India, July 17 -- Every literate human on Earth has used stationery. We know what pencils are supposed to do. We instinctively shake a ball-point pen to coax the ink towards the nib. We've refilled a fountain pen, made a mess, and hoped nobody noticed. How then, does Japanese stationery stand apart? The tiny nation holds five major stationery awards each year. Thousands compete. Most come back to compete again. What's going on, kudasai?

The short answer: While the rest of the world views writing tools as functional, forgettable items, the Japanese focus on solving micro-problems we never even knew existed.

Consider some of the winners of this year's Bungu's Japanese Stationery Store and ISOT Japanese Stationery awards. The Laconic Solid...