In Paper Heaven 完全

[SamCapote]

You can buy plastic tubs containing thousands of live ladybirds from Amazon.com; they love chowing down on aphids and whitefly.

 

You mean all I had to do is have my beauties growing, and toss around some of those enchanting lady bugs, and my 'maters would have grown tall, proud, and juicy?

 

There is nothing in the world as good as a fresh grown, fully ripened, beefeater type 'mater. I love them sliced on toasted, buttered, whole wheat bread with some melted Colby or Monterrey Jack cheese.

Edited May 3, 2012 by SamCapote

[watch_art]

That sounds good. I might get some this year. See how it helps.

[Angry__Panda]

Alright, here we go...Thanks to Sam I got me some samples of this lovely paper. My first thought; oh my, it is so thin! But, it feels lovely and luxurious. I can see why Sam paid a pretty penny for this paper. So, without further ado, let me give you some writing samples with some different ink. Just because I know someone will be curious...The pens and ink I was using for this;

 

Noodler's Ahab Flex with Noodler's Tiananmen

TWSBI Diamond 540 with J. Herbin 1670

TWSBI Micarta with Noodlers EEL Turquoise

TWSBI Diamond 530 with Iroshizuku Chiku-Rin

Lamy 2000 with Iroshizuku Kiri-Same

 

http://img805.imageshack.us/img805/8135/img0096ny.jpg

[XiaoMG]

I noticed that the company Raymay uses this kind of paper in some of their refills. Really wish I could get a ream of A4 or A5, but cannot find it available anywhere at the moment. Tried it out with some of my pens and found it very nice to use. Would love to have some for notes and letters.

[RPB]

If u search for me in Flickr you will find comparison pics of the Design-Y books I took a while back. They are awesome pure and simple! Lol

Am on iPhone so if I find my Flickr link I will update this post.

RPB2012 on flickr or search on here as I have posted the links before on other Design-Y threads.

Enjoy!

Regards,

Rich.

Edited June 5, 2012 by RPB

[dcpritch]

You sure get a lot of this paper when it comes! 4,000 sheets of A4 size paper is gonna last me a while. My cost ended up at $.09875 per sheet, which compares favorably to Rhodia A4 tablets which typically sell at $9 for an 80 sheet tablet, or $.1125 per sheet, and that is before shipping. Best stuff I've ever used - easy to write on, no bleed through (though there is show through due to the thinness of the paper, so I don't write on the back side), great shading and sheen effect that you would never or barely notice with other fine paper.

 

Highly recommended, and all the thanks go to Sam who brought Tomoe River paper to our attention. You're the best, Sam!

 

[RPB]

Nice photos and FP ink tests!

These are my pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69951157@N06/sets/72157628028405509/detail/

[SamCapote]

 

 

You sure get a lot of this paper when it comes! 4,000 sheets of A4 size paper is gonna last me a while. My cost ended up at $.09875 per sheet, which compares favorably to Rhodia A4 tablets which typically sell at $9 for an 80 sheet tablet, or $.1125 per sheet, and that is before shipping. Best stuff I've ever used - easy to write on, no bleed through (though there is show through due to the thinness of the paper, so I don't write on the back side), great shading and sheen effect that you would never or barely notice with other fine paper.

Highly recommended, and all the thanks go to Sam who brought Tomoe River paper to our attention. You're the best, Sam!

I'm really happy for you. This should last us the rest of our life.

It is surprising how the stack of 1,000 sheets compares to reams of 500 sheets of typical copy paper! I'm having great results using my stack paper cutter to make custom sizes, and the padding compound glue with A4 chipboard to make tablets.

[duende]

You sure get a lot of this paper when it comes! 4,000 sheets of A4 size paper is gonna last me a while. My cost ended up at $.09875 per sheet, which compares favorably to Rhodia A4 tablets which typically sell at $9 for an 80 sheet tablet, or $.1125 per sheet, and that is before shipping. Best stuff I've ever used - easy to write on, no bleed through (though there is show through due to the thinness of the paper, so I don't write on the back side), great shading and sheen effect that you would never or barely notice with other fine paper.

 

Highly recommended, and all the thanks go to Sam who brought Tomoe River paper to our attention. You're the best, Sam!

 

 

Awesome! Who did you purchase it from?

[XiaoMG]

Awesome! Who did you purchase it from?

I second the question. I am happy buying 4000 sheets, but I am a little reluctant to join a forwarding service.

[dcpritch]

Awesome! Who did you purchase it from?

I second the question. I am happy buying 4000 sheets, but I am a little reluctant to join a forwarding service.

 

I signed up with Rakuten and ordered through the link provided by FPNer Flake at Post #51 above (thanks Flake for the English language link!). As per Sam's suggestion I used Google translate when I got to pages that were only in Japanese, and a couple of times I blindly filled in information in a field on a wild guess as to what might be required, but I've traveled and done work in Japan and have high regard for the honesty and integrity with which business is conducted there, so I wasn't too worried if I got something not quite right.

