Sales of mobile office supplies on the rise.

 

Sales of ‘free address stationery’ have taken off in Japan as office workers clamour for items that were once a familiar feature of the workplace.

 

‘Free address stationery’ is a spin off from the ‘free address office’ that had become fashionable prior to the pandemic. 

 

The latter was a work style that endorsed freedom of movement within the office space, allowing people to stroll around or occupy any available nook with their laptops, instead of being tied down to a specific desk and chair.

 

Modern office supplies have now also been given the same kind of mobility. 

 

File folders, pens, extra masks and spray bottles of disinfectant can now be neatly docketed and arranged inside collapsible carrying cases, for work sessions in shared office spaces or coffee shops. 

 

Meantime, many Japanese workers, have confirmed their love of stationery with forays back to the office stationery cupboard.

 

Satoko Kanzaki, an office manager at a Tokyo-based tech company, told the Japan Times: “I retrieved my paper clips one day when I went to the office. I realised that office supplies keep me sane and focused during work hours. The simple act of holding a pen makes me feel grounded.”