Kokuyo Paper

[Nonsensical]

Since I've had the opportunity to come to China, and study for a year, I decided, why not try out as many ink/paper/pen products as I can while I'm here? (I know I have my priorities straight... )

 

And so began a journey to find a replacement for the Rhodia paper that I usually use (#19 lined/seyes/dot/grid). I found that the A4 size pads were just too large and chunky for use in class over here. The desks just aren't big enough! A5 on the other hand was a little small. When I looked around myself, I realised that most students used something in between...notebooks of a size I'd never really seen before. This magical size...was called B5. (I know, I'm poorly educated in the ways of paper, and we don't get these "rarer" sizes back in Australia).

 

Then, I discovered Taobao (or rather, managed to create my own account and link it to my bank account). I have no way of uploading images at the moment, so you'll have to make do with my descriptions. I'll try to take photos and upload them over the weekend.

 

I purchased several B5 binders and also 4 different types of Kokuyo B5-sized refills.

 

Binders:

1. Generic Chinese Binder (16yuan ~$2.50USD)

2. "Gambol" brand Chinese Binder (10yuan ~$1.6USD)

3. Kokuyo Campus "Smart-Ring" Binder (32yuan ~$5.4USD)

4. Kokuyo "Pop-Slim" Binder (34yuan ~$5.7USD)

 

Of these four, I have to admit that the "Smart-Ring" binder is my favourite, by far. It's slim, light, and pretty much acts like a regular notebook. I can flip the cover and pages over by 360 degrees, so it rests on the bottom. The rest are like regular binders, and can only be laid flat (The mechanisms are also slightly different, and I will take photos on the weekend).

 

Paper:

1. Kokuyo Campus 836AN (17.8yuan/ 100 B5 pages ~$2.9USD)

2. Kokuyo Campus 836A (22.8yuan/ 100 B5 pages ~$3.8USD)

3. Kokuyo Campus Todai 836ATN (19.8yuan/ 100 B5 pages ~$3.3USD)

4. Kokuyo ReEden Reed Loose-Leaf (16.8yuan/ 100 B5 pages ~$2.6USD)

 

The first three types of paper were slightly yellow in colour, and the ReEden is whiter and thinner. They all range from around 70-77gsm in terms of thickness.

 

Out of these four, the Kokuyo Campus 836A is the least smooth, but handles ink much better than the rest. I've used all types of ink on this paper, and have not seen any bleedthrough, showthrough or feathering.

 

The Campus Todai and Campus 836AN are very smooth, but tend to have feathering issues. Bleedthrough is non-existent, and showthrough is once again minimal. I've found that Noodlers Bulletproof Black, R & K Salix and Hero Blue-Black ink all have no feathering issues on these two types of paper.

 

The ReEden has the poorest performance out of the bunch. Feathering is worse than on the Campus Todai, and even though there is no bleedthrough with the only ink that doesn't feather (Noodlers Black), the showthrough means that I'm not really tempted to write on the other side, especially since I have so much paper at hand already... .

[Tberry010]

Looking forward to the photographs

[gsalazar]

I have plenty of Kokuyo papers and notebooks myself and I love them! I prefer the Todai series because of the dots allow me to practice spacing out my kanji, as well as to easily create charts and diagrams on the fly when taking notes. I also use the Mio notebooks, which are very smooth, for journalling. Granted, I've only ever used gel-pens and japanese highlighters on them, so I'm also curious to see how they hold up fountain pen inks.

 

I'm quite jealous that you won't have to pay the import markups like I do, though. Enjoy your time abroad!

[Nonsensical]

Aaaand...I got carried away and failed to upload photos. Exams kept me busy for a bit, and an internship right after that meant that I barely got to relax and remember about this. Here are photos, as promised.

 

Sorry for the poor photos. Most of the paper is actually a slightly creamy colour, not as white as it appears in my photos.

 

Kokuyo CYO 100gsm notebook paper:

 

Kokuyo Todai Pre-dotted binder paper:

 

Kokuyo Todai Pre-dotted notebook paper:

 

Kokuyo Campus H836A 70gsm binder paper:

 

Kokuyo Mio notebook paper:

 

Kokuyo Campus S836A (regular stuff...Note?)binder paper:

 

Kokuyo ReEden binder paper:

 

I'm missing some of the binder paper packages below, but this gives you an idea of what it looks like:

Edited February 1, 2013 by Nonsensical

[SmoovD]

Thank you for your reviews and pictures. A few months back I purchased a few Koyuko "Buncobon" notebooks and absolutely love them. The paper is thin but has taken every ink I have put to page. I was so impressed that I just recieved a shipment of of Campus notebooks. A few different styles but none that you have reviewed. They haven't escaped the shrink wrap yet so I don't have any input on the paper quality. Maybe this weekend?

