Amazing Japanese Notebooks

[Omaslover]

Hi everyone,

 

Japanese people really understand paper and produce IMHO the best paper for fountain pens. A lot of them are widely available in the US (Tomoe River, Graphilo, Kokuyo, Midori, etc.), but I am sure they are countless more available in Japan that we never heard of.

 

Can anyone who has either been to Japan or lives there can share the names (or better yet, links) to some japanese notebooks that are not widely known in the US?

 

Cheers

[FOUR X FOUR]

The Japanese also do excellent customer service.

[LyaT]

Never been to Japan, but love their stationary products. Ever since I got my Midori and tomoe river, I cannot use Rhodia goal book anymore.

[inkypete]

Apica - exceptional value and beautiful writing paper. Love them.

[Stompie]

My problem is not so much with fountain pen friendly paper but finding paper that is good for dip pens which can lay down a very thick line of ink.

 

I have been surprised by what I can do on Tomoe but it would be nice to also find other brands/styles of paper as well as notebooks etc that can do at least the same as Tomoe.

 

Some folk find certain papers fountain pen friendly but then I have found that they may have used a dry or XF nib. That does not help me when using dip pens.

[LyaT]

Tomoe is really the best. Midori and life noble are both very good, also from Japan, but they have those wax spots. Inconsistent when coating was applied.

 

I use very wet pens and Midori holds up fine. Maybe you can try it with dip pens.

 

Theres a high quality paper brand made in Florence, works very well with dip pens, cannot remember the name now. I picked up a notebook when I was there a couple of years back.

[Omaslover]

Here is a sample of the japanese paper notebooks I have on hand (I also have some Tsubame, Graphilo, Apica and a couple few others).

 

Is anyone aware of additional quality japanese notebooks not widely distributed in the US?

[rafapa]

Here is a sample of the japanese paper notebooks I have on hand (I also have some Tsubame, Graphilo, Apica and a couple few others).

 

Is anyone aware of additional quality japanese notebooks not widely distributed in the US?

Hobonichi has just introduced the Hobonichi Plain Notebook.

[Intensity]

I’m in Japan now and got a bunch of the smallest size notebooks and pads of various brands to test. So far my favorite is Nakabayashi Logical Prime line. More than Life Noble etc. I like how it makes the ink I’ve tried shade and display a greater hue variation (Herbin’s Lie de Thé) than on other paper in my experiment. I’m going to get more of it next time I visit Maruzen, in larger sizes. Still getting bulk Tomoe River 52g when I find it.

[mke]

> bulk Tomoe River 52g A4

https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/auc-shikisai/item/50602/

 

Not enough?

You just need to use one of these proxies.

Edited June 3, 2019 by mke

[nibtip]

> bulk Tomoe River 52g A4

https://global.rakuten.com/en/store/auc-shikisai/item/50602/

 

Not enough?

You just need to use one of these proxies.

 

Thanks,

That is over 15 kilos. I wonder what would bo the shipping cost.

I just copy/pasted トモエリバ in the search window of rakuten and got 134 results.

Just having fun.

[mke]

Wolframalpha says 4000 pages A4 is 249.5 m2

https://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=4000+pages+A4+area

with 52 g/m2 that is 12974 g (including 1 g rounding error)

 

surface mail to Switzerland or US: 79 USD

effectively doubling the price

 

or in total 4 cts/sheet

Amazon price is 15 cts/sheet in a 100 sheets pack

[nibtip]

It is enough for a few lifetimes.

[Omaslover]

I’m in Japan now and got a bunch of the smallest size notebooks and pads of various brands to test. So far my favorite is Nakabayashi Logical Prime line. More than Life Noble etc. I like how it makes the ink I’ve tried shade and display a greater hue variation (Herbin’s Lie de Thé) than on other paper in my experiment. I’m going to get more of it next time I visit Maruzen, in larger sizes. Still getting bulk Tomoe River 52g when I find it.

 

Thanks a lot, I was not aware of this notebook!

[Intensity]

Quick update: I also got loose leaf packs in 60 and 100-sheet count, and Logical by Nakabayashi still looks best to me: most vibrant ink look, most hue variation in a complex ink like Lie de Thé. Show-through is light, it’s not completely opaque but pretty good. Be careful to not get Logical Air—the Air version is thinner and rougher. I’ve not tried it, but it seems to sacrifice fountain pen ink performance for weight and price. Will stock up on Logical paper. I also got some color-toned Maruman loose leaf B5 in pink and mixed color pack for notes.

 

So far I’ve tried Kokyo, Midori (non-MD), Life, Maruman, and Nakabayashi Logical (and extensive use of Tomoe River 52g back at home). Beyond properties like feathering and bleed-through, I value ink appearance on paper in terms of shading, vibrance, sheen, and hue variation for inks with comlex chromatography. I can’t test ink performance with more inks until I return home, but so far I’m glad there are excellent budget-friendly loose leaf options in great sizes like B5, and I’m happy to have found the Nakabayashi paper. Unfortunately, Office Vender in Sendai only has horizontal-ruled varieties for loose leaf Nakabayashi Logical non-Air, but I hope to find more types in Tokyo shops. Will also get some lose leaf TR 52g.

[mke]

> Nakabayashi Logical

I can't believe that a 70g/m2 paper has acceptable ghosting behavior but I will order a batch to test.

[Intensity]

Its not completely opaque like Life paper, but its not bad. Much better than TR 52g.

[mke]

> Its not completely opaque like Life paper, but its not bad. Much better than TR 52g.

 

I can imagine what you mean. Thanks.

[Intensity]

What I want to know is which paper is used for various pen testers at Office Vender. Its quite nice and slick, though inks take a long time to dry on it. It seems to be the same paper for Sailor, Pilot, and Platinum displays for nib sizes, but printed and branded differently. The pilot one says at the bottom:

 

この試筆紙はパイロット「万年筆用」と同じ紙を使用しています。

 

But I dont see Pilot fountain pen paper for sale. And Pilot probably has some paper maker create it for them.

Edited June 7, 2019 by Intensity

[mke]

Here it is:

https://www.pilot.co.jp/products/stationary/personal/fountain_pad/letterpad_fountain_new/