- What's a "shitajiki"? Shitajiki, usually called
"pencil board" in English, literally means "under
lay" and are produced for Japanese school kids, who put
them under notebook paper to provide a hard firm flat writing
surface, a kind of placemat. Most are B5 size (7 by 11 inches)
They are usually made of hard pvc plastic though they can be
made of soft plastic, cardboard, rubber or even metal.
- Why do people collect shitajiki? New and old, most display
art from Japanese animation and comics. If you like Japanese
anime or manga art, you'll love shitajiki. They are bigger than
trading cards,more permanent than posters, and easier to store
than cels.
These days "form" has far outgrown "function"
and many are sold exclusively to collectors and are never meant
to be used at all.
- How can I find out more about new shitajiki? Join
my mailing list and get the site update.
- Who are you? I'm David. (hajimemashite) I've lived in
Japan for nearly 10 years. I've been trading anime and comics
stuff with friends for most of that time. About 6 years ago I
found that my friends (and their friends) wanted more from Japan
than I wanted from the US, and so I started MANGAsearch. Now
I teach 10 hours a week at the YMCA and but otherwise work gathering
shitajiki from all over Japan. I'm head-cook and bottle washer;
I do the emails, make the home page, occasionallly run auctions,
shop for the goodies, wrap them up and ship them to you.
- How many shitajiki do you have? Myself, I collect Tezuka Osamu shitajiki
and I have over 100. In the MANGAsearch! shop I have thousands,
more for sale than any other shop anywhere. I get additional
ones for the shop almost everyday and send an update mailing
about 2 times a month.
- How do you figure pricing? Prices vary with many exceptions
but my guideline is; new standard boards start at $5, new movie
boards start at $6. - old movie and game boards are around $10.
Old anime boards are between $8 and $15 and rare ones are even
more. Doujinshi boards are $8 to $15. Very special boards can
be $25 to $35.
- Why should I buy from you? First, I specialize in those
that are hard to find. With thousands of pencilboards in stock
everyday and new boards every week there is a good chance I have
something you've been looking for. Furthermore, if you are not
satisfied with something you bought from me because of condition
email me within one week and I'll take it back and refund your
money. With many bootleg and fake merchandise being passed around
these days I guarantee to always sell only legitimate merchandise.
- What's free? These days every package
gets something free! Freebies may be postcards, mousepads, notepads
and sometimes shitajiki.
A. How do I order?
B. What kinds of payments do you take?
C. How much is shipping and what are
the options?
D. Tell me more about sizes.
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