 

I went round and round trying to find a better shipping alternative, even looking into having a relative in Yokohama buy the paper over there and bring it when they come to visit this summer, but nothing was a certain or as simple as the shipping method offered through Rakuten, which costs a lot of money.

 

My email correspondence was with Mr. Katsuhiro Niwa of Niwa Paper Co., Ltd. His email address is: rakuten AT niwa-p.co.jp (use the @ symbol for AT), but I'm not sure if you would need to order first through Rakuten as I did, or whether you could contact Mr. Niwa directly using the email address, but I provide it here to be as helpful as possible. You might also ask Mr. Niwa for shipping via DHL, which might be less expensive.

 

The order page on the link provided by Flake gives options for "Resize" - pick A4 novi(219x310mm); and color - I picked cream; I have no idea what the white would be like as it hasn't been reviewed or even discussed here.

 

I hope this info is helpful. You won't be sorry about the paper, and you will likely have enough to last the rest of your life, as Sam (the master of understatement) put it.

 

DAVID

[SamCapote]

An easier way is to join Tenso.com which is a Japanese buying service and then forwards it to you after paying them with your PayPal. I posted my Tenso guide elsewhere, but will post it again, as there are a number of things that you cannot get shipped to USA.

 

 

============================ Sample Guide For USA Tenso Users ===========================

 

There is a very reliable service at Tenso.com to buy things that are not approved/authorized to ship outside of Japan. For example the newest Nagasawa-Kobe fountain pen inks are not yet listed in the USA/English version of Rakuten. However if you can see them available on the Japanese rakuten. I have used the Tenso buying service 10 times, and regard it as very trustworthy and reliable. More importantly, every 1-2 months Tenso run a 4,000 Yen discount partnership promotion with Rakuten. They ship with EMS which is extremely reliable.

 

Go to their site at this link which makes it pretty clear how they operate:

http://www.tenso.com/en/agent/index.html

& create an account. That will give you a Tenso Account ID number. Remember your login info for next time.

 

Next, you have to find the desired item searching on Rakuten (or other Japanese websites) that is not available on their USA/English site. You will have to go to Rakuten in Japanese, and search for Nagasawa Kobe or whatever you are looking for

http://www.rakuten.ne.jp/gold/nagasawa/main-top/main-top1.htm

 

Then use

Google translate from Japanese to English

(insert text or a URL) to find what you want. For example, this is the google translation to English URL for a particular Kobe Lime Minatogawa Ink:

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=ja&tl=en&u=http://item.rakuten.co.jp/nagasawa/originalink-minatogawaraimu/&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&twu=1&usg=ALkJrhiPZnFsr8_NDoXMX1Q-pfrR0afV-g

 

Next, log into your Tenso account, and select their "

Application for Buying Service

" where it will give a set of blanks. You fill in the Japanese URL of the item (

not

the google translated longer URL), a description, price in yen (use price with taxes since it is being shipped to Japanese address), quantity desired, color, & size of item. For example: this was exactly what I filled in for my last order.

 

 

URL:

http://item.rakuten.co.jp/nagasawa/originalink-suzurangreen

Name: Nagasawa Penstyle Kobe Ink story "Green lily of the valley" 2099999402375 Item No28 Fountain Pen Ink

Price: 1575 Yen

Number: 1

Color: Green

Size: 50 ml bottle

 

 

URL:

http://item.rakuten.co.jp/nagasawa/originalink-oujicherry

Name: Nagasawa Penstyle Kobe Ink story "Cherry Prince" 2099999402399 Item No30 Fountain Pen Ink

Price: 1575 Yen

Number: 1

Color: Red

Size: 50 ml bottle

 

 

URL:

http://item.rakuten.co.jp/nagasawa/originalink-minatogawaraimu

Name: Nagasawa Penstyle Kobe INK story "Minatogawa Lime" 2099999402078 No19 Fountain Pen Ink

Price: 1575 Yen

Number: 1

Color: Blue

Size: 50 ml bottle

 

When you finish filling out the first item as in the example above, then click on the "Add Another Item" box above the Terms of Service. Enter info for 2nd, 3rd, up to 5 items. (If you need more than 5 items, you have to start a second "Application for Buying Service," and ask Tenso by email to combine the two orders which they will do.)

 

Then click on yellow "Agree And Proceed Registration" button. This puts your desired items into their processing queue. After you complete, you will receive an email saying "Your application for buying service was completed."

 

Next, during their business hours (9am-5pm weekdays Japan time), they will look at your links, prices, description and confirm the item is available, the correct price, and not a prohibited shipping item. Then you will receive a second email (1-15 hours later) asking you to "confirm [make] your payment."

