Just 90 Minutes from Osaka! Highlights from Beautiful Ako City

Bumpodo - Inside The Living History Of Art And Stationery!

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When one thinks of Jinbocho, do bookstores come to mind? Curry? It’s also an area with wonderful stationery and general goods stores! We’ll introduce you to Bumpodo, a shop with 100 years of history and a wide variety of products.

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The Well-Rounded Stationery Shop

文房堂藝廊

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

文房堂地下一樓
文房堂紙膠帶

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.

文房堂一樓
文房堂畫筆

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.

文房堂二樓

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.

文房堂咖啡
文房堂蛋糕

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!

文房堂做咖啡
文房堂咖啡座位

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.

文房堂四樓藝廊

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

文房堂畫框
文房堂畫框陳列

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

文房堂油畫顏料

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!

文房堂長尾夾

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.

文房堂原稿用紙

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!

文房堂明信片
文房堂種類

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!

文房堂借書卡

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.

文房堂削鉛筆機

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

文房堂貓咪帆布包

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.

文房堂相撲便利貼

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!

This article is a translation and republication from an article originally written in Traditional Chinese.

Written by

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miho

東京

Born in Taiwan. Currently living in Tokyo. Currently editor in chief of MATCHA's Taiwanese website. In the past, I worked as an editor for a Japanese fashion magazine, as a Japanese language teacher at a private high school in Taipei, as an interpreter for Shiseido and other Japanese and Taiwanese companies. I've also had experience as an inbound tourism copywriter. My Facebook page 'Tokyo beyond studying abroad' 東京、不只是留學(留学だけじゃなくて)boasts 120,000 followers. Blogger with readers from Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan, of which 70% are female readers. I have covered over 300 locations and stores in my articles. Writing about the latest trends, places off the beaten path, and traditional culture. Published six books on Japan in Taiwan and Asia. Facebook → https://www.facebook.com/filmmiho/ Instagram → @mihowang47
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