Triad’s Omoshiro Block Reveals Exciting Pieces of Japanese Architecture to You as You Take Notes
A new stack of notepaper is taking the stationery world by storm. A company from Japan — a country known to produce more than it’s fair share of stationery — has recently released an inventive new breed of post-it called the “Omoshiro Block,” which translates to something along the lines of “fun block.” And fun is definitely built into this pad of detachable writing paper. With the removal of each colorful sheet, another piece of an intricate paper model of famous Japanese architecture is revealed.
The level of detail in these paper constructions is impressive and surprisingly intricate. Then again, they are coming from the land of origami, so it only follows that a lot of thought would be put into everyday paper design. The Omoshiro Block offers people a great incentive to take notes daily, as the model is only fully revealed when all of the pieces of paper have been removed.
As alluded to earlier, this form of note-taking results in a sort of excavation of an architectural model. Among the iconic buildings featured in the collection are Tokyo’s Asakusa Temple, the Kiyomizudera Temple in Kyoto, and the Tokyo Tower, which itself was inspired by the Eiffel Tower in Paris. These buildings are hidden inside Omoshiro Blocks and unearthed as their users strip away each laser-cut sheet. And it’s not only buildings that are exhumed from the block of paper, but also everyday objects, including violins, pianos, cameras, and trains.
The first few sheets can be ripped away in their entirety, but as the block shrinks, so does the size of the paper, as it’s intentionally been cut to make way for the shape of the model hidden inside of it. More specifically, the models are made up of the remains of the sheets, each leftover slice forming part of the figure. At the bottom of the pad, you’ll find that foliage has been printed around the base of the building, forming a landscape of different colors and serving as a plinth for the buildings.
The Omoshiro Block is available in a wide range of colors, so whether you like your vegetation to have few splashes of autumnal pink and red in it or prefer a more summery shade of green, you’re guaranteed to find one you like. Another amazing feature of this notepad is that on many of its sheets, the places where the paper has been cut out to form the model also leave interesting miniature figures behind, some of them clutching umbrellas and others walking their dogs. Others feature leaves, flowers, and trees, so in a way, it’s like every page produces its own tiny work of art!
The Omoshiro Block is made by the Japanese company Triad, who normally manufactures architectural models anyways, so it’s safe to say they’re already experts in creating life-like replicas of real buildings. Each block contains 100 unique sheets of paper, but getting your hands on one will only be easy if you actually live in Japan, because for now they are only being sold in the “creative life store” Tokyu Hands in Osaka. No doubt they will be available on the international market shortly though, seeing as they are already making the rounds online. In no time at all, stationery lovers all over the world will be dying to become the proud owners of an Omoshiro Block.
