Small writing paper and envelopes from Hobonichi, printed with Japanese pattern art from more than a hundred years ago.

The designs are taken from Bijutsukai and Shin-Bijutsukai, pattern magazines published in the Meiji era by Unsodo, a Kyoto publisher founded in 1891 that still prints from carved woodblocks. Birds on trailing ribbons, chrysanthemums on a checked ground, flowers over stripes.

Why people love it

• Mini size, small enough to tuck into a Techo cover pocket or slip inside a book

• Made for the short things: a thank you, a birthday line, a note left on someone’s desk

• Sealing stickers in matching motifs come with the letter set, so an envelope closes and still looks finished

• Patterns you will not find on ordinary stationery, and quiet enough that your handwriting still reads

It is all paper, in a size meant for a few lines rather than a long letter.