Bumpodo: Jimbocho's Famous Historic Stationery Shop

Bumpodo: A Landmark Shop in Tokyo's Jimbocho District

When you think of Jimbocho, Tokyo, what comes to mind? Is it the world-famous district of secondhand bookstores, or perhaps the neighborhood's legendary curry scene? While both are iconic hallmarks of the area, they are only part of the story.

Beyond the bookshelves and spice shops, Jimbocho is a treasure trove of exceptional stationery and lifestyle goods.

This time, we’ll introduce you to Bumpodo—a landmark shop with over 130 years of history offering an incredible variety of art supplies and unique finds.

The History of Bumpodo

Bumpodo was established in 1887. At the time of its establishment, it was the first specialty shop in Japan that mainly focused on the sales and development of oil paints.

The building’s current exterior was completed in 1922. When the Great Kanto Earthquake occurred the following year, many of the buildings within the Kanda area were destroyed by fire. However, Bumpodo was fortunately spared and retained its original state due to having been built with iron reinforcing, which had been an unusual method of construction at the time. The remaining outer wall later received the Cityscape Prize and the shop has been covered by several Japanese magazines and television stations.

The Well-Rounded Stationery Shop

Bumpodo consists of several floors from the basement to the seventh floor.

The first floor basement mainly sells high-quality stationery, paper, and comic artist supplies. It is full of products that you're sure to find yourself wanting, like notebooks, high quality pens, and paper masking tape that can be used in several ways.

The first floor consists of art supplies, stationery, and miscellaneous goods for oil painting; I was completely enamored with this floor. Aside from Japanese brands, there are also many imported goods that are perfect art tools for beginners here too.

The second floor consists of tools for woodblock printing and carving. It certainly can be said that this shop offers the largest selection of Japanese woodblock printing supplies in Japan. Nearby, there are also other Japanese-style products such as domestically made autograph boards, cloths, and towels that make perfect souvenirs for friends and family.

On the third floor is the gallery café. Many people seem to go to the shop in order to drink coffee. The café is partnered with a nearby popular cake shop to make and offer limited edition cakes. There are even times when their cakes are already sold out by afternoon!

The view of the scenery makes this spot suitable for relaxing at your own pace. What is displayed in the gallery has been carefully selected by the shop owner and the space is also offered to artists. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the entire building.

The rental gallery is on the fourth floor. It is an extensive calming and comfortable environment.

Both the fifth and seventh floors serve as rooms for lessons and art school. Students of the art school can receive discounts when making purchases from the shop. The sixth floor mainly consists of sales and made-to-order frames.

Beloved Original Bumpodo Products

The shop began by creating original art supplies, so we cannot go without introducing just how amazing their products are.

The first domestically-made oil pigments in Japan were developed by Bumpodo with excellent, highly concentrated pigments that preserve its beautiful colors for extended periods of time. Many of the colors available were made as a result of repeatedly adjusting its formulas; there are even four kinds of whites!

These are clips that can be repeatedly used, won’t slip off when clipped, are a convenient tool, and have continued to be loved over the years by Japanese corporations. These clips have also won the Good Design Prize in the past.

Bumpodo is also known as the business that created Japanese writing paper. Chuya Nakahara, Takeo Arishima, Hakushu Kitahara, Sakutaro Hagiwara, and Seishi Yokomizo were all Japanese literary masters who once regularly used writing paper from Bumpodo.

The paper is suitable for writing with a pen, has a surface that makes for smooth writing, and you can write in it effortlessly. The shop’s reprinted paper is made with the same materials as the original and features the handwritten calligraphy of the literary masters on the front cover for an enjoyable elegance.

Shopping Time!

The shop is full of a variety of printed postcards from Japanese scenery and modern images to retro cards; it was to the point I couldn’t decide where would be good to start and choose from!

Those who have seen the film Love Letter most likely remember this loan card, right? This card would also be great for writing down your feelings, too.

This product that looks like a camera is a pencil sharpener that you can easily carry with you.

Cat lovers might not be able to leave Bumpodo. The shop is lined with several products printed with cats such as bags, cosmetic pouches, and more.

Sticky notes are an essential stationery item for both adults and students, but this was my first time seeing sumo sticky notes that are both fun and accurate!

In Conclusion

You might spend one or two hours in here without realizing it. You will probably want to look at all the products up close and in person, so if you are ever feeling tired, you will be able to rest at the Western-style gallery café.

You can become a master of gift-giving the next time you visit Bumpodo to choose a gift for a friend or yourself!