Kokuyo Inspiracion Discontinued! Alternatives?

[Plume145]

I went to Jetpens to reorder a kokuyo inspiracion (my favorite notebook to use as a refill for the lihit lab twist rings system) and to my horror they don't stock it anymore!! I couldn't even find it on Rakuten, so I suspect it may have been discontinued

 

So now I need your help to replace it!

 

For the general info, here's the old description on Jetpens. And here are the parts that mattered to me:

 

- page size and hole pattern: they're identical to the lihit lab twist ring system (a 3:1 pitch, for binding geeks). This is a must-have - without this there's no point

 

- color and page layout: off-white (cream and ivory would be ok too, just no bright-white), 5mm grid type, but faint (fine and light in color) so it organizes the page without overwhelming the writing.

 

Please, no dot pads - I know many people love them and are excited to recommend them, but I really don't get along with them and would be grateful if you could help me avoid the confusion of having to sort dot-pad recommendations from grid ones :-)

 

- available from a retailer with sane int'l shipping.

 

The inspiracion also had microperforated pages, but since the Lihit is a binder system that's not critical (the neat edge was nice to have when I wanted to give someone a page, but I wouldn't sacrifice the other stuff for microperf'ed pages )

 

I also liked that the grid pattern extended to cover the whole page, no margins. But I can live with a frame/box style grid, as long as otherwise there's nothing to prevent me from using it in both portrait and landscape mode )

 

Can you guys think of anything that fits the bill? Or alternatively, just a good place to buy Inspiracion notebooks? At this point I could even stock up and buy several, which should make the shipping situation a bit easier hopefully!

 

thanks!!

[Plume145]

Come on, you guys! Is there really no good alternative to these? Or is it just that noone knows these notebooks? I can't believe it - they are awesome! A bit dear but there's a lot worse, surely there are other fans out there? right? right?

[odd_soul]

I'm not familiar with these notebooks, but I found that there's a seller on Amazon that's selling them. Not sure how many are available though.

 

I know that in Japan, binders with lots of rings are quite common. Would you be able to use Kokuyo loose refills for the lihit system? It looks like Jetpens stocks a bunch of different kinds. Just a thought!

 

Good luck!

[Plume145]

I looked for the Amazon listing, and unfortunately the only one I can find is someone selling one notebook that is slightly used! So you were right, there is one, but it's not really a reliable source as it turns out :-/

 

Your idea to use another multi-hole refill makes a lot of sense, but in this case it won't work because the lihit lab twist rings line has a hole pattern of three holes per inch, a common hole pattern for wire-binding (the other common one is two holes per inch - 90% of twin wire material is bound in one of those two) whereas the Japanese multi-hole binders are their own separate, specific pattern (besides Kokuyo there's also maruman and muji, that I know of).

 

I do agree that Kokuyo paper is pretty awesome - if I can't find the Inspiracion, I'm going to use a wire-bound Kokuyo like the Todai. The only issue is Kokuyo is generally just lined, and I'm kind of over it - I used to be prefer lined paper, but after hanging out on this forum a few months I changed the habits of a lifetime and became all about the grid! lol

[odd_soul]

Bummer! Well, I wish you luck in finding a suitable replacement!

[ridiculopathy]

Noooo! Right when I finally found a purpose for the ones I have as Japanese/Chinese character practice books!

 

After looking around, the closest thing I can find is the Life Writing Light notebook. I don't know if it fits the hole pattern requirement, but it looks like it does.

And hey, it's on sale now:

http://www.notemaker.com.au/life-japanese-paper-notebook-b5-18x25cm-writing-light-grid?default=2072

 

$95 for free international shipping...for me it's definitely possible, but probably not prudent

[Plume145]

Noooo! Right when I finally found a purpose for the ones I have as Japanese/Chinese character practice books!

 

After looking around, the closest thing I can find is the Life Writing Light notebook. I don't know if it fits the hole pattern requirement, but it looks like it does.

And hey, it's on sale now:

http://www.notemaker.com.au/life-japanese-paper-notebook-b5-18x25cm-writing-light-grid?default=2072

 

$95 for free international shipping...for me it's definitely possible, but probably not prudent

hey, if you don't want yours, I will get them off your hands lol.

 

Seriously now, the Life Writing looks like a good option - at least one to try! To tell you the truth it never even ocurred to me to look in Notemaker, because the shipping used to be pretty steep, but now I see that it's only $13! That's only 8.50 in euro so it's pretty good, particularly since it's a flat rate so you could buy several things in one go. I think I have a new source for my ink, at least! So, thanks for the push to look at the store :-)