves.

It’s sentimental and heart-warming and I find this sort of novel so comforting and a much-needed break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. I’ve seen reviews on Bookstagram and Storygraph that described the laborious descriptions of stationery as “excessive” and “boring” but I’m willing to bet that if you’re reading a book review on a stationery store site, you’d probably enjoy them just as much as I did!

This book has me itching to write more letters and dig out my favourite fountain pen! I usually use a Pentel Energel in my planner, but there’s something about writing with a fountain pen that makes me feel so elegant and important!

Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop is the perfect read for stationery lovers, artists and bullet journalers, and would make a great gift for a pen pal.

If you’re looking for more cosy Japanese novel recommendations, these are a few of my favourites:

For cat lovers:

• She and Her Cat by Makoto Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa
• The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa

For foodies:

• The Full Moon Coffee Shop by Mai Mochizuki
• The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai
• Sweet Bean Paste by Tetsuya Akikawa

For bookworms:

• The Bookshop Woman by Nanako Hanada
• Days at the Morisaki Bookshop and More Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa
• What You Are Looking For Is in the Library by Michiko Aoyama

I’m also delighted to see that a sequel to Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop is coming later this year! Notes from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop will be published by Manilla Press on 6th November 2025.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this slight curveball of a blog post! Please let me know if you’d like to see more book reviews from me - either novels that incorporate stationery or non-fiction books about art, journaling etc. I have some in mind for both! I’d also love to know if you read Letters from the Ginza Shihodo Stationery Shop, or any of the other suggestions in this post.

You can find my new Bookstagram @joysbookcase, and you can tag Nikki’s Supply Store at @nikkissupplystore and #NikkisSupplyStore.