Tokyo

Stop 1: Itoya (G.Itoya + K.Itoya)

Twelve floors of pens, inks and paper — the broadest single stationery house in Japan; the K.Itoya annex behind carries the pen and paper depth.

Stop 2: Kyukyodo (Ginza Honten)

A house of washi, incense and calligraphy paper founded in 1663 — the traditional counterpoint, thirty seconds from Itoya.

Stop 3: Euro Box

A specialist vintage room on the fourth floor of the Okuno Building — European vintage through Japanese maki-e, with repairs.

• Verify before you go.

Stop 4: Maruzen Nihonbashi

The historic pen counter on B1 — the house that helped introduce fountain pens to Japan, with its own Athena and Nihonbashi inks.

Stop 5: Bungubox

Store-exclusive Wajima urushi and maki-e pens beside its own exclusive ink line and the Japanese houses.

Stop 6: Kingdom Note

Where vintage and maki-e live — used and rare Japanese houses, secondhand urushi, exclusive inks; the deepest handling room for the rare.

Stop 7: Sekaido (Shinjuku Honten)

Five floors of art supplies, inks and stationery at breadth — a browsing floor rather than a pen boutique.

Stop 8: PLOTTER TOKYO

The first PLOTTER flagship — the leather binder system and its refills, with store exclusives.

Stop 9: Shosaikan (Pen Boutique Aoyama)

A museum-like pen room — Sailor store-exclusive inks and the high end of the Japanese and European houses.

• Reservation required.

Stop 10: Kakimori

Order-made notebooks bound to your choice of cover, paper and binding; upstairs, Inkstand blends a bespoke ink.

Stop 11: Traveler's Factory Nakameguro

The home of Traveler's Company — location-exclusive Notebook editions and refills.