Cosmo Air Light paper

[Preserved_Killick]

I've been interested to read reviews on Musubi's Cosmo Air Light notebooks.  I couldn't find one for sale other than from overseas (they seem to be mostly sold out), but did find a Cosmo Air Light notebook made by Yamamoto, sold by Shigure Inks, and I bought it today.  So while I wait for it to arrive, I'm hoping to gain a better understanding of this paper:

 

• Who makes Cosmo Air Light paper?  (I assume the company that makes owns the Cosmo Air Light trade name?)  Does Yamamoto make it?  Or is it just that Yamamoto, like Musubi, purchases it to use in their notebooks?  That could be, but Yamamoto also markets loose leaf sheets of Cosmo Air Light.
• Cosmo Air Light paper is sometimes listed as 83gsm and sometimes as 75gsm.  So either there is more than one version, or no one really knows and is measuring its weight differently.  Anyone know which is the case?

[arcfide]

I think Fountain Pen Love did a review on this paper. 

 

Yamamoto Cosmo Air Light Paper Review - Fountain Pen Love

[Preserved_Killick]

Thanks -- that review is helpful.  It certainly makes it seem that Yamamoto manufactures Cosmo Air Light paper, though I'm sure it's 100% clear.  They say it's from Yamamoto, and offered in their sample pack.  But that sample pack also includes Tomoe River, which Yamamoto does not make, as far as I know.

[TitoThePencilPimp]

I have 3 notebooks containing Cosmo Air Light paper. I have not used them, since I am working through 3 other notebooks. One of the cheaper ways to try this paper is by purchasing via etsy. Taroko Shop is the seller. I believe its $18 for a notebook containing 184 pages (IRC).

[Kessel]

I run Musubi and can help you with this one.

 

- Cosmo Air Light is made by Nippon Paper, a large paper manufacturing company in Japan. It's their trademark and their IP.

- There are six different weights for CAL, 75 and 83 being just two of them. The various weights perform quite differently. To my knowledge, we're the only ones doing 83 with printed rulings.

 

As an aside, Musubi is direct-only — it better allows us to support our social enterprise business model by redirecting the funds that would traditionally go towards retailer margins. All orders ship from Singapore.

[Preserved_Killick]

On 4/16/2021 at 5:09 PM, Kessel said:

I run Musubi and can help you with this one.

 

- Cosmo Air Light is made by Nippon Paper, a large paper manufacturing company in Japan. It's their trademark and their IP.

- There are six different weights for CAL, 75 and 83 being just two of them. The various weights perform quite differently. To my knowledge, we're the only ones doing 83 with printed rulings.

 

As an aside, Musubi is direct-only — it better allows us to support our social enterprise business model by redirecting the funds that would traditionally go towards retailer margins. All orders ship from Singapore.

 

Thank you Kessel -- very helpful post.  So is Yamamoto simply a wholesaler/binder of various papers, which they do not make?  Or do they also make their own paper?  Do they make bank paper?

[Kessel]

4 hours ago, Preserved_Killick said:

 

Thank you Kessel -- very helpful post.  So is Yamamoto simply a wholesaler/binder of various papers, which they do not make?  Or do they also make their own paper?  Do they make bank paper?

No, they're a paper merchant. Making your own paper at industrial scale is a serious undertaking and there aren't that many mills.

[goodpens]

2 hours ago, Kessel said:

No, they're a paper merchant. Making your own paper at industrial scale is a serious undertaking and there aren't that many mills.

Thank you for the info you shared here. 
 

Also, your episode of the Stationery Orbit podcast was *excellent*. I appreciated learning about Musubi and the company’s principles. 

[Kessel]

9 hours ago, goodpens said:

Thank you for the info you shared here. 
 

Also, your episode of the Stationery Orbit podcast was *excellent*. I appreciated learning about Musubi and the company’s principles. 

Thanks. It was an interview about things that are very dear to me, and I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[Intensity]

On 4/16/2021 at 5:09 PM, Kessel said:

I run Musubi and can help you with this one.

 

- Cosmo Air Light is made by Nippon Paper, a large paper manufacturing company in Japan. It's their trademark and their IP.

- There are six different weights for CAL, 75 and 83 being just two of them. The various weights perform quite differently. To my knowledge, we're the only ones doing 83 with printed rulings.

 

As an aside, Musubi is direct-only — it better allows us to support our social enterprise business model by redirecting the funds that would traditionally go towards retailer margins. All orders ship from Singapore.

 @Kessel What is a qualitative difference between the 83g and 75g versions of CAL?  What do you mean by them performing quite differently?

[DrDebG]

Without a doubt, a huge fan of OLD Tomoe River 52gsm paper.  I have used it for years and love it.  And yes, I write on the front and the back even with wide, wet nibs. 

 

But with the current debate over whether the manufacturers of Tomoe River 52 gsm paper will continue to produce the old style, I decided it was time to venture into the unknown of "paperland" again.  

 

So, in May I purchased a Cosmo Air Light (CAL) notebook from jetpens (https://www.jetpens.com/Yamamoto-Cosmo-Note-Notebook-A5-Plain/pd/30762) since I had heard so much about this paper. 

 

The notebook contains 88 sheets of paper (176 pages), and was a blank style.  It does come with a heavy card with lines printed on one side and grid printed on the other for use as a backer sheet.  I used the notebook for my June journal.  

