On the Paper Trail, Episode 10: We're Back From Japan!

We’re back from our recent stationery trip to Japan, and ready to discuss all of the various things we discovered! Join us as we recap two weeks in Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Osaka, and more, including visits to stores like Itoya, Kakimori, TRAVELER'S Factory, Nagasawa, Loft, Hands, Kingdom Note, Toyooka Craft, and other favorites. Are we going back? You bet.

On The Paper Trail: Where You Can Download the Podcast

Get caught up on previous episodes, and find more information about our first On The Paper Trail Live Event, which will be held in Nashville from October 16-18, 2026! Tickets are now on sale! ⁠⁠Check out the main podcast informational page for additional details. ⁠

Show Notes and Links

1. ⁠Opus 88 Sapphire Demonstrator (Lisa’s Pen)⁠

2. ⁠Pilot Kakuno (Lisa’s Pen)⁠

3. ⁠Pilot Custom Heritage 92 (Joe’s Pen)⁠

4. ⁠Pilot Custom 845 Urushi (Joe’s Pen)⁠

5. ⁠New Arrivals From Galen Leather⁠

6. ⁠Tom’s Studio Ori Highlighters⁠

7. ⁠Toyo Steel Boxes⁠

8. ⁠Anterique Pens⁠

9. ⁠Kakimori Make Your Own Notebook⁠

10. ⁠Kakimori Make Your Own Ink⁠

11. ⁠Toyooka Craft⁠

12. ⁠Joe’s Japan Trip Blog Recap (Visits to Itoya, Ancora, TRAVELER'S Factory)⁠

13. ⁠Joe’s Japan Trip Blog Recap (Kakimori Notebook and Ink Bar)⁠

14. ⁠Joe’s Japan Trip Blog Recap (Ink Shopping in Tokyo)⁠

15. ⁠Joe’s Five Favorite Things He Brought Home from Japan⁠

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by purchases from the T.G.S. Curated Shop and pledges via the T.G.S. Patreon Program. You can also come visit us at our physical stationery store in Nashville, Tennessee.

New Arrivals: Huge Roterfaden Restock with TGS_25 Taschenbegleiters, Full A5 Sizes, and More

Our Summer Roterfaden restock arrived sooner than we anticipated, meaning that we now have additional stock of the A5 Slim TGS_25 Taschenbegleiter in the Dark Green leather with grey interior and grey or light green elastics. These are available to ship immediately. We also have a fairly large selection of standard A5 Roterfaden Taschenbegleiters in various leather and felt/suede combinations, as well as additional stock of the B5 Taschenbegleiter LTD 028.

I’ve had some requests for additional information and explanation about how the Roterfaden notebook system works. I’ve generally been referring people to this YouTube video, in which I walk through my own setup.

Please note that pickup by appointment prior to Thursday is not available in the Nashville shop this week. If you would like to reserve a specific Taschenbegleiter to pick up in-person, you can select “Local Pickup” at checkout. You will receive an e-mail letting you know when your order may be picked up during normal business hours, which will be Thursday and Friday from 1-6pm and Saturday from 10-5pm.

Sunday Reading for June 14, 2026

1. Pilot Custom 74 - Ranking the Nibs (via Pen Addict - Kimberly). The Custom 74 is one of the more unfairly overlooked and underrated pens out there. In my book, soft fine-medium for the win.

2. Travelogue Part 1: Choosing the Tools (via Line Variation). It’s officially the summer travel season, so expect to see a lot of travelogue and EDC-related posts in the coming month!

3. Triangle Pen Show Report! (via Inkdependence). The Triangle Pen Show is one of the few that I’ve never attended.

4. Feed Your Creativity and River City Pen Company Live at the Triangle Pen Show (via Feed Your Creativity). More pen show streams! June is becoming an active pen show month.

5. How to Decorate Your Journal with Gemstones and Crystals (via Inky.Rocks). A cool way to decorate your notebooks, but also it’s fun to hear about how different interests and hobbies intersect.

6. I Don’t Understand (via Line Variation). Sometime this happens with specific pens and, sometimes, specific materials which are prone to failure.

7. Hakase Dark Sepia Ink (via UK Fountain Pens). Don’t get me started on the Japanese exclusive sepia inks - those ended up among my favorite inks I was able to obtain.

8. Don’t Toss It! Mail It! (via From the Pen Cup). As always, Mary has some of the most creative correspondence ideas out there.

9. Pen Show and Stationery Fest Calendar UPDATED! (via Well-Appointed Desk). Ana maintains one of the most comprehensive pen show calendar pages on the ‘net. If you’re looking for a pen or stationery show in your area, this is where I would start.

