Stationery & Art Stores in Tokyo
From the shopping streets of Ginza to waters of Tennozu Isle
Following on from my previous article, in this one we will dive deeper into the experience of visiting the art and stationery supply stores in Tokyo. So if you are a stationery and art supplies lover this article is for you. During my visit to Tokyo, I was fortunate to be able to visit Itoya, Loft, Hands, and Pigment Tokyo. I will share the differences between the stores as we go along.
ITOYA
Located in Ginza, Itoya boasts 12 floors, a majority of which houses beautifully selected items including stationery and home products. From uniquely designed cards to treasured washi papers it is a paradise for stationery lovers.
Upon arrival I was greeted with a window display that communicated “Welcome, this is a creative space that you don’t want to miss”. Walking through the door, I was welcomed by soft serene music and the sounds of birds chirping which were very relaxing and uplifting which somehow only increased the excitement I felt. On the ground floor were a selection of unique greeting cards. The range and variety of the cards are truly a testament of how alive analog gifting is at least in Japan. Honestly I have never seen so many unique designs in my life. It was nothing like those Hallmark cards that I am so used to see in stationery stores. From my observation the cards in Japan contains more illustrations - from the simplest line drawing to 3D crafted designs. One in particular that jumps to my mind as I am writing was an illustration of a bird, somewhat like a dove giving off a message of peace. I don’t know why that particular card is stuck in my mind, it just is.
The second floor. A floor which - if you are a stationery lover like me - you would want to live in. It may just be the floor that you will spend hours on (surely I am not alone in this). This is where you will find all those beautiful, unique, and cute stickers, washi tapes, letter sets, and a ridiculous range of inks that will make you stare at it for hours. The stickers are plentiful in their designs, from cute florals and animals, illustrations of Japanese culture e.g. sumo wrestler, cute tiny girl in kimono, Mt. Fuji and many more, this is the floor where your wallet will probably sweat. Or if your partner will be the one paying, he will sweat if not come dangerously near to getting a heart attack. Fathers with daughters also please take caution. Then there are the washi tapes. An entire shelf of them. Good luck in picking the ones to buy. What I would recommend here though, if you are a fan of washi tapes, is to keep a look out for the kimono designs washi tapes. So far from my visits to the art stores in Japan, Itoya is the only store that offers this and of course they are beautiful. Another advice is - don’t skimp on this one. It would be likely that the design you see today may not be there during your next visit - yes I experienced that.
Their letter sets were also mesmerising. I mean the designs of their letter sets I think are a testament to how much they value analog writing and gifting. It puts all others produced to shame. From traditional illustration sprinkled with a tasteful amount of glitter, to embossed florals, the recipient will truly understand how important they are to you.
Moving on up the 3rd floor was where the luxury writing instruments were, and by that I mean a host of fountain pens ranging from simple solid colours to cute floral designs to traditional Japanese illustrations. This was also the floor where the unique inks were on full display. Seriously, I have never witnessed such creative collections of inks and pens in my life before. The fine pens selections are from a number of brands well known enough in the fountain pen world and there is a range of fountain pens with traditional Japanese designs which I think are very exclusive, I didn’t find them anywhere else during my travels in Japan.
The 5th floor is usually the most crowded as it houses the everyday pens and office supplies. And do not be misled by that description. The standard everyday pens of the Japanese are truly amazing, their ink pens, you know the usual brands like Pilot, Sarasa and the like, are so smooth you might even question the need for a fountain pens. Ok that’s crazy we all need a fountain pen right? Well for me this stems from my early eduction. My teachers in elementary school insisted that we all use a fountain pen. And for a non-doctor with a doctor’s handwriting I found that using fountain pens makes my handwriting more legible somehow. When I write using a ballpoint pen it will turn up as a string of illegible lines which defeats the purpose of writing all together. I digress. Back to Itoya.
The 6th floor housing items for the home are worth doing a lap at. And if you would like to find some beautiful gifts the items on this floor would be serious contenders. The photo frames, chopsticks rest, and all other home goods are beautifully selected. At one point during my walk there (yes, I take walks in stationery stores) I was thinking really hard on how these items can be shipped to Malaysia. The risk of something being broken was just too devastating for me at the time and so no glass products were purchased. But truly if you are there I strongly recommend that you too take a walk in Itoya.
Now the 7th floor, the place where all the people who are into painting will be found. Upon landing on the floor you will be amazed by the display of colour cards on the wall. Organised, harmonised, orderly - the display embodies the attention to details that the Japanese practice so well in every sphere that they occupy. On this floor is where you will find all the pigments and brushes - that is for watercolour, gouache and Japanese calligraphy inks, which is also used for Sumi-e paintings. During my first visit I was looking for a specific type of paper made out of mulberry fibre recommended by my instructor for Sumi-e paintings. I was quite nervous as during my first visit I did not speak a word of Japanese, except you know the basic greetings. To my delight and relief they do have the paper in question and I was very much grateful for the existence of this store.
