WORKING HANDS: Yamabushi Farms

Q1 a: What do you use a Cargo Bag for? 

I used the cargo bag almost every day for mail day. Usually on Mondays we have like twenty plus packages to take, and I walk them to the post office. And before I'd have to use four tote bags, so it's been really nice to use the cargo bag. And then just recently I took it up to Mammoth to take all my camping supplies, so that was really fun.

Len tears up a page of Maruman SOHO Sketchbook in a half to jot down the day's order. Clipped with Penco Clampy Clip in Medium on the inventory shelf for visibility. 

Q2. In our technology driven world, what does it mean to make things by your hand to you? 

I think as a designer and in my past jobs, everything has been so digital and on the computer. So when I had the chance to start this company, it's really important for me to do things by hand. I think it's because it makes things feel real. 

When I'm working on the computer - I mean, I love the computer, I love going on the computer, I feel like it shaped me, but sometimes it feels like nothing.

Making things by hand makes me feel like there's something there and that I'm making something, maybe  important. And I'm really inspired by craft and craft culture, not just in Japan but everywhere. And I think being able to do things by hand and get better at that and be able to see that makes me feel connected to that culture.

Sometimes for me the process is more important than the finished product and sometimes you can’t even tell but it’s ok if it’s just for me sometimes.

Len displays one of his vintage magazines, Dictionary Freepaper on a Metal Book-Stand. 

Q3. Pencils or Mechanical Pencils? 

When I was little I was big into mechanical pencils. I remember my mom would give me this Pentel Energize pencil from Japan almost every year or maybe I would just be good about not losing it. It was always 0.5 lead. I was always a mechanical pencil person.

But more recently I've really liked just regular pencils, and I think it's because I like the feeling of the wood and I like the feeling of sharpening it, the kind of resistance you get from sharpening it. It just feels a little better to me right now. Maybe it's that point in my life. I’m a pencil guy.

Len uses a traditional pen plotter for a packaging design for Yamabushi Farms products. 

Q4. How do you organize your pens and pencils? 

I feel like I’m best at organizing things I don’t use all the time. So the Caddy can keep my array of pencils and things of more obtuse colors that don’t get grabbed all the time but are pleasant to look at.

Then everything else ends up all over the place on the desk where I use them and the little trays have been helpful in making that seem more systemic.

I always keep that Perfection Pen attached to the notebook. 

Mitsubishi 9852 pencils in a Penco Storage Caddy in small along with other pens and stationery items. 

Q5. What is your most favorite stationery? 

I think that's really hard. What I have the most memories of is using the MD gridded notebook, not the smallest one but one above that. I used a bunch of those to journal every day and draw. 

When I think of stationery I think of journaling in those notebooks and it makes me think about how time has passed. My life seems to be recorded in the journals, and even though the spine is broken and some of the covers are torn, I’m grateful to have them.