In Case You Missed It…

This week on the blog I reviewed a new product: The Tom’s Studio “Ori” refillable highlighters. Building on their series of “Lumos” and “Wren” refillable fineliners, Tom’s Studio has introduced three nice highlighters that you can use with six different fluorescent inks (all of which have worked really well so far). I also provided my updated thoughts on the Pilot Frixion line of erasable pens, and how I use these in my own everyday carry. Finally, those of you curious about what I brought back from Japan should check out our latest YouTube video, in which I discuss 5 cool things I brought home with me!

This Week in the T.G.S. Curated Shop

New Lamy AL-Stars are here! This year’s second AL-Star Release includes two new colorways: “Disco” and “Roller Skate,” in colors that we find more reminiscent of the 1980s than the 1970s! (Either way, these look good.) We also have a full restock of Tom’s Studio pens, including the new Ori Highlighters, Lumos refillable fineliners, and Wren pocket pens, as well as the full line of Tom’s Studio fountain pen inks.

Finally, Anterique pens and Toyo Steel Boxes are back in an array of new colors! Be sure to check out each week’s Thursday Drops post for a full list of each week’s new arrivals and restocks!

We are open this week from 1-6pm Thursday and Friday, and from 10am-5pm on Saturday. You can find details and directions to our Nashville showroom here.

Anterique

Tom's Studio

Toyo Steel

Pilot

How YOu Can Support us further: Visit Us on Patreon

If you enjoy our content (whether here on the main website, Instagram, YouTube Channel or elsewhere), and would like early/extra access to shop releases and special promotions, consider supporting us via Patreon. In addition to exclusive content, Discord access, and online meetups, Patreon supporters have access to one or more initial “practice” episodes of “On the Paper Trail” which have not been publicly released.

Pilot Frixion Revisited: Do I Have a Use for An Erasable Gel Pen?

Pilot’s line of erasable “Frixion” pens has expanded since its initial release in 2006, to the point where it can almost be considered a flagship product line. It hasn’t always been smooth-sailing, however. I recall trying the Frixion early on and disliking the writing experience immensely. The ink skipped and the colors looked washed out. While the erasability factor was convenient for the many different reasons discussed below, the writing experience itself left much to be desired. Fortunately, Pilot has improved the Frixion in recent years, reworking both the ink formulation and the tips of the pens themselves. I find the current version of the Frixion to be quite good, and in most cases almost as good in terms of smoothness and saturation as a standard gel pen.

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My Frixion Ball 3 Multipen is regularly used as a planner pen, shown here with my Roterfaden A5.

Why Might You Need An Erasable Pen?

Based on my own experiences as a user and conversations with customers and other community members who use Frixions, there are a handful of core use cases for erasable pens:

• Planners and Calendars. The most common benefit of the Frixion that I hear about is the ability to change dates, appointments, and tasks in a planner and/or calendar. In fact, I understand that one of the big contributors to the Hobonichi paper controversy from a couple years ago is that their “new” Tomoe River replacement paper was not extensively tested for fountain pens due to Japanese users overwhelmingly favoring the Pilot Frixion and other gel pens for use in planners.

• Math-Intensive Applications and Professions. Engineers, accountants, and students regularly come into our store inquiring about the Frixion due to the advantages of erasability when revising calculations and proofs. I use my own Frixion multi pen for a lot of my business accounting work.

• Left-handed Writers Who Have a Hard Time Using Pencils. I know many lefties who dislike pencils due to the fact that their hand tends to smear the graphite. The Frixion offers erasability without the same disadvantage.

Before you take the plunge and dive into the Frixion line, however, you should consider how these pens actually work. The Frixion ink isn’t “erased” in the traditional sense - it’s formulated to disappear/become invisible when heat is generated by rubbing the Frixion “eraser” on paper. Many people don’t realize that the ink can reappear when the paper is exposed to temperatures below freezing. For this reason, if you live in a very cold climate, have a use case where your notebooks/journals/planners are otherwise exposed to freezing temperatures, or need absolute archivability, the Frixion may not be the best choice for you.

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In addition to improving the ink formulation and writing tips, Pilot has also released Frixion highlighters, fineliners and markers. Of these additional categories, the Frixion highlighters work the best, and actually come in handy if, like me, you tend to be an over-eager annotator and highlighter who wishes they were more selective in their note taking. Frixion highlighters use the same thermal technology as the gel pens - you “erase” the highlighting with the heat-generating eraser on the end of the pen.

