[Brand Story] Kenkousya, ltd. - Stationery full of ideas - | Find Japan Blog powered by SUPER DELIVERY

At SUPER DELIVERY, we have over 2,000 vendors who work hard every day to bring you the best products. Various brand stories are born in these efforts, resulting in beautiful products that bring happiness to everyone. I would like to focus on Kenkousya, ltd., the notable company that recently joined SUPER DELIVERY. Kenkousya, ltd. has been introducing products brimming with ideas, creating products that have revolutionized the stationery industry. I interviewed Kenkousya, ltd.'s representative about their products and stories this time.

Please give us an overview of your company and the products you offer.

Kenkousya, ltd. handles the following brands: 『PageBase』 and 『kaku souvenir』.

PageBase:
A stationery brand that shifts the unit of notebooks from "books" to "pages" to increase the productivity of handwritten output.

kaku souvenir:
A stationery brand created by a printing company with the concept of "gifts for loved ones."

『PageBase』 includes the SlideNote and Refill Series. We consider SlideNote, which sets the paper as the hardware, and the Refill Series paper as the software. We believe that hardware and software can create an exciting experience. 『kaku souvenirs』 are filled with our 50 years of industry know-how. We acknowledge that the Japanese handmade craftsmanship and the many unique paper types express the Japanese style.

What is the most recommended product of your company now?

It is our original product, "SlideNote," that we have been selling since 2021.
"SlideNote" is the stationery industry's first ringless notebook with a sliding metal clip. It has a file function to organize all kinds of paper and materials without binding holes and a notebook function to insert pieces. The frame can be slid in and out quickly and easily. This makes it very useful for organizing information at work, for example, by replacing filled-in paper notes and documents for each project. In addition, the sliding frame provides a comfortable and smooth sliding sensation. This has been well received by our users.

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Please tell us the story behind the development of the product.

The impetus for the development came from the notebooks of my three children. Students may be required to use a new ruled notebook every time the school year or semester changes in Japanese elementary schools. Even if more than half of the unused pages remain, they have to be replaced with new notebooks. I used to reuse the unused paper because I didn't want to waste it. In other cases, my company had a lot of unused paper, such as photocopy paperbacks. I always wanted to reuse such unused paper to easily make lovely notebooks, which was the trigger for the development of this product. Since we developed a unique mechanism, no other products could be used as a reference, so we had a tough time. In particular, we made many prototypes and repeated trial and error until just before the release date to connect the body and frame and make them slide smoothly.

What is the best way to use this product?

There are two main situations in which SlideNote can be used. One is, as mentioned above, if you look closely at your home or office, you will find a lot of reusable papers. SlideNote can be used to make full use of such papers. The other thing is that I want people to use it when they are writing with their hands in this digital age. We are not trying to educate people that handwriting is better than digital writing. I would like people to be as particular about the paper they use when writing as they are about their fountain pens and to realize the optimal environment for each of them. For example, we would like SlideNote and the refill series to realize various particularities, such as paper compatible with writing instruments, a paper that feels good in the hand, a comfortable paper to write on, etc.

Finally, do you have a message for the readers?

In many cases, just by reading the pictures and product descriptions, people think that this product is the same as other ordinary file cases sold in the market. However, I would like you to hold this product and slide it sideways. Then you would experience the pleasant click sound and feel of the product. I am sure that once you use it, you will be freed from the stereotype that a notebook is a collection of multiple sheets of paper, and you will feel that "It's okay to think one sheet at a time!" SlideNote makes this possible, and I believe that you will be able to use it as a new way of organizing information that is different from your previous notebook experience.