Kakimori restock brings notebooks, nibs and Inkstand inks to shops

Kakimori’s July 7 shop update put fabric-covered notebooks, metal dip nibs, nib holders and Inkstand Colour inks back in front of fountain pen buyers, with a limited TWSBI ECO Horse Year release adding a separate rush. The mix looked less like a routine replenishment than a snapshot of where the market is pulling right now: toward Japanese-made paper goods, interchangeable tools and special editions that do something different from standard desk-stock pens.

That fits Kakimori’s identity. The Tokyo stationery maker opened in Kuramae in 2010 around the idea of making writing a pleasure, and its shops and Inkstand sit in a manufacturing neighborhood in Taito ward. Kakimori says it works with Japanese workshops and craftspeople to create original designs meant to be cherished for generations, which helps explain why a restock of its products tends to land with collectors as well as everyday users.

The notebooks are a good example. Kakimori’s A5 notebook is built as a fabric-bound hardcover with lay-flat section sewn binding, fountain pen-friendly book paper pages, a 5mm grid and a ribbon marker. The brand also offers order-made notebooks at its Kuramae shop, along with collaboration notebooks developed with craftspeople and brands from across Japan. For readers who care about paper, binding and how ink behaves on the page, that is the kind of package that stands out immediately.

The writing tools follow the same logic. Kakimori says its metal nib was developed to function like a glass pen while offering reliable production and supply, with line width changing depending on angle. The nib holders are made to be interchangeable across the range, and the urushi model uses Japanese cherry finished with fuki-urushi lacquer. The plain wood holder measures 7 inches, about the length of a pencil, while the full-size version also comes in black urushi. Those details matter to writers who like modular setups, dip work and swatching, not just off-the-rack convenience.

Inkstand Colour is the same story in ink form. Kakimori lists 18 related products, including 14 shades plus a pearlescent solution, diluting solution, mixing kit and bottle, and markets the line as blendable and mixable. That puts it squarely in the lane of people who like to tune color rather than just fill a pen and go. Taccia Hokusai inks and Pilot Iroshizuku stock rounded out the update, but the TWSBI ECO Horse Year brought its own kind of urgency.

TWSBI described the ECO Horse Year as a very small batch, limited-edition run of its piston-filling demonstrator, with posted-cap capability, an inner cap seal and nib choices ranging from extra fine to 1.1 stub. Retailers identified it as a 2026 Year of the Horse release, and some pointed to the Hinoe-Uma, or Fire Horse, cycle, with symbolism tied to success, fortune, determination, strength and freedom. For collectors and daily users alike, that made the restock feel like two different messages at once: Kakimori for the people who want tools and paper that feel distinct, and the Horse Year ECO for anyone who knows a small-batch TWSBI will not linger on shelves.