Stationery We Kept Reaching For in 2025: A Japanese Desk Essentials Roundup

Introduction

Some years you buy stationery, and some years stationery buys you. 2025 was firmly the latter, with a desk drawer filling up with cat-shaped clips, thick journals, scented highlighters and one fountain pen that quietly redefined what beginner-friendly writing feels like. This roundup collects the purchases that actually earned their keep, the ones still in daily rotation rather than sitting in a guilt pile.

Clips, Planners and Journals That Stuck Around

The Sun-Star Jittome cat clips were impossible to resist, and three of them ended up in one basket: black, tuxedo and gray tabby. They are genuinely useful for wrangling loose papers, scripts and product lists, and one calico version has found a second life keeping a planner propped open. Cute is one thing, but a clip that earns a permanent job is another.

Weekly Planning: Hobonichi Weeks

2025 was a first full year with the Hobonichi Weeks, and it fit the planning style almost immediately. The compact weekly format is easy to keep up with, and it is already confirmed for another year in 2026. For anyone whose planning lives and dies on a tight weekly grid, this one is an easy recommendation.

Daily Journaling: Hobonichi Techo Cousin

The Hobonichi Techo Cousin is the heavyweight of this list, literally. A first year of daily journaling turned this A5 planner into a wonderfully chonky brick, which is exactly what a year of consistent journaling should look like. It is a big commitment, but the payoff shows in the page count.

Journals for Family: Midori Options

For a parent who wanted a dream journal, the Midori 1 Day 1 Page Codex was the pick, and for good reason. The freeform, undated format means no pressure to skip or catch up, and the thick, cushy Clairefontaine-style paper is a dream for anyone picky about paper. For a parent getting back into fountain pens, the Midori Diary Book with its adorable black cat illustrations hits a sweet spot: charming covers with reliable MD Paper inside.

Pens and Highlighters Worth the Drawer Space

The pen haul was strong this year. The Zebra Mildliner scented highlighters deliver that pleasant laundry-day whiff while you highlight, which is a small thing that somehow makes studying nicer. There were also first-time Pilot Juice gel pen purchases in both the classic and dusty color sets, with the dusty set standing out for staying opaque and legible despite its soft pastel look, plus a comfortable body with a proper grip section. The Uni-ball One earned love for its wide color selection too, though its very pale pastel shades read faint on the page, better for decoration than daily planning. Other worthy picks included Sun-Star Ninipie Deco markers with a fine tip and bullet tip in one body, Bande sticker rolls, a Tombow tape runner with eco-friendly sea-animal packaging, the Sun-Star Kirito Ring washi tape cutter, King Jim Kitta washi tape with a clever protective flap design, and a Wearingeul The Great Gatsby fountain pen ink chosen as a gift.

The Most Functional Sticky Note of the Year

Sticky note lovers know the cardinal rule: it has to actually stick. The Hisago Shikkari Pita sticky notes pass with flying colors thanks to a 70% adhesive backing. They hold on wood, desks and laptops without peeling off and wandering away, they come in cat designs, and they even earned an honorable mention at Tokyo Stationery Week. Multiple designs, including strawberry and tea time, are already on the wishlist.

Sticky Notes and Flags for Organizing

Rounding out the adhesive department, the Furukawashiko Kimama fusen sticky notes delivered a dog-on-a-cake design in cheerful yellow that was simply too charming to pass up. The Sun-Star Miorin sticky notes earned a place in the workflow for flagging catalogs, with the translucent version extending to-do lists in planners and the solid version handling daily tasks. Ghost-shaped notes picked up on a Japan trip, inevitably, after a second visit to Loft proved they were actually needed.

Carrying It All: Delfonics A5 Carrying Bag

The Delfonics A5 Carrying Bag is the kind of purchase everyone wants but few can get their hands on. Its pockets and storage make it the perfect home base for tape runners, washi tape cutters and small stationery odds and ends, keeping the whole kit portable and tidy.

A Beginner Fountain Pen That Actually Converts

The Pilot Kakuno Madoromi fountain pen is the single most recommended item on this list, talked about to friends, coworkers and anyone within earshot. After trying the usual beginner suspects, this proved the most comfortable, smoothest entry point for very small handwriting and a tight grip. Paired with a Pilot CON-40 converter, it opens up the whole world of bottled inks. It comes in plenty of colors including a charming smiley-face design, and there are more classic, office-friendly finishes for those who prefer them.

Swatching Inks Honestly: Midori MD A7 Notebook

To keep track of all those bottled inks, a Midori MD A7 Notebook became the personal swatch book. Standard ink swatches are usually done on white paper, but most everyday writing happens on cream, where colors genuinely look different. Documenting inks on your own paper of choice gives a far better sense of what they will actually look like, and it is a satisfying habit in its own right.

What Is Next on the Wishlist

The 2026 wishlist is already forming. Sticky note rolls like the Papier Platz version look promising since roll-form notes come pre-rounded yet still stick properly. On the ink side, decision paralysis reigns between Kobayashi inks with their consistent flow and beautiful shading, the gorgeous blue of Sailor Manyo Haha, and the tempting Tono & Lims lineup.

Conclusion

The common thread across the best purchases of the year is simple: stationery that solves a small, real problem, whether that is a sticky note that stays put, a planner that matches your rhythm, or a pen that makes daily writing a pleasure. If you are building your own shortlist, the Pilot Kakuno Madoromi and the Hisago Shikkari Pita sticky notes are the two we would repurchase without hesitation, and the rest of this list is a strong place to start.