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.)
