Posts filed under Notebook Reviews

Kokuyo Campus Business Notebook Review

Kokuyo has some of the best affordable, high-quality paper on the market. The majority of their audience appears to be students, with style and designs that scream "school supplies" in the best way possible. There's an abundance of bright colors and pastels, with innovations designed to improve student life. But if you're not a student, and you want a mature-looking notebook with great paper that doesn't break the bank, Kokuyo have their Business line.

These slim softcover notebooks come in navy blue with white printed branding. The cover is thin cardstock bound with linen tape that allows the notebook to lay flat. Inside are 50 sheets of Kokuyo's awesome paper, which can handle anything except alcohol markers like Sharpies. Even my BB Pelikan firehose pen with black ink in it barely shows a shadow through the page. You can easily use both sides of the 50 sheets with paper like this.

The top of each page has some open space, with room for the date. This version has 5mm grid, though there are also lined and blank versions available. The 6mm lined version also has a faint dot every 5mm along the line, to allow for better organization and outlining, which is a brilliant design element, in my opinion. You get the benefit of the grid, but without the distraction of the vertical lines.

There are a few sizes available: A5, A4, and B5. Whether you're using this for class notes, meeting notes, a diary, or agenda, these have all the advantages of Kokuyo's full line of notebooks without the cotton candy covers. Which I do love. I'd take the full rainbow pack of Kokuyos any day! But if you're conducting Very Serious Business, it may behoove you to have the same quality product dressed in a business suit.

The Kokuyo Campus Business notebooks range in price from $3.30 for the smallest to $8.75 for the largest. All are a great value for their quality.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on April 16, 2020 by Sarah Read and filed under Kokuyo, Notebook Reviews.

Tomoe River Kanso B5 Notebook Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

Tomoe River paper is something really special that took the stationery world by storm a few years back. It's extremely thin paper that is able to handle a ridiculous amount of ink without bleeding through or feathering across the page. It's a fantastic paper formula, and it's no wonder that everyone wants to get their hands on this stuff. In the beginning, it was difficult to come by, but that's a problem of the past for the most part.

The latest paper product that I've tried that uses Tomoe Paper is Tomoe's own Kanso Notebook. This is a plain B5 notebook with a clean thread binding and 30 sheets of beautiful 52gsm Tomoe River paper. You can also get this notebook in a cream color paper, but the one I have uses bright white paper.

As far as notebook specs go, this one is pretty plain. There is absolutely zero branding on this notebook. The covers are plain white with no words, graphics. or debossed logos. The binding tape is plain black, the corners of the notebook are squared, and the pages are entirely blank. If Tomoe River were competing in a minimalistic notebook contest, they've won it with the Kanso.

Honestly, I'm fine with the lack of branding on this notebook. It's all business, and I'm sure that knocks a few cents off the end price as well. What everyone really cares about in this notebook is the paper. It's fabulous. Writing on Tomoe River paper is a smooth experience. There's very little feedback on the nib, but just enough to let you control your strokes. I've never been able to make a pen or ink cause bleeding or feathering on Tomoe River paper. Show through is a problem, but that's due to the extreme thinness of this paper. It's the main downside of this paper, but I suspect everyone is already aware of that before they purchase any Tomoe River products. Dry time is fairly quick due to how quickly this paper absorbs the ink. But, you'll need to be careful and avoid shutting the notebook too quickly after writing, or you'll end up with ink ghosting on the opposite page.

In terms of durability, there's nothing special here. I don't expect the corners of this notebook to hold up very well after a few days of being carried in a bag. The sharp corners are begging to be bent and caught on all kinds of fabric and nearby objects. The cover material isn't very thick, either, so I expect the covers to tear and discolor rapidly. Since B5 is a fairly common notebook size, there are plenty of options for covering this notebook with a folio, case, or binder of some kind. My preferred cover is the Kokuyo Systemic, but there are plenty of other options if you look around.

Overall, I'm really pleased with the Kanso notebook! It's a no-frills worker of a notebook that showcases the wonderful Tomoe River paper. At $15, it's a good deal considering how much Tomoe River paper normally costs. This is a great introductory price and notebook format to try if you've never had the pleasure of using Tomoe River paper!

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on April 15, 2020 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Tomoe River, Notebook Reviews.

Kamiterior Memoterior Colors Memo Pad Review

You know I’m a Japanese stationery junkie right? Ok, if this is your first time here, maybe not, but for those that have been around a while, you know that I love seeing products like the Kamiterior Memoterior Colors Memo Pad.

I unboxed the Sakura Momo pad on stream recently, and the first words out of my mouth were along the lines of “Oh yeah, this is awesome!” I genuinely do care about simple, unique stationery products like this one, and am happy to test them out whenever I can.

I first learned of the concept of “Paper Tasting” from Yamamoto Paper. In a nutshell, a maker will supply you with a sampling of various paper types in a single package, with the package having an overall theme. It could be color, paper texture, suggested ink usage, and more. Yamamoto goes as far as providing a fully-translated product sheet with each set, and the preferred media use for the paper included.

The Kamiterior Memoterior Colors Memo Pad doesn’t take things quite that far, but they do provide a fun take on the whole idea of paper tasting. Each pad consists of ten 3.6” x 5.0” sheets of ten different types of paper. The theme is color, as I chose the pink Sakura Momo, and there are three other sets featuring blue, brown, and black sheets.

What you will find between the cover of each memo pad is a range of styles, from light textures to heavy, light shades to bright, and absorbent to not so much. I was able to remove the first sheet of each paper type from the pad, which is lightly glue bound to hold the entire group together. It held together nicely, so don’t worry too much if you want to hop around from color to color.

The ten paper styles are listed on a sheet packaged with the memo pad, and I think I’ve found the proper translation of each sheet from the Kameterior product page (matched to my numbers):

1 - Libero (pink)

2 - Sagan GA (rose)

3 - Polka Reid (peach)

4 - Tanto (L-50)

5 - Minute GA (Airy Pink)

6 - Cotton Life S (Cherry)

7 - Eco Japan R (Sakuragi)

8 - Mofuru (Peché)

9 - New Atmos (Botan)

10 - OK Muse Cotton (Sakuragai)

None of that means much to me other than Eco or Cotton, but it is still a way to tell the different papers apart, especially if there is one you like more than the rest.

Numbers 1, 6, and 10 are definitely Cotton-type paper from the texture alone. 10 is hugely absorbent and one of my least favorites. In the notes I wrote as I tested these out I likened it to blotter paper. My notes also included “Ishime” next to numbers 2 and 4, meaning the paper has a texture similar to the bumpy nature of the Ishime fountain pen finish. It wasn’t particularly enjoyable outside of pencils.

I wish I knew what Minute GA is, or if the translation was correct, so I could avoid it in the future. It’s essentially like writing on textured vinyl, which is not the best experience. That said, all of the ink types stuck to this page shockingly well.

The standout paper for me was number three, Polka Reid (peach). I don’t know what that means, but I would take an entire pad of it. That’s what makes a set like this fun. Getting to play with different paper types, and deciding how they work for you.

And a lot of them won’t, as you can see from my notes. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like the product. In fact, I love it and would recommend it. It’s a relatively inexpensive way ($11 for 100 sheets) to test a wide range of paper types, and who knows what you will find when you test them out for yourself.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)