How Japan’s Stationery Store Is Taking On The U.S. (For The Right Price)

Japanese stationery manufacturer Tokyo Stationery is selling some of the most popular Japanese handmade items on Amazon.com, and the company is not afraid to take a little more than it can handle.

“We’re selling our products here,” said Toshiyuki Yoshida, president and CEO of Tokyo Stationary, in a recent interview.

“But we also make it available here in the U.K. and here in other countries.”

Japan’s largest manufacturer of handmade stationery and accessories sold over $1.2 billion in merchandise in 2017, according to a company spokesperson.

That’s more than double the $879 million the company sold last year.

Yoshida says that trend continues.

“I think we’ve always been the largest in the world,” Yoshida said.

“We’ve had a lot of success, but there are still some places that still aren’t as popular as Japan.”

Toshida is not the only one to take notice of the trend.

The British retail giant, Sainsbury’s, is selling its Japanese-made stationery on Amazon as well, along with the company’s other Japanese brands like Toho and Nippon Columbia.

“When we started, we didn’t expect it to be this popular,” said the Sainsburys’ senior director of global brand strategy, Paul Molloy.

“It’s really nice to see that people are buying Japanese made goods.”

Tobias Ohler/Business Insider Japanese stationary makers are also starting to take note.

Last year, the U and UK governments banned Japanese imports from a number of Western nations, including the U