Paper spring

It may have been snow drizzling all weekend, but it has been spring for weeks at bookstore and stationer Maruzen. It will be a few more weeks before cherry blossom season starts, though plum trees are already blooming.

The paper in the foreground is part of a seasonal stationery series by Midori that I can't resist. I've bought more of their beautiful, inexpensive paper than I will ever be able to use - gingko, dogwood, and a few variations on sakura. I've seen quite a few of the flowered patterns in square, oblong and coaster sizes with matching envelopes. Different shops tend to carry different patterns from the same line.

Hm, I'm also realizing looking through their English product catalog (a PDF - I know!) that lots of the notebooks, cute post-it notes and animal-shaped paper clips I've sent home were also made by them.