Kids Web Japan

c) Pencils and erasers

The right answer is pencils and erasers. Kids put them in these cases, along with a ruler, pencil sharpener, pens, and other equipment, and take them to school every day. As well as stopping pencils from breaking, the cases are handy because they allow students to keep everything they need for taking notes in class in one place.

In Japan, people traditionally used to write with a brush. When carrying their brush around they would put it in a long tube made of bamboo, and they would store their brushes in a box on their desks. Even when people started using pencils, they continued to use these boxes and to call them by the same name as before, fudebako (brush box).

These cases come in a variety of shapes. Some provide separate spaces for putting pencils and erasers, while some have covers that open both on the top and the bottom. Many kids get their first fudebako when they enter elementary school, and cases featuring pictures of anime characters are especially popular. Once kids get to the fourth or fifth grade, when they start using more pens of different colors, some of them start using pouch-type pencil cases so that all of their stationery will fit.