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Japan's Paper Culture

jetpens.com

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Re: Japan's Paper Culture

#111

Post by JKCalhoun »

beermonster wrote: post #78

I should really buy something from jet pens. Not sure how how expensive they are for non-US international orders but I’ll have to check. It could potentially add quite a mark-up to a cheaper item such as the sampler packs someone else mentioned. But those packs look GREAT. You should check out the rest of their posts/articles. I’ve ended up on them before when trying to find out the difference in the types of inks an…

> I can’t even read my own hand writing any more - it must just be the lack of practice

I still write checks to pay bills (remember?). I have a timeline now of my handwriting and notice that it has deteriorated in periods of my life when I was under stress – sometimes unawares. But it has improved since retiring.

May be a component?

Re: Japan's Paper Culture

#112

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

yoz-y wrote: post #73

I always loved the look of notebooks in pen and paper ads. Neat text here, nice drawing there… however, does anybody actually take notes like this? My notes always look like trash, and back in school it was the same for everyone. It almost looks like if you want to take notes this way you have to plan ahead to be sure to have space?

Does your living room look like the advertisement photos at Restoration Hardware, Pottery Barn, or any other furniture store? I’m guessing not. This stuff is staged. Like notebooks advertisements.

Re: Japan's Paper Culture

#113

Post by packetlost »

gganley wrote: post #110
packetlost wrote: post #106

For anyone who prefers mechanical pencils over pens (like myself), I have been extremely happy with the pairing of a Zebra M-701 and Uni Nano Dia HB 0.7mm on Leuchtturm1917 or Moleskine paper.

Could I interest you in a Rotring 600? Keep in mind I haven't used either of those you listed. review: https://www.penaddict.com/blog/2012/3/5/rotring-600-drafting... jet pens: https://www.jetpens.com/Rotring-600-Drafting-Pencils/ct/1109

I personally prefer a heftier, thicker pencil as the skinnier ones make my hands cramp up a little after a lot of writing (something . I do have some drafting pencils from a different brand (nothing spectacular) but they're mostly relegated to my art supplies drawer.

Re: Japan's Paper Culture

#114

Post by unmole »

suction wrote: post #76
rayiner wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Japan is, of course, just a place. The people there are ordinary humans. Fetishizing a particular culture is both cringeworthy and genuinely harmful. Their country and society have plenty of problems, just like any other. There is nothing magical about Japan or any other place. Japan, by your own description, isn’t just a place. It’s the place of a people who share a long and deep culture. If you substituted New Yo…

Quoted post unavailable.

Your comment would be significantly improved with less hyperbole.

Re: Japan's Paper Culture

#115

Post by rayiner »

unmole wrote: post #37
rayiner wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Japan is, of course, just a place. The people there are ordinary humans. Fetishizing a particular culture is both cringeworthy and genuinely harmful. Their country and society have plenty of problems, just like any other. There is nothing magical about Japan or any other place. Japan, by your own description, isn’t just a place. It’s the place of a people who share a long and deep culture. If you substituted New Yo…

> My acquaintance dug into some 400 years of Japanese history to explain why it had less problems with corruption than China, next door. Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong are closer to China in terms of both geography and culture without having problems with corruption. It's almost as if 400 years of history has very little to do with it.

Hong Kong was long a British colony. Taiwan and Singapore are tiny island nations, with founding generations small enough to retool the culture and institutions. The founder of modern Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, was deliberate about reshaping the country’s culture because he was adamant that “culture is destiny.” https://paulbacon.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/zakaria_lee.pd...

Re: Japan's Paper Culture

#116

Post by 369548684892826 »

beermonster wrote: post #78

I should really buy something from jet pens. Not sure how how expensive they are for non-US international orders but I’ll have to check. It could potentially add quite a mark-up to a cheaper item such as the sampler packs someone else mentioned. But those packs look GREAT. You should check out the rest of their posts/articles. I’ve ended up on them before when trying to find out the difference in the types of inks an…

If you’re in the UK then cultpens might be a good alternative.

https://www.cultpens.com/

Re: Japan's Paper Culture

#117

Post by unmole »

rayiner wrote: post #115
unmole wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> My acquaintance dug into some 400 years of Japanese history to explain why it had less problems with corruption than China, next door. Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong are closer to China in terms of both geography and culture without having problems with corruption. It's almost as if 400 years of history has very little to do with it.

Hong Kong was long a British colony. Taiwan and Singapore are tiny island nations, with founding generations small enough to retool the culture and institutions. The founder of modern Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, was deliberate about reshaping the country’s culture because he was adamant that “culture is destiny.” https://paulbacon.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/zakaria_lee.pd...

And Japan is an American protectorate whose constitution was written by foreigners. So, what?

Re: Japan's Paper Culture

#118

Post by sheppard »

wrp wrote: post #89
sheppard wrote: post #65

For a peek behind the scenes at JetPens (with a slightly algorithmic bent): https://youtu.be/1Bi2Xys-ces Disclaimer: I work there.

I have followed JetPens since they started in someone's dorm room. Just how many people work there now?

We have about 50 people.

An interesting tidbit is that some of the picking processes described in the video I linked to above were implemented only recently as COVID-19 simultaneously applied upward pressure on order volume (people shopping online more) and downward pressure on fulfillment capacity (warehouse worker density restrictions). We literally had to stop taking orders for a short while to keep the backlog of orders reasonable.

It was gratifying to apply things we learned from computer science and industrial engineering together to help us keep up with demand.

Re: Japan's Paper Culture

#119

Post by sheppard »

beermonster wrote: post #104
gbuk2013 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not a pen geek but I did buy some Jetstream Uni 0.5 pens (one of the pens in the lead photo on the article) on Amazon for me and my other half to use in our home office and they are very nice. Price wise it was less than £10 for 3 shipped from Japan - can't argue with that really.

This is a shame. I got through to payment and I am presented with ‘Due to recent changes in United Kingdom's tax laws, we can only accept orders over $200 USD to the United Kingdom at this time.’ Wonder what recent tax law changes they’re referring to?

It's to do with the recent changes to VAT e-commerce rules: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/ioss_en

Re: Japan's Paper Culture

#120

Post by harlanji »

maeln wrote: post #64
JohnBooty wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

pens that you won't find at Staples or Walgreens (or the office supply closet) You'll still have to hit up the office supply closet or one of those other places for "decoy pens." You leave the decoy pens in a cup on top of your desk, while you keep the good stuff inside a drawer. That way your officemates and/or partner and/or housemates borrow (steal) the decoy pens and not the good stuff.

This bring back memory of middle school. I grew up in one of the poorest overseas territory of France, and if you left anything on your table while the teacher was calling you to the board, you had a 50/50% chance of having them stolen before you came back to your seat. Therefore, we all got into the habit of picking our pencil case with us when we went to the board. Then I moved back to metropolitan France and all t…

This is me bringing my backpack and laptop to the bathroom with me at cafes. Nothing has happened to make me do that, except knowing how fast things can happen. I leave something like a mouse or charger cable behind to show that the seat is not abandoned, and that's easier to replace.

Most people just get up and leave it there. Being homeless, losing anything expensive is going to ruin my year. It's the little things that give our social status away, even if we work and shower every day. Status illegibility is a key to climbing the ladder; going off on a bit of a tangent there, but indeed conformity in things like these is rational.

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