The Pinnacle of Paper: APICA

Itoya Studio adds Japanese notebook and paper brand APICA to its portfolio.

- BY NICKY PESSAROFF

APICA Premium C.D. Notebooks, from left-B5 size in navy blue with 7 mm ruled paper, A5 size in red with 5 mm grid lines, and A6 size in bronze with plain paper.

In its quiet, businesslike way, U.S. company Itoya Studio has amassed a remarkably strong and diversified portfolio of brands over the past nine years. Building on Itoya’s longstanding U.S. distributorship of Japan's Sailor, company president Don Takemura has added the well-regarded fine pen brand Penlux, stationery from Nakabayashi, the Sailor Compass line of affordable pens and art supplies, the whimsical silicone pen cases of Japan's PuniLabo, the calligraphy and marker pens of Kuretake's ZIG, and the Prat Paris line of portfolios and cases. There is also Itoya’s own line of Oasis notebooks, ProFolio professional portfolios and cases, and its affordable pens such as the PaperSkater pen line, calligraphy marker lines, and the Blade disposable fountain pen. Now in 2025, Itoya adds to its portfolio another Japanese paper brand, APICA.

Takemura does nothing by happenstance. APICA is already a known quantity in the United States, although this distribution partnership marks a major expansion of the brand's reach. This is also not the first paper line for Itoya: the Nakabayashi Logical Prime collection is well regarded in North America, as is Itoya’s own line of Oasis paper and notebooks. Still, there is an unquenchable thirst in this market for fine Japanese paper.