I deleted my twitter account not too long ago and now more and more often I scroll down to the bottoms of websites hoping there is a Bluesky link and tada: there is. @letterformarchive.org
I have only one chopstick sleeve in my collection, a humorous, slightly risqué one from a ramen and gyoza shop in Yokohama that I frequent. Here is a photograph with transcription and translation:
Another kind of commercial ephemera that people collect in Japan are the paper covers that bookstores provide for customers. Each bookstore typically has its own design. Here is one collector’s blog:
Was just looking at your web page and really wish I had a copy of "Start Speaking Japanese Today" when I lived in a small town east of Fukuoka a couple decades ago.
Thank you! The book is out of date and better language-learning tools are available now, but if anyone might find an old-fashioned phrasebook/textbook useful or interesting, they can download the PDF for free, no strings attached:
Everything they do is a thing of beauty, showing lots of effort, care and aesthetics. Even those warning signboards at construction sites or road and cable works.
True of most places.. But they do put a lot of effort into making ordinary things "cute" or artistic.
Like those construction site warnings or info boards. In most places it's just functional and bare. In Japan they add cartoon characters, nice layouts, fonts etc.
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[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 59.7 ms ] threadI have only one chopstick sleeve in my collection, a humorous, slightly risqué one from a ramen and gyoza shop in Yokohama that I frequent. Here is a photograph with transcription and translation:
https://gally.net/temp/20250120sanyochopsticksleeve/index.ht...
Another kind of commercial ephemera that people collect in Japan are the paper covers that bookstores provide for customers. Each bookstore typically has its own design. Here is one collector’s blog:
https://bookcoverfan.livedoor.blog/
Some bookstores also provide their own bookmarks. Here is a collection of those:
https://hyohyosya.hatenablog.com/entry/2015/09/13/%E3%81%97%...
#UnsolicitedTestimonial
https://www.gally.net/start/index.html
Like those construction site warnings or info boards. In most places it's just functional and bare. In Japan they add cartoon characters, nice layouts, fonts etc.
That was my point.
https://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/0d/e7/bb/a7/...
That said, before they translated it to English for the tourists, you could order more stuff with it.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49277747203_7f23e589cf_b...