I did make it a point to visit the Cafe on the 12th floor and it was a great space for you to just rest physically and mentally after that strenuous walk through the floors, and for me with calculations and wish list being built up in my head.
After sufficiently recovering from the giddiness of the experience, we can now move on to the next store.
Summary of the Floor Layout (as at December 2025 - non-exhaustive)
1st floor - greeting cards
2nd floor - Letter pads, stickers envelopes, postcards
3rd floor - fountain pens, luxury writing instruments
4th floor - organisers, notebooks, bags, book covers, leather goods
5th floor - pens, notebooks, files, sticky notes (more office supplies type items - most crowded)
6th Home - kitchen & dining, living loom, photo albums & frames
7th floor - paints - watercolour, gouache, sketchbooks, Japanese calligraphy supplies
8th - craft supplies - wrapping paper, washi paper, origami, scrapbooking, stamps
10th - Handshake Lounge
11th Farm - Indoor Hydroponics
12th - Cafe Stylo
LOFT
Loft is a variety chain store and one was located nearby to Itoya.
By comparison to Itoya, Loft is not dedicated to stationery alone. However, similar to Itoya it is a good place to find souvenirs beyond stationeries for your loved ones back home. On the ground floor of the branch in Ginza you would be able to find food stuff associated with Japan, the obvious one being matcha. This includes matcha making sets i.e. the bowl and stirrer which were beautifully made and bowls with sakura and Mt. Fuji designs would make great gifts.
This particular branch dedicated an entire floor to stationeries alone. In comparison to Itoya they do carry more brands most of which are affordable, like Leuchtturm, MD Notebooks, Traveller’s Notebooks, and Hobonichi. Some of these brands were not offered in Itoya and those that were offered, was more limited in range. Their selection of washi tapes, stickers, and sticky notes are also great. So although there are some similar products offered as in Itoya, others were not. In particular, Loft do carry specific character merchandise like Miffy, Mofusand and the like.
So if you are on the hunt for stationeries, it is a good idea to visit Loft as well especially when it is only a stone’s throw away.
This brach of Loft do not however offer art supplies like watercolour and gouache as could be found in Itoya.
On the contrary the Loft branch in Shibuya, which is much bigger, do carry a decent selection of art supplies. Additionally, this particular branch has a floor offering souvenir items which are very unique and are of great quality. Since it is a bigger store, the selection of stationeries, tech related items like phone accessories, and toiletries were also more wide ranging. However, since it is located in Shibuya, should you decide to visit this branch be prepared for it to be filled with more people across all floors.
HANDS
Another variety chain store that you can also find in Ginza is Hands. More similar to Loft they carry toiletries, make-up, accessories like hats and scarves and of course stationeries.
Here again some selection would overlap but there are some collection which could not be found in the previous two stores mentioned. Their sticker collection are less as compared to Itoya but I think that was compensated with the range of craft supplies that they carried.
To be honest whenever I visit Tokyo I go to all three since they are so near to each other in Ginza. But then again I consider this as my daily walk which is essential to my health and well being in general. My wallet perhaps may disagree.
PIGMENT TOKYO
Pigment Tokyo is slightly out of the way, located in Shinagawa City, but for an art lover obsessed with “looking” at art supplies it is so worth the trip. It is still very much accessible from Ginza via the reliable public transportation system and the area is a pleasant one to have a stroll. The building in which it is located is beautiful in itself and how the store display their products is even more beautiful. In addition to some of the watercolour sets that you can find in the other stores already mentioned, Pigment Tokyo offers brushes, displayed in like national artefacts, and pigment sets I could not find anywhere else (so far). It is just a beautiful place to be in even just to admire the products that they offer. The differentiator I would say obviously are the pigments which they offer to their customers. Sold according to weight all of which displayed on a wall of rainbows. I would say that if you are trying to find more traditional supplies like for Nihonga and gold leaf work, this is the place you would want to visit. From different types of binders, burnisher, pigments and brushes it is an experience like no other. During my first visit I did arrive slightly later in the afternoon and was actually reminded that the store is about to close. I do appreciate them putting up with me till the end still.
One great thing about Pigment Tokyo is that they do have an online store which ships internationally, and they hosts classes too. So far I only had the opportunity to attend one watercolour making class but hope to attend more traditional classes in the future if permitted.
All in all, for a stationery lover, a visit to these stores would be an exciting experience.
There are other art supplies stores which I visited since my first trip to Japan but I think the comparison of these four stores would be enough for now. I would not want to overload you with too much information but share enough for you to decide which stores you would want to visit.
SUMMARY
If you are looking to save time whilst searching for stationeries and gifts, I would recommend going to Ginza as you will be able to easily visit three stores in search of stationeries and souvenirs with great quality. You will be able to experience the high end atmosphere and offerings of Itoya and easily access the variety of items in Loft and Hands at the same time.
For managing the transportation system Google Maps have been quite reliable with glitches only rarely.
I hope the information shared here would be useful to you and for those heading over, happy “walking”.
Till the next one - have a great day ahead.