> I've never been to Japan, so I'm curious to know what it's like there. There's no comparison, Japan is light years ahead of the U.S. when it comes to station

> I've never been to Japan, so I'm curious to know what it's like there. There's no comparison, Japan is light years ahead of the U.S. when it comes to stationery. Premium stationery items in Japan are often more technically-oriented than those of Western Europe, which has more of a conservative/old-money feel to it. For instance, I recently bought a Sharbo X LT3 three-way multi-pen (two ink colors plus a mechanical pencil component). The pen is all-metal, perfectly balanced, no wider than a regular pen, and (with Jetstream ballpoint refills) writes beautifully.