The Craft Design Technology Frixion Ball 3 in Dark Green, shown alongside the CDT Highlighters.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

The Pilot Frixion isn’t for everyone, but for those of us with a need for the convenience of erasable ink, it’s now a solid product that I use regularly on a case-specific basis. My personal favorite version of the Frixion gel pens is the Frixion Ball 3 multi pen, which we stock in the Craft Design Technology Dark Green variant. It’s design is similar to other Pilot Multi Pens like the Wood 4+1 and the Dr. Grip line. This pen comes with black, blue, and red Frixion refills in a .5mm tip size.

We also carry certain colors of the Frixion Highlighter (which I use fairly frequently), and the recently released Frixion Waai retractable pens which introduced unique colors, including some pastels. Of the Waai pens, the “Bronze” and “Cherry” inks are the ones I find the most unique, and stand alone as cool gel colors regardless of the Frixion aspect.

You can come see these and more in person at our Nashville shop (including testers)! Our showroom is open 1-6pm Thursday and Friday, and from 10am-6pm on Saturday.

Thursday Drops: New Arrivals from Tom's Studio, Anterique, Toyo and More!

Just in time for the summer season, we’ve received a restock of shop favorites including Toyo Steel Boxes and the Tom’s Studio Fineliner lineup. In addition to the Lumos and Wren, we now have the Ori “Infinitely Refillable” Highlighter, as well as the Tom’s Studio Highlighter inks and a full lineup of Tom’s Studio fountain pen inks in both standard colors and shimmer. Certain colors (specifically Clementine and Espresso) have been in high demand and are now back in stock. Note that we also have Tom’s Studio replacement nibs, ink reservoirs, and other parts.

Did I mention we have additional TWSBI fountain pens in many different materials and nib sizes?

If you would like to see how the Tom’s Studio pens work, yesterday I wrote a post discussing how I set up the Ori Highlighters, and also did a short YouTube demonstration of how the reservoirs and tips fill. In addition to the large Tom’s Studio shipment, we have new stock of Toyo Steel boxes in many different colors, Diamine ink in favorite colors (including Writer’s Blood!) and more!

Come see these and more in-store during normal hours this week, from 1-6pm Thursday and Friday, and from 10am-5pm on Saturday.

1. Toyo Steel Boxes in New Colors. We received a new shipment of Toyo Steel Boxes in several sizes and several new colors, including gorgeous indigo and lilac shades. These steel boxes from Toyo are useful for storing small bottles of ink, washing tapes, and other desk and office supplies.

2. Tom’s Studio Ori Refillable Highlighters. The latest release from Tom’s Studio features refillable highlighter pens in three different color combinations and six different fluorescent inks. Two of the inks (green and purple) are dye-based and can be used in the Lumos pens.

3. Tom’s Studio Lumos Refillable Fineliners. We received a shipment of Lumos Duo pens in all colors, so we are fully stocked. For those of you coming to see us in person in the Nashville shop, we have new Lumos testers inked up with several different tip sizes. You can read more about how these work and why we like them here.

4. Tom’s Studio Wren Fineliner Pen. If you are looking for a pocketable refillable fineliner to use mainly for writing, consider the smaller Tom’s Studio Wren!

5. Tom’s Studio Fountain Pen Inks. Safe for use in all fountain pens and Tom’s Studio refillable fineliners, the Tom’s Studio line of inks features 20+ ink colors. We have all of them currently in stock as of the time of this post.

6. Anterique GP1 Gel Pen. Is it a click pen, or a capped pen? This new gel pen from Anterique features a smooth .5mm gel refill in multiple colors that match the “cap” of the pen. (It’s not a capped pen - it’s actually a click pen that looks like a posted vintage-style ballpoint!)

7. Anterique Classic Ballpoint Pen. The cult classic that went viral overnight is back in stock in many popular colors. These Anterique ballpoints feature a smooth low-viscosity ballpoint refill that’s perfect for everyday writing.

8. Life Paper. We are restocked on Life Noble Note, Typewriter Paper, and Airmail/Onionskin pads. Life Paper is widely regarded as some of the most fountain pen friendly paper available and is prominently featured in our long-running post “Hierarchies of Fountain Pen Friendly Paper.”

9. Diamine Bottled Ink. We recently received a restock shipment of Diamine Ink, including favorite colors like Writer’s Blood, Oxblood, and Lady Grey. We even have single bottles of some of our favorite past Inkvent Colors!

10. Diamine Ink Cartridges. In addition to the Diamine assortment packs, we now have single-color packs of select Diamine Inks, including Writer’s Blood, Early Grey, and more.

Oh, and as a special surprise, we have a couple of Itoya Helvetica ballpoints that I brought back from Japan! These won’t be a regular item so be sure to grab one as available.