Best Stationery Stores in San Francisco: 7 Shops

A row of six San Francisco shopfronts with bay windows whose signs read Kinokuniya, Mai Do, Paper Tree, FLAX, ARCH and Paper Source, with a cable car at the end of the street — Six of the seven stores in this guide, from Japantown to Potrero Hill, checked on October 26, 2026.

Notes on these stores

Kinokuniya San Francisco: 1581 Webster Street (Japan Center), Japantown, San Francisco. Checked October 26, 2026 on the store's own page.
Mai Do Fine Stationery: 1581 Webster Street, Suite 260 (Kinokuniya Building, 2nd floor), Japantown, San Francisco. A second Mai Do shop is on the 1st floor of the same building, Suite 180. Checked October 26, 2026 on the store's own page.
Paper Tree: 1743 Buchanan Street, Japantown (Buchanan Mall), San Francisco. Checked October 26, 2026 on the store's own page.
Paper Source Fillmore: 1925 Fillmore Street, Lower Pacific Heights (Fillmore Street), San Francisco. Paper Source also lists a Laurel Village store at 3525 California Street. Checked October 26, 2026 on the store's own page.
FLAX art & design: 2 Marina Boulevard, Building D (Fort Mason Center), Marina (Fort Mason), San Francisco. Its Fort Mason store opened on November 7, 2015, per its timeline. Checked October 26, 2026 on the store's own page.
ARCH Art Supplies: 1490 17th Street, Potrero Hill, San Francisco. Checked October 26, 2026 on the store's own page.
Blick Art Materials (Market Street): 979 Market Street, Mid-Market (SoMa), San Francisco. Blick also lists a San Francisco store at 1930 Van Ness Avenue, plus Oakland and Berkeley. Checked October 26, 2026 on the store's own page.
Stores move, close and change hours. Always check the store's site or Instagram before you go.

Key takeaways

We list 7 San Francisco stationery stores, each checked on its own website on October 26, 2026: 4 around Japantown and the Fillmore, FLAX at Fort Mason, and 2 south of Market.
Kinokuniya's Japan Center building holds two Mai Do stationery shops: a fine stationery floor upstairs at Suite 260 and a second shop downstairs at Suite 180, both open daily 11 am to 7 pm.
Paper Tree, a family-owned origami and paper shop, says it is celebrating its 55th year as a retail store in Japantown.
FLAX art & design opened in San Francisco in 1938; after 38 years on Market Street, its city store is now at Fort Mason Center, which it calls the only art supply store in America inside a national park.
ARCH Art Supplies, open since November 1978, stocks Hobonichi Techo, Jibun Techo, Midori and Traveler's planners at 1490 17th Street.

What are the best stationery stores in San Francisco?

For a first visit, go to Japantown for Kinokuniya, Mai Do and Paper Tree, then to FLAX art & design at Fort Mason. These come first because each covers one need in depth: Japanese pens and notebooks under one roof, origami and washi papers from a family shop of 55 years, and an art supply business that has sold in the city since 1938.

Store	Neighborhood	Known for	Official site
Kinokuniya San Francisco	Japantown	Japanese books and stationery	usa.kinokuniya.com
Mai Do Fine Stationery	Japantown	Japanese pens, Midori notebooks	usa.kinokuniya.com
Paper Tree	Japantown	Origami and washi papers	paper-tree.com
Paper Source Fillmore	Lower Pacific Heights	Fine paper, cards, wrapping	papersource.com
FLAX art & design	Fort Mason	Art supplies, fine pens	flaxart.com
ARCH Art Supplies	Potrero Hill	Design tools, Japanese planners	archsupplies.com
Blick Art Materials	Mid-Market, plus Van Ness	Art supplies	dickblick.com

How did we choose these stores?

We picked shops that focus on stationery, pens, paper or art supplies and were open on October 26, 2026, then weighed what each one stocks and does. Our criteria:

A dedicated focus on stationery, paper or art supplies, not general gifts.
Something you can only do there, such as Paper Tree’s origami classes or ARCH’s design-studio stock.
Depth of range, such as Mai Do’s Japanese imports and ARCH’s planners.
Standing in the stationery community, from Time Out San Francisco’s guide to Bay Area stationery shops, cited below.
Open now, confirmed on each store’s own site, or Kinokuniya’s store page for Mai Do, on October 26, 2026.

We compiled this from the stores’ own websites and that coverage; we have not visited them for this guide, and we do not rate them.

Why is each store on the list?

Each store earns its place with a specific range or service, not general gift stock.

Kinokuniya San Francisco (Japantown): Japanese books and stationery in the Japan Center, open daily until 8 pm.
Mai Do Fine Stationery (Japantown): Japanese imports from specialty papers to gel and calligraphy pens and Midori notebooks, with testers, per Time Out.
Paper Tree (Japantown): origami papers, yuzen chiyogami and kozo sheets from a family that published one of the first origami books in English.
Paper Source Fillmore (Lower Pacific Heights): fine paper, envelopes and cards, a short walk from Japantown.
FLAX art & design (Fort Mason): paints, papers and a fine pens department, from a family business since 1938.
ARCH Art Supplies (Potrero Hill): drawing tools, papers and fountain pens, plus Hobonichi, Jibun Techo and Traveler’s planners.
Blick Art Materials (Mid-Market): art supplies on Market Street, one of two Blick stores in the city.

