ZETSUMETSUKIGU / ENDANGERED STATIONERY
A future for Japanese stationery
and the everyday culture it carries.

SAVE IT FROM EXTINCTION.

Carry it forward.

About the project

01 / MISSION

More than
tools
are at stake.

Forms, lettering, packaging, ways of using things.
Old stationery holds the ingenuity of everyday life in Japan.

We look closely, research and record each object.
Then we explore what it could become.

Act before things disappear.
Begin with what remains.

Concept for street posters combining the large Japanese wordmark with photographs of stationery
A way into this culture, on the street.AI-generated concept

02 / RECONSTRUCTION

Deconstruct conventions. Bend assumptions. Reconstruct value.

A tool’s purpose is only the beginning.

Read the information it holds. Rework its relationships.
Find new value in what has become familiar.

03 / POSSIBILITIES

More than one
way to save it.

Publish it. Exhibit it. Think together.
Bring it into everyday life.

The information held in stationery can take on new roles in many different places.

Ideas for what comes next.

01 / PUBLISHING & ARCHIVES

Publishing & archives

Make a book.
Keep a record.

The reason for its shape. The words left on a box.
Clues to the everyday life of its time.

Read one object closely.
Pass its record on to the next reader.

  • Photographic guides
  • Small zines
  • One object, one story
Concept for a small orange zine containing photographs and records of stationery
Records made for reading.AI-generated concept

02 / EXHIBITION

Exhibitions
Concept for an exhibition combining the wordmark, photographs of stationery and display cases for objects
A place to see things differently.AI-generated concept

Meet familiar
tools
again.

Concept for a small museum of stationery and records on a single bookstore shelf
A museum on a single shelf. / AI-generated concept

From a single shelf to a city.
Places to encounter stationery as culture.

Small exhibitions. Libraries. Shop windows.
Let’s explore what your space could make possible.

Create an exhibition with us

03 / PARTICIPATION

Participation

Your memory
could be
a clue.

A way of using it. A pen you never forgot.
A record you have kept.

One person’s memory can become another’s discovery.
Look closely and think together, across generations.

  • Shared memories
  • A stationery observation room
  • Lessons for the future
Concept for people from different generations sharing memories and discoveries around stationery and photographs
Shared memories, new discoveries.AI-generated concept
Concept for a class that studies the shapes of stationery to imagine future tools
Past ingenuity. New ideas. / AI-generated concept

04 / EDITIONS & COLLABORATION

Editions & collaboration

Bring these records
into everyday life.

Photographic cards. Posters. Curated gifts.
Records of stationery, in your hands and on the street.
Let’s create new ways to encounter them.

Concept for photographic specimen cards documenting the forms and details of stationery
A small museum in your drawer.AI-generated concept
Concept for a kit of posters and cards displaying stationery records in stores and workplaces
Open your space to this culture.AI-generated concept
Explore all the ideas32 IDEAS

Publishing and archives. Exhibitions. Participation. Editions and collaboration. These are ideas to develop together.

Publishing & archives

  1. P01One object, one story: an online series
  2. P02Endangered Stationery: a photographic field guide
  3. P03One theme, one small zine
  4. P04Short films that reveal an object through close-up views
  5. P05A digital guide organized by actions
  6. P06One object, someone’s memory
  7. P07A short bilingual series on the tools of everyday life in Japan
  8. P08Posters with glimpses of photographs, paired with object record cards

Exhibitions

  1. EX-01A museum on a bookstore shelf
  2. EX-02Old and new stationery in a shop window
  3. EX-03“Write, erase, measure”: a library book display
  4. EX-04A small exhibition: “Write, erase, measure”
  5. EX-05A stationery exhibition in a suitcase
  6. EX-06A window exhibition open to the street at night
  7. EX-07A shelf of reference materials for sale alongside an exhibition
  8. EX-08Small museum outposts across a town

Participation

  1. PART-01Your pen, your memory: cards to share
  2. PART-02Same object, different memories: a conversation across generations
  3. PART-03The stationery observation room
  4. PART-04Stationery detectives: a trail of cards to explore everyday shapes
  5. PART-05Reading the words on the box: a shared reading session
  6. PART-06An exhibition built around your chosen image
  7. PART-07Design lessons on the future of stationery
  8. PART-08A small editorial meeting to choose one object

Editions & collaboration

  1. PD25Photographic specimen cards: a museum in your drawer
  2. PD26Wordmark posters: a window onto stationery photographs
  3. PD27Records to give: a curated gift collection inspired by the everyday desk
  4. PD28A small space for stationery culture along the way
  5. PD29The Japanese desk: a portable bilingual introduction to everyday culture
  6. PD30Thinking through the shapes of tools: observation sessions for organizations
  7. PD31How tools came to be: shared records of manufacturers and local history
  8. PD32A kit of photographic records for stores and workplaces

The images in this section are AI-generated concepts for possible future projects. No events, partnerships or product launches shown here have been confirmed.

04 / DOWNLOAD

A flag for
your space.

One moment in a changing wordmark.
A poster. A wallpaper.
A place for this culture in your everyday life.

Artwork preview: Folded Terrain, made from the official Japanese wordmark

Folded Terrain

FOLD
Artwork preview: Memory of Curvature, made from the official Japanese wordmark

Memory of Curvature

BEND
Artwork preview: Topology of a Twist, made from the official Japanese wordmark

Topology of a Twist

TWIST

Poster: 2400 × 3394 px / Phone: 1440 × 2560 px / Desktop: 3840 × 2160 px

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05 / JOIN US

Be part of
this culture’s future.

Publishing, exhibitions, education, research, product development.
Your knowledge, skills, spaces and ideas can open new possibilities for stationery.

We welcome collaborations, joint projects and press inquiries.

Let’s make that future.
info@fulbung.com

We also welcome stories about stationery and records you hope to preserve.