My love for stationery is not limited to just pens or paper. It’s a broad all encompassing passion, including all desk accessories, from analog paper related tools to technological gadgets.

Included in this is the humble stapler. I had an el cheapo which I acquired in university many years ago and I’ve taken it everywhere (to every job that is) since. When I initially started my current job, I used this stapler, but in day to day work (which included stapling a lot of paperwork everyday, and often thick documents), this stapler was a bit too heavy and stiff to use so often, that I had to look for an alternative. The ideal solution was an electric stapler but they were costly and the staples were also expensive, so I went with the Paperpro 1110 Stapler. This promised to staple up to 25 pages with the touch of a finger. And it sort of did, except that it also scared the bejesus out of the admin assistants that had to use it. With its semi automatic action, it acted like more of a staple gun, as opposed to a stapler.

Paperpro 1110 – photo from Officeworks

The stapler was also enormous and you had to leave it out on your desk because it wouldn’t fit into your desk drawers. I am desk OCD and I don’t like to leave things out on my desk as it makes me feel cluttered and messy and I can’t concentrate as a result. So this massive stapler was not the ideal solution.

So once again, awesome Japanese stationery came to the rescue!

Left: Kokuyo Power Racchikisu Stapler, Right: PaperPro 1110

I found the Kokuyo Power Racchikisu stapler on Rakuten, which promised to staple up to 28 pages with very little effort. To do this, it uses some sort of ratcheting system which helps you staple such a large volume of pages without much effort. It is not “one touch” like the Paperpro, but it doesn’t take more effort than stapling a normal amount of paper with a basic, standard stapler. The stapling system is easy to use, without being a semi-automatic stapling maniac that scares half the office off.

28 pages of A4, 80gsm Staples paper. This is solidly stapled with no risk of pages falling out of the staple

It also does not cinch the back of the staples (to create a rounded finish), which is good if you are doing a lot of documents which you need to stack afterwards so that all the documents lie flat.

Unlike some other high page volume staplers, the Kokuyo Power Racchikisu uses standard staples – No.10 which can be found anywhere – even in Australia. This makes it even more attractive as you’re not limited to staples you need to order online only.

A number of the reviews I’ve found have been unimpressed with price of the stapler and doing a quick search of Amazon, I can sort of see why. However, in Australia, given that the cheapest, most basic, rubbish stapler can cost around $10, the Kokuyo is worth even the mark up American websites charge. The Paperpro cost me upwards of AUD$50. If you are interested in this stapler, get it straight from Japan, mine cost JPY560 plus shipping (a big package cost me JPY1160 to ship to Australia).