 

Log back into your Tenso account, go to

https://www.tenso.com/en/my_page/

and you will see the box

"Japanese Buying Service" with 1 item pending

. Click on it, and if necessary fill out your mailing address again (can't remember if tenso autofills it), then a series of "continue" buttons will take you to your PayPal login, let you choose payment method (checking account, credit card, etc.) and make payment which will show when complete in Tenso as a "billing [order] number." Another confirmation email will be sent to you.

 

Now there is still one more step. They use your PayPal to buy the item which is shipped to them. In a few days, they will notify you by email that they received the items in their warehouse, and that you now need to pay XXX Yen for shipping. Again, log into Tenso account and now find the "International Shipment" green button on that same my_page link that will show (1) Pending item, and click on it.

 

This takes you through a second PayPal shipping payment session, and once complete, you are done. They will send you more emails, including the EMS tracking Number which you can follow at the Japanese EMS tracking site here:

 

http://tracking.post.japanpost.jp/service/numberSearch.do?SVID=023&JSESSIONID=KvsB6lNrGjhfSvfHCJ2GNvCK3ykPKTddY7XvTlhyLTv9nzFZ4y0n!96185208!1257237697450&locale=en&searchKind=S004

 

You can follow the progress, and once it arrives in the USA, add the same tracking number to the end of this U.S. Postal Service URL (without spaces) to continue tracking its arrival within the USA:

 

http://trkcnfrm1.smi.usps.com/PTSInternetWeb/InterLabelInquiry.do?origTrackNum=

 

These deliveries are supposed to be made by U.S.P.S. before 12:00 Noon, and you must sign for them.

 

This ends the detailed guide of how to use Tenso to buy Japanese items not listed on the USA/English website. Make sure the item you want is not on the Tenso restricted shipping list before you start.

 

========================= End of Sample Tenso Guide For USA/English Users ========================

[duende]

Wow, thanks for this information. That's quite the number of hoops to jump for stationery, but it makes the paper even that much more special. It ought to be an Olympic sport.

It would have been next to impossible to acquire in pre-internet era. I wonder what the Japanese sellers make of this madness coming from North American shores?

[XiaoMG]

I have not yet fully verified this, but if people are looking for much smaller quantities of Tomoe River, it seems that the company MUCU is making a product called Shiro Mucu, and one or two of their offerings apparently use Tomoe River (not 100% sure if it's white or cream, probably white), while a few others use foolscap or other papers. I have placed an order through a global Rakuten store and will see how that pans out. The expensive Raymay DaVinci refills are Tomoe River as well, if one can find them and wants to try them out.

[Karen Traviss]

You sure get a lot of this paper when it comes! 4,000 sheets of A4 size paper is gonna last me a while. My cost ended up at $.09875 per sheet, which compares favorably to Rhodia A4 tablets which typically sell at $9 for an 80 sheet tablet, or $.1125 per sheet, and that is before shipping.

 

 

Do you happen to know the shipping weight? I estimated 1.6kgs (roughly 3.5lbs) per pack based on 50gsm, but that doesn't sound right to me. I'm grappling with the order process at the moment so I'd be really grateful for that information. (Apologies if anyone's mentioned it in this thread already, but I couldn't find it.)

[dcpritch]

Do you happen to know the shipping weight?

 

I think it was just under 15kg, 14.8 perhaps?

[Karen Traviss]

Do you happen to know the shipping weight?

 

I think it was just under 15kg, 14.8 perhaps?

 

Thank you!

[scribble1]

I have not yet fully verified this, but if people are looking for much smaller quantities of Tomoe River, it seems that the company MUCU is making a product called Shiro Mucu, and one or two of their offerings apparently use Tomoe River (not 100% sure if it's white or cream, probably white), while a few others use foolscap or other papers. I have placed an order through a global Rakuten store and will see how that pans out. The expensive Raymay DaVinci refills are Tomoe River as well, if one can find them and wants to try them out.

[scribble1]

I have ordered a da vinci Earth Grande agenda and various refills which I understand are Tomoe River paper.I managed to negotiate this with one of the people on rakuten as the raymay site does not seem to sell outside of Japan. Here is a link to RayMay [da vinci earth leather] if anyone is interested. I thought the combination of Japanese Nume Leather agenda with Tamoe River paper sounded interesting. I haven't received it yet ...

 

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&prev=/search%3Fq%3Ddavinci%2Bearth%2Bleather%26hl%3Den%26prmd%3Dimvns&rurl=translate.google.co.uk&sl=ja&twu=1&u=http://www.refill-style.com/grande/earthleather/menu.html

 

http://www.refill-style.com/grande/earthleather/menu.html

[XiaoMG]

Yep, some of these Shiro Mucu notebooks and pads are Tomoe River! 50 sheets and white (not cream like the Raymay refills or the Design.Y stuff), but the same kind of quality. Long dry time, but ink looks fantastic on it.

 

http://i.imgur.com/6MRt4.jpg

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/hiqzY.jpg

 

 

The price per page is not that great if you plan to use the paper forever, but it may be a good starting point if someone wants to try it.