Spiral Eraser

A friend recently gave me this very unusual looking black rubber eraser after returning from her trip to Tokyo. Looking like a tiny collapsable bellows, this barely 2-inch long flexible rubber spiral from Metaphys Stationary is not just cool looking but purposefully functional. The sharp ridges perform extremely well in erasing specific points of your pencil drawing or writing. The dramatic helical shape, designed by Chiaki Murata, quickly wears down though, blunting the crisp coiled ridges. I guess you have to have two of these then — one to put out on your desk for its iconic looks, and the one you really use tucked away in your pencil drawer.

Saucy Japanese

This little pouring dish — barely 3 inches across — forms a simple perfect shape for its purpose. It's pouring end looks like the front of a ship. I bought it at a Japanese pottery store and I assume it's for teriyaki sauce, or something similar that you would dip into or pour from. It's surface is a wonderful matte charcoal color speckled with rich glossy black spots. This rough surface texture is wonderfully grippy to hold, although I haven't actually used this for anything yet — the only time I eat Japanese is at a restaurant.

Absolute Zero