Editing The Pen Addict 619/transcript (section)

== Building a community around Japanese stationery in America ==

* So that was a journey. So as I was trying to figure out how to bring in Japanese stationery to America, I definitely wanted to leverage an existing community. And when I looked around, the only two stationery related communities I could come across were either scrapbooking or fountain pens. And scrapbooking wasn't really my path. I was thinking more about how can I bring in, you know, stationery to kind of the corporate world. So I thought, all right, let me find out. Let me get involved in the fountain pen community and learn, you know, as a novice. And it was just absolutely fantastic between, you know, Brad's podcast as well as the San Francisco Pen Posse that runs the San Francisco Pen Show. Just so much online and real life community that welcomed me in and taught me everything to know. So I really, I figured the way into the American station market had to go through fountain pens. And I'm so glad I took that journey. I got introduced to pen shows. I would go to the LA Pen Show, the San Francisco Pen Show. And it's, they're not always inviting, but they're people like, you know, you, like the pen posse people, like the younger generation who was working so hard to make it accessible to newcomers to the field. So that really won my heart and got me interested just in the community aspect. I didn't, I never thought about making a business out of fountain pens. That was tangential. For me, it was just kind of a path to what I really wanted to do. But as I was attending those shows, I think it was 2018, I started hearing rumors that some people are trying to organize the Tokyo Pen Show.
* And I heard of some people doing it. I didn't really know them. I knew of them, but I wasn't embedded in the fountain pen community. And my immediate reaction was not excitement, but fear. It's like, oh my God, you know, I've been to many Japanese stationery events and they're all very corporate. It's all about selling. It's all about branding. And if they are to run a show with the name Tokyo Pen Show in it, just the name alone is going to invite so much interest. People are going to have such high expectations from outside of Japan. And I was worried that if it turned out to be a corporate event, it's going to be so disappointing. So I reached out to a friend of mine who runs Kakimori, which is a stationery store here in Japan. They focus more on paper and notebooks. And I said, you know, let me help out at your booth so at least I can get my foot in to apply some influence or, you know, just warn people that we have to make this a community event. Yeah. So I raised my hand. I was still living in the States. So I flew over like a week before. And immediately I got sucked into the organizing committee. They said, oh, we need somebody who speaks English. I want you to translate all of our announcements. So I said, yeah, yeah, great, great.
* And there was no turning back. I became an official organizing member for the next year. I've been doing it for six years.
* And once I got inside, I found out all my fears were for not. It's run by the least corporate people in Japan. And it's headed by Kaoru of Bunga Box. And she's a.
* Vibratious by the vibratious entrepreneur who's like the furthest thing from a Japanese businessman. And then it's also the sidekick is Mr. Endo of Eboya, which is probably known for their ebonite fountain pens. But their true business is they're one of the three remaining ebonite manufacturers around the world. So he's he's in the factory day in, day out, you know, and we meet at his office, which stinks of ebonite. But, you know, he's he looks stern, but he's he's a puppy inside. He's just eager to do the right thing and just wants to have a good time. So anyway, my fears were unfounded. I always tell this story and Kaoru scolds me because she she makes it sound like, you know, I had no faith in them. But, yeah, they they knew what they didn't know what they were doing. They just wanted to do it. There was a strong passion and it's just been such a joy working with them. So, yes, I I was met or involved in it remotely while I was living in America and then came over post covid and I've still been heavily involved in that. So that's kind of my journey.
* So we've been doing this for six years and I think we've we've kind of figured out what our personality is. Now, first, for some context, you know, in America, kind of the reason I got into Fountain Pens because that was the only game when it came to stationery.
* In Japan, it's not like that at all. We are spoiled here. There are so many like professional and community events around stationery. Since it's not the one and only, you know, we have to find our niche within the market. But if you're a true hardcore fountain pen collector, there are kind of trading events run by, you know, frankly, middle aged Japanese men who have strong opinions about, you know, what's good, what's bad. And, you know, kiss, kiss my ring kind of thing. Yeah. And those have a very, you know, Steve Baird entry. You need some kind of I was courage to to go there and mingle and be a kind of secret handshake. Yes. Yes. You know, it's not it's not a knock on them. It's just a culture that they created. Right. It's, you know. Right. And then once you earn your their respect, it's like, wow, you know, I get to ask all the questions and, you know. So but that's that's for the true hardcore. Hardcore. Then there's pure stationery events that are massive. And, you know, they run the gamut of, you know, washi tape to stamps to pens to, you know, character printed, you know, Disney notebooks and stuff. All of it. What was lacking was kind of focus on fountain pens and just handwriting. Not about decorating, but more about handwriting and what's the richness of that culture.