As a stationery brand, we are always curious how and what people use our stationery goods for. With this blog series, focusing on the hands at "work" and beyond, we ask five questions about the usage and meaning of the stationery tools to our friends in Los Angeles.
We are delighted to have a special guest this month, as we visited Hightide Store New York City, the new Greenwich Village location. We had a chance to talk to a New York based writer, Yumiko Sakuma whom we have been admiring her work for a long time.
She welcomed us to her studio in Greenpoint neighborhood where she kept her collection of vintage clothing and accessories, craft supplies and the books she published, etc.
Q1. a. We love how you color-coordinated your Storage Container Set and Metal Book Rest in the cheerful mint color. Did you choose this color for a reason?
I love to surround myself with colors but my favorites are yellow, blue and green in that order.
Q1. b. What do you store in the Storage Container Set?
I have beads, hardware and metal fittings, and small tools.
Q1. c. Why did you choose the Kaweco Sport fountain pen?
I’ve been using Kaweco fountain pens for a few years now. I love their colors, how small and easy they are.
Yumiko is writing down her current wish list in Japanese; a bamboo paper, socks, a bag for knitting tools, a notebook, a cigarette shaped hair pin, etc etc
Q2. In our technology driven world, what does it mean to make things by your hand to you?
For me, it is both an escape and a form of self-care. I spend most of my work hours on my computer and that used to be all there was. Once I started to craft, I realized I feel so much more balanced.
Q3. Pencils or Mechanical Pencils?
Definitely both.
Q4. What’s in your pen stand?
Fountain pens, ball point pens, sharpies, highlighters, color pencils.
Q5. What is your most favorite stationery?
If I have to choose, I’d say notebooks.
Here, Yumiko uses her "yare-shi" upcycled notebook which comes from “non-product paper” resulting during the printing process; usually it refers to test prints used primarily for ink adjustment, color verification, and so on.
A little peek of Yumiko's bookshelf with her books and zines in Japanese– some are travel essay zines and some are about activism.