Which San Francisco stores are best for Japanese stationery?

Go to the Kinokuniya Building at 1581 Webster Street: Kinokuniya sells Japanese books and stationery, and Mai Do runs two shops in the same building, at Suite 260 upstairs and Suite 180 downstairs. Time Out San Francisco describes the upstairs shop as a store for Japanese imports, from specialty papers to gel and calligraphy pens, Midori notebooks and ink stamps, with testers out.

For planners, ARCH Art Supplies stocks Hobonichi Techo, Jibun Techo, Midori diaries and Traveler’s journals. See our Tokyo stationery stores guide for the shops behind many of these brands.

Which San Francisco stores are best for paper and art supplies?

Paper Tree on Buchanan Street is the paper stop: origami paper, yuzen chiyogami, unryu, marbled and kozo sheets, plus calligraphy and painting supplies. The Mihara family, who run it, say they published one of the first origami books in English in the 1950s.

For art supplies, FLAX art & design at Fort Mason sells paints, papers and dip pens, ARCH has served the city’s designers since 1978, and Blick lists stores on Market Street and Van Ness Avenue.

How do you plan a stationery day in San Francisco?

Start in Japantown, where three stops sit within about 200 m (650 ft) of each other, then head north to Fort Mason or south to Potrero Hill.

Japantown and the Fillmore: Kinokuniya and both Mai Do shops, Paper Tree on the Buchanan Mall, then Paper Source on Fillmore Street.
Fort Mason: FLAX in Building D, about 2 km (1.3 miles) north of Japantown on the waterfront, open daily.
South of Market: Blick at 979 Market Street, then ARCH on 17th Street in Potrero Hill.

To-scale map of 7 San Francisco stationery stores at their geocoded addresses, from FLAX at Fort Mason to ARCH Art Supplies in Potrero Hill, with the bay shoreline and a Japantown inset — Where the stores are, drawn to scale from each address; check addresses before you go. Map data: US Census Bureau TIGER/Line (public domain); store positions: US Census Geocoder.

Which San Francisco stationery stores did we leave out?

We left out Union Street Papery, whose contact page now gives a Sonoma address by appointment, and Rare Device on Divisadero Street, a gift shop where stationery is one section. Single-brand pen boutiques are not on the list.

We also left out shops we could not confirm on October 26, 2026: Topdrawer, the Itoya-owned shop with a San Francisco branch, and Aesthetic Union, whose sites would not load, and Kozo Arts, whose domain now shows a parked page; check before you go.

When is the next San Francisco pen show?

The San Francisco International Pen Show runs August 26–29, 2027, at the Westin San Francisco Airport hotel in Millbrae, as listed in our US pen shows 2027 calendar.

More cities: see all our stationery store guides, city by city, from New York and San Francisco to Tokyo, Kyoto, Seoul, London, Paris, Vienna and Istanbul.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best stationery store in San Francisco?

For a first visit, Mai Do Fine Stationery on the 2nd floor of the Kinokuniya Building, 1581 Webster Street, Japantown: Japanese pens, Midori notebooks and specialty papers, open daily 11 am to 7 pm. Paper Tree's origami papers are a block away on Buchanan Street.

Where can I buy Japanese stationery in San Francisco?

In Japantown's Japan Center: Kinokuniya at 1581 Webster Street sells Japanese stationery, and the same building holds two Mai Do shops, at Suite 260 upstairs and Suite 180 downstairs. ARCH Art Supplies in Potrero Hill stocks Hobonichi Techo, Jibun Techo, Midori and Traveler's planners.

Where can I buy origami paper in San Francisco?

Paper Tree at 1743 Buchanan Street in Japantown, a family-owned origami store, sells origami papers, yuzen chiyogami, unryu and kozo sheets and origami books, and runs classes including Free Fold Saturdays. It opens daily, from 11 am.

Where can I buy fountain pens in San Francisco?

Mai Do Fine Stationery in the Kinokuniya Building sells Japanese pens, FLAX art & design at Fort Mason has a fine pens department, and ARCH Art Supplies on 17th Street lists 21 fountain pens online. San Francisco has no dedicated fountain pen shop in our list.

Is FLAX still on Market Street?

No. FLAX's timeline says its flagship left Market Street in 2016 after 38 years, and its store list on October 26, 2026 showed one shop, at Fort Mason Center, 2 Marina Boulevard, Building D, open daily. FLAX has sold art supplies in San Francisco since 1938.

Where can I buy art supplies in San Francisco?

FLAX art & design at Fort Mason, ARCH Art Supplies at 1490 17th Street in Potrero Hill, and Blick Art Materials, which lists stores at 979 Market Street and 1930 Van Ness Avenue. ARCH has served the city's designers since November 1978.

Is Union Street Papery still in San Francisco?

Not as a shop on Union Street. On October 26, 2026, Union Street Papery's contact page gave an address in Sonoma, by appointment, for its custom wedding invitations and personalized stationery.

Sources (16)

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