Here is an odd thing: The more people use electronic means of communication -- PCs, Internet-linked cell phones and organizers, and the like -- the more stationery stores there seem to be and the more customers they attract. These are not all mauve-haired old ladies in kimono either, although if you insist on doing your stationery shopping in the Ginza branch of Itoya, say, you might be forgiven for thinking so.
Visit the stationery department of Seibu Loft, in Shibuya, on a Saturday, and you will learn that a cute, cool or colorful pen is as much of a necessity for a young lady as her cell phone. The place is jammed and the range of wares enormous: There are pens and pencils in every color of the rainbow, glitter pens, invisible-ink pens, pens that light up when you write and -- height of irony -- pens and accessories of all kinds in the ubiquitous iMac shades of strawberry, blueberry, tangerine, lime and grape (soon to be retired, alas).
Seeing these signature cybercolors bleed into the rest of the known universe, a casual observer might assume that the cyberworld has triumphed. In fact, a quite different scenario is unfolding: The old and the new are persisting as parallel worlds. Your blueberry iMac doesn't replace old-fashioned tools of communication -- pens, writing paper, envelopes, Post-it notes, erasers, miniature shredders and all the rest of that fascinating paraphernalia. You just get blueberry-colored ones to match. At least you do if you are young and female -- or young and the boyfriend of a female.