A picture of my desk with a new desk mat from amesoba.
A picture of my desk with a new desk mat from amesoba.

I look at reviews before buying things, and I prefer personal websites and youtube channels over large publications because I can get a feel for the person behind the opinions, and their preferences. I’ve noticed though that reviews gravitate towards a certain subset of good, but mostly American brands. This is only a problem because I live in Japan, where limited availability and terrible exchange rates makes everything feel twice as expensive as they ought to be.

I’ve recently started leaning towards trying products made by Japanese companies instead, and have been very pleasantly surprised with the overall quality. Most recently when choosing my desk mat, I ended up buying from both Minimal Desk Setups and from a Japanese company called amesoba. I knew nothing about this company, but their lineup was impressive and they presented a lot of care in their products. I’m very pleased with the desk mat I got from them.

I still use mostly western products, but I think I’ll make an effort to find Japanese alternatives when it comes time to replace items. Japan still has a bastion of creators who are passionate about their craft, and you can find really excellent products from companies that are not widely known.