Maybe I have an old soul, but I love the classic and retro feel. There are objects with so much personality and such distinctive design that they have become completely timeless. There aren’t many, but those that have that certain something make a difference. When it comes to cars, there’s Mini; Brompton or Freddie Grub do the same in bicycles; and if we talk about stationery, there’s Hightide with Penco and their retro-style Japanese stationery.

If you search for Japanese stationery on your phone, you’re most likely to find an army of cute pens, notebooks, and accessories in all sorts of colors and characters. The Kawaii style is cool, I won’t deny it, but if brands like Hobonichi, Midori (Oh, the Traveler’s Notebook!), Nakaya, or Hightide with their Penco line show anything, it’s that the best stationery from the land of the rising sun isn’t drenched in unicorn vomit.

But the best part about Hightide Penco is that they don’t just make notebooks and pens, they also manufacture all kinds of accessories for the desk and for everyday life.

In Spain, they’re still not as easily found as I would like, but by searching online and making the occasional escape to cities filled with stationery stores like London, I’ve been able to get my hands on all sorts of goodies.

A Place for Your Ideas

I know I talk so much about Field Notes that it seems there’s no life beyond, but the truth is Japanese notebooks have nothing to envy the Americans. To start with, the quality of the paper is so high that it doesn’t matter if you prefer to use pencils, pens, or if you’re like me and your thing is writing with ink in your fountain pens. And then there’s the design.

If the notebooks you use made any difference in writing, the Penco’s Foolscap Notebooks (B5) would be where I’d draft my first great novel.

The Puggy’s Best Stationer Pocket Notebook, which is the same size as the Hobonichi planner, is perfect for all those day-to-day notes and ideas.

A Desk with Personality

If I only had to choose one part of everything Hightide Penco does, without a doubt, I’d choose their desk accessories. This is where the retro-style Japanese stationery truly shines.

Just look at their Storage Caddy organizers. The small version is a very handy pencil holder where you can store pens, fountain pens, pencils, and notebooks. Meanwhile, the large version almost looks like a toolbox for the creative within you. Perfect for those who have several different workspaces (drawing corner and computer corner, for example) within their office and want to carry their tools from one place to another.

The green marble finish of the Penco Marbled Pen Tray is something you either hate or love, impossible to leave you indifferent. A different way to leave your pens on the desk and, by the way, prevent some things from rolling off the table.

If there’s a bad part of being a stationery geek, it’s undoubtedly how quickly you run out of space to store so many goodies. The solution? Buy more goodies like the Storage Container. They come in a pack of four, stored like Russian dolls, and while they’re not very large, they have plenty of space to store all your stationery.

But the real gem is the Penco Tape Dispenser. Its industrial design seems straight out of the 70s-80s and is built to withstand everything. From the time you buy it until it breaks, it will go in and out of fashion multiple times. That’s why I say Penco’s retro-style Japanese stationery is truly something special.

Penco Take Away

I’ve mentioned them before, but the Carry-Tite cases and Field Roll Pen Case are perfect for carrying everything you need when you leave the house: from your pens and fountain pens to cables and chargers. Plus, being made of plastic, the Carry-Tite withstands almost everything.

Being made of fabric, the Field Roll Pen Case is a bit easier to get dirty, but in return, you can put all the pins you want on it, and it adapts more to what you carry inside.

It may not be the easiest brand to find in Spain, but without a doubt, Hightide and Penco’s retro-style Japanese stationery is well worth it.