Overview of Japanese Notepaper

[Phthalo]

Thank you Neill! It's always good to hear about Japanese papers.

[Taki]

Neil,

 

COOP is actually a co-op, and you probably have paid a fee to be a member (might have been included in school fees), though anyone can go in and buy things from them. When I was a university student in Japan we called it Seikyo (生協). Also people in community can organize a group and they will deliver merchandise once a week to the group. At the same time you get an order form and catalogs for the following week. They have grocery stores all over the country and they sell rebranded Kokuyo notebooks, too. I just found out they have an online store, but did not see any notebooks etc.

 

The paper type/colour is "kuriimu fluusu " and I don't have a clue what that means.

 

That would be "cream (colored) fools (foolscap paper)". That's their "signature" paper. It should have their watermark. I heard Tsubame's paper quality is not as good as it used to be somewhere.

 

Please do post pictures of the notebooks

 

[Neill78]

COOP is actually a co-op, and you probably have paid a fee to be a member (might have been included in school fees), though anyone can go in and buy things from them. When I was a university student in Japan we called it Seikyo (生協). Also people in community can organize a group and they will deliver merchandise once a week to the group. At the same time you get an order form and catalogs for the following week. They have grocery stores all over the country and they sell rebranded Kokuyo notebooks, too. I just found out they have an online store, but did not see any notebooks etc.

 

Hi Taki,

 

Yes, we always called it Seikyo, and indeed the paper products there are branded on the back with the "National University Lifestyle Cooperative" division (?) of the COOP chain. I'd guess that since it's a special service to university students they have special products that aren't available through their mail order company.

I did not pay any school fees at all, but since they don't check your student ID card (and international students often can't get one anyway), as you say anybody can go in and buy the paper! I will definitely make a trip to my old campus this spring!

 

That would be "cream (colored) fools (foolscap paper)". That's their "signature" paper. It should have their watermark. I heard Tsubame's paper quality is not as good as it used to be somewhere.

 

Please do post pictures of the notebooks

 

Ahh, I hate katakana-go. I would never have thought of foolscap, especially since at school in Canada foolscap means legal size (probably because it makes longer pointier hats). Maybe the paper isn't as good as it used to be, but it's still better than anything I can get at my university bookstore here. It seems to only feather (very slightly) with my Pelikan, which is pretty wet, has a fairly wide M nib, and is full of J. Herbin, which everybody says is runny. But it feels nice to write on, and wow.. the ink looks so bold on it!

 

On a semi-related note, Ebisu beer isn't as good as it used to be either.

 

I'll try to upload some pictures of the notebooks later along with some pen/ink tests on the paper.

 

[Neill78]

As requested, some photos of the notebooks. I was too lazy to set up the tripod so the lighting is not very good.

 

The Scholar notebooks aren't much to look at. The blue book is 6mm ruled and the green is 7mm.

 

 

Hopefully you can see by this ink test that the lines are very smooth. I focused on the brown; compare it with the COOP premium notebook ink test at the bottom.

 

 

Here's a picture of the cover of the COOP original. The red circle on the top right is my name stamp, not a manufacturing mark.

 

 

And the ink test, which shows some fine feathering (only with this Pelikan M and J. Herbin Lie de The; my other inks don't feather at all. You can see how this paper is quite textured compared to the Scholar above. These are quick pictures and I didn't set the white balance so the papers look similar in colour, but actually this notebook is a much creamier colour than the picture shows.

 

 

Enjoy,

 

Neill

Edited February 1, 2008 by Neill78

[Wendell]

I've just been paper shopping in Tokyo and it has left me feeling a bit guilty about leaving folks up to their own devices to find the items I mentioned in the OP. I went to large and small shops all over town and couldn't find any place with more than a token selection from each manufacturer. You really are better off ordering through a Kinokuniya store. To help you do that, I'm going to give some more specific information about item numbers for Kokuyo and Apica.

 

I ought to mention about other brands. I do see a lot of products from names like Kyokuto, Midori, and Life, but I have reasons for not drawing attention to them. First, I think it's easier for everyone if I concentrate on a few product lines from major companies. Also, my general impression is that these other brands are of slightly lower quality than what I mentioned in the OP, though they are probably still an improvement over most of what you could get in the US or EU.

 

While there, I had a chance to examine the Kokuyo Campus High Grade MIO and Cyo-Bo notebooks. I wouldn't say they are higher quality than the normal Campus line, but the paper is quite different. The regular Campus paper has a slight tooth, but the MIO and Cyo-Bo are very slick. The Cyo-Bo paper comes in taped or twin-ring notebooks. The paper is the same weight as Clairfontaine (100 gsm) and the covers are a similar heavy card. Think of a Clairfontaine notebook with quieter lