Don't you wish you were having half as much fun as these little guys?

Mind Wave has been one of my favorite stationery manufacturers for a while. They specialize largely in what I like to call “mascot” stationery: products that feature a small cast of characters. They make stickers, washi tapes, AirPod covers, even branded Zebra DelGuards and Mildliners. I’m a big fan of Shibanban, a group of shiba inus big and small that get into all kinds of exciting trouble.

A recent addition to the Mind Wave lineup is Kotori Machi, which imagines a peaceful shopping street lined with beloved local stores. The original Kotori Machi “shops” included eight locations: Sunset Bookstore, Fleur Sereine (a flower shop), Pâtisserie Hitokuchi, Kasasagi Coffee, Restaurant Reshipi-tei, Fille Rêveuse (a dress shop), Cinema Scarlet, and Stand Bar 3329. The next four focused on classic and vintage shops, like Sento Yutosoyu (an onsen, or public bath), Kissaten Jiruetto (an old-school tea/coffee shop), Tailor Enaga, and Kasho Tsubame (a wagashi, or traditional Japanese sweets, shop)¹.

If you don’t already know, I have a hoarding mentality. It no doubt comes from generations of saving perfectly sized boxes and jars for organizing household goods¹. It’s why I have so many fountain pens, stickers, washi tapes, inks, stamps, extra correction tapes, skeins of yarn, dice… I have the brain of a magpie, and I do appreciate my need for curling my claws around sparkly and cute things, but sometimes it’s a little out of control.