[gsalazar]

Fantastic reviews! There does seem to be a slight difference between the Todai notebook and the filler paper, so I wonder if the CYO-BO sheets are also different between the regular notebook and the ring-bound notebook. I have some lying about, so I think I'll try my own review and compare.

[inkypete]

I like the Campus notebooks too - can get them here in Oz from time to time. A little like Apica in design. The binders and refills are ridiculously expensive here.

[Nonsensical]

  On 2/1/2013 at 10:45 PM, gsalazar said:

Fantastic reviews! There does seem to be a slight difference between the Todai notebook and the filler paper, so I wonder if the CYO-BO sheets are also different between the regular notebook and the ring-bound notebook. I have some lying about, so I think I'll try my own review and compare.

I actually have some of the CYO binder paper too, but there was just too much to review...It felt pretty much the same, though.

 

  On 2/1/2013 at 11:25 PM, inkypete said:

I like the Campus notebooks too - can get them here in Oz from time to time. A little like Apica in design. The binders and refills are ridiculously expensive here.

 

That's why I never tried any of this stuff back in Australia. I'll be stocking up and taking a whole heap back with me when I leave.

Edited February 2, 2013 by Nonsensical

[WaskiSquirrel]

Nice to read this review. I bought some Kokuyo binders and paper as an experiment. It takes any ink I use except for two (which bleed): Noodler's Baystate Blue and Noodler's Gruene Cactus Eel. Even so, the blue actually doesn't bleed too badly, so both sides of the paper are still useable.

 

The binders are great. I like that I have many rings instead of 3. I won't need page reinforcers as I use the notebook (that's physics).

 

Currently I'm writing a book and Kokuyo had a perfect solution for me. I have 3 parallel and intersecting story lines. I wanted to write them across the page in three columns as well as a column for a timeline, with room for highlights and notes in other colors. Regular notebook paper wasn't wide enough and turned on its side, it still wasn't quite wide enough. Kokuyo sold a paper that was folded to a B5 size for the binder, but unfolds to a B4 size. It is actually the perfect format and size. One side gets the timeline and the outline of the main character's story. The other side of the fold gets the other two storylines. On the outsides I track characters, make notes, and I write a summary. It's a little pricey, but I'm a lot happier than I was with the scotch-taped monstrosities I was trying to use before.

 

I have some Apica notebooks I like for the actual writing, but your review has inspired me to look at the Kokuyo notebooks as well.

 

As I have been writing, I noticed the dots on the regular notebook paper and it occurred to me that I might have a bonus: Chinese! I'm learning to speak Chinese, and the writing system is a huge struggle for me. I think the dots will help me with spacing the characters...if I'm allowed to use Japanese paper to learn Chinese.

[WaskiSquirrel]

Just to add: I reached the bottom of my current sheet. I was wrong: the folded B5/B4 paper is actually Maruman paper. Disregard those comments. My comments about the single sheets of Kokuyo B5 still stand.

[Nonsensical]

  On 2/2/2013 at 6:13 PM, Waski_the_Squirrel said:

Nice to read this review. I bought some Kokuyo binders and paper as an experiment. It takes any ink I use except for two (which bleed): Noodler's Baystate Blue and Noodler's Gruene Cactus Eel. Even so, the blue actually doesn't bleed too badly, so both sides of the paper are still useable.

 

The binders are great. I like that I have many rings instead of 3. I won't need page reinforcers as I use the notebook (that's physics).

 

Currently I'm writing a book and Kokuyo had a perfect solution for me. I have 3 parallel and intersecting story lines. I wanted to write them across the page in three columns as well as a column for a timeline, with room for highlights and notes in other colors. Regular notebook paper wasn't wide enough and turned on its side, it still wasn't quite wide enough. Kokuyo sold a paper that was folded to a B5 size for the binder, but unfolds to a B4 size. It is actually the perfect format and size. One side gets the timeline and the outline of the main character's story. The other side of the fold gets the other two storylines. On the outsides I track characters, make notes, and I write a summary. It's a little pricey, but I'm a lot happier than I was with the scotch-taped monstrosities I was trying to use before.

 

I have some Apica notebooks I like for the actual writing, but your review has inspired me to look at the Kokuyo notebooks as well.

 

As I have been writing, I noticed the dots on the regular notebook paper and it occurred to me that I might have a bonus: Chinese! I'm learning to speak Chinese, and the writing system is a huge struggle for me. I think the dots will help me with spacing the characters...if I'm allowed to use Japanese paper to learn Chinese.

 

I've been taking notes/doing my revision on that paper, and it does help space it out - but I gave up about 2 seconds in. I'd rather squish it all together, still pretty legible afterwards. I find that 6mm lined paper is too small for writing in Chinese, but 7mm is about the right size (I do not skip a line, and I don't fill the entire line up from top to bottom).