Masayuki Kazama, 51, is the owner of StockPlus, a mailbox-rental and parcel-forwarding service located in Tokyo's Ginza district, just opposite the Kabukiza theater.
Printing business cards, pamphlets, posters and seasonal greeting cards for nearby mom-and-pop shops, restaurants and hostess clubs, Kazama and his staff are known in the neighborhood for a speedy service. Kazama also designs and makes customized wooden and paper senjafuda (1,000-shrine tags), stickers or labels that were originally used as shrine offerings but nowadays are enjoyed as accessories. Kabuki fans visiting the theater often like to decorate their umbrellas and books with Kazama's colorful sejafuda stickers, while hanging wooden versions on their bags.
Senjafuda is the essence of iki. Iki is a Japanese aesthetic ideal that was developed in cities during the Edo Period (1603-1867). It refers to someone who is sophisticated yet unpretentious. Imagine stylish women and cool merchants on the streets, going about their business in kimono with a small wooden senjafuda hanging on their belts or necks. That's iki and it's cool.
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