[fieldforceapp]

Nice. Maybe you can take your success in candy and branch out to other dry goods?

A surprise box of Japanese stationery might be popular in the US. No hard data here but I've seen a recent trend of Japanese stationery stores open in Japan [0] and vendors opening physical "antenna" shops here in the West Coast of the US. And, crucially, my pre-teen daughter is obsessed with them. Gambatte!

[0] http://tsite.jp/daikanyama/store-service/tsite-en.html [1] http://www.mymaido.com

[w1ntermute]

In case you haven't heard of it, http://www.jetpens.com is a great site for Japanese stationary.

[bemmu]

I think this is the third time I have heard that stationary idea, so there definitely could be something to it.

[jdeseno]

Personally I'm trying to kick my habit of picking up cool art supplies and paper whenever I'm in Japantown.

I think something as simple just monthly 3-4 novelty erasers would sell really well.

I also recall reading that paper yearly planners are popular in Japan right now.

Edit: I was thinking of these http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2135267959864327501 -- http://www.1101.com/store/techo/2014/planner/

[GFischer]

That store (daikanayama) is impressively designed. No wonder it's one of "The 20 Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World." . Thanks for linking to it :)

[po]

The Tsutaya T-Site store is always packed full of people too. One subtle thing about the architecture is that the white crosshatching on the exterior of the building aren't crosses but are actually hinting at the letter T. It took me a while to notice that detail.

They also have a cool service where you can browse and rent a few CDs from a pretty extensive collection and then drop them in the mail to return them a few days later. It's basically like a half-netflix option!