 

Writing on CAL paper is significantly different than Tomoe River, but I must say that the shading and sheening properties of inks really shine with this paper - perhaps even more so than with Tomoe River.  

 

It is a very smooth paper.  Yet, when writing with a wider nib, the writing feels somewhat sluggish.  It is hard to explain.  Wider nibs don't glide across the page, they seem to sink into it more.   I did not notice this with narrower nibs.  In fact, my extra fine nibs seemed to glide along happily.  

 

As I said, I was happily impressed with the way my inks looked on the page.  Some inks that have never shaded very much on Tomoe River, shaded nicely on CAL.  Sheening inks were also enhanced.  Also, it appeared as though the colors seemed a bit brighter on CAL.  

 

For me, the only downside to CAL is the weight of the paper and the number of pages per notebook.  With my typical Tomoe River notebook (Nanami Papers Seven Seas Writer or Standard), I can use the same notebook for 3 to 4 months.  Yet with the CAL, I filled the entire notebook in one month.  So, for me, the CAL costs much more.  If it was lighter in weight and had more pages, I would seriously consider switching to CAL. 

 

Interestingly, several months ago, I purchased several other notebooks to try out (before I heard about CAL paper).   I was planning to use these for work related purposes, but only recently had occasion to use one.  I have using the Apica Premium CD Notebook (grid style) for one of my client's project, and I have been pleasantly surprised how nice it is.  It is a very smooth paper that accepts fountain pen ink quite well.  I did expect the dry times to be long, but they are not nearly as long as other papers I have used, and with no feathering or bleedthrough.  The only bleedthrough I have seen was with a very heavy ink application.  I am impressed with these notebooks and will likely purchase more for work.  

 

[Loke]

Very interesting, thank you DrDebG for the information.

I would love to try this paper but I can't find a reasonable source in Europe at the moment 😞

 

[Ergative]

7 minutes ago, Loke said:

Very interesting, thank you DrDebG for the information.

I would love to try this paper but I can't find a reasonable source in Europe at the moment 😞

 

Just popping in here to recommend the seller danika58 on etsy, who sells CAL notebooks of all shapes, sizes, and rulings at both 192 and 384 pages, for prices that are comparable to Nanami paper. (No connection, just a satisfied customer who wants to make sure her business remains viable.) 

[A Smug Dill]

4 minutes ago, Ergative said:

Just popping in here to recommend the seller danika58 on etsy,

 

I saw that, but I couldn't find a seller that is operating out of and shipping the goods from the UK, that I could recommend to @Loke. (Never mind any VAT concerns after Brexit and all that; UK is still in Europe and much closer than Japan, so I think the lead time for end-to-end delivery will be shorter, and the keen hobbyist would be able to try out the paper sooner rather than later before deciding on a major splurge!)

 

That said, one recent customer review for danika58 did say, “Bought two of these books - I’m in the U.K. and it got to me in aroun two days!!” so I would assume it doesn't take much longer for shipping to Belgium.

[Loke]

Thank you Ergative and A Smug Dill for your answer.

 

Delivery time isn't an issue, I can wait. Just afraid of the shipping cost and additional customs/import fees... and this Etsy seller is based in Japan.

I guess the paper will make its way to some European sellers some day given its success... or not 🙂

 

 

[Karmachanic]

5 minutes ago, Loke said:

I guess the paper will make its way to some European sellers some day given its success... or not 🙂

 

 

And the EU seller will include VAT/Customs/Shipping fees in their prices.  Or order from mus.bi today.

[Loke]

2 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

 

And the EU seller will include VAT/Customs/Shipping fees in their prices.  Or order from mus.bi today.

 

That's right, but we are not talking about the same order of magnitude though.

Additionally, customs/shipping fees will be much smaller given the quantities involved, VAT is not the big deal in this case.

 

Well... still tempting I guess... 

 

[Karmachanic]

14 minutes ago, Loke said:

Well... still tempting I guess...

 

 

Paper's for writing.  Money's for spending.

Just trying to help 😃

[Loke]

1 hour ago, Karmachanic said:

 

 

Paper's for writing.  Money's for spending.

Just trying to help 😃

 

Exactly! 🙂

Thanks.

[ENewton]

I have used Tomoe River paper for years, because the Hobonichi Techo planner fits so well into a leather cover that has great sentimental value for me.  Suitability for use with fountain pens was crucial, of course, and I have been generally satisfied with the appearance of most inks.  That the paper is so thin has been acceptable in a planner; for other purposes, I prefer a somewhat thicker paper.  And for a paper to be quite smooth is okay for me, as long as it is not slick (like Clairefontaine, which I pointedly dislike).

 

But the problem I have found over time is that some of my favorite inks change color in an undesirable way on Tomoe River, and hence I recently began a search for a paper that would work well for those particular inks.

 

A week or two ago, I finally acquired a Cosmo Air Light notebook from JetPens, and so far I am delighted with it.  I like that it is heavier and has more texture than Tomoe River does, but more than that, I like the fact that my Robert Oster purple inks remain purple, as opposed to veering into green or blue territory.  

 

I would be even more delighted if some manufacturer made an A6 planner or journal containing CAL paper.  Perhaps they exist, but I have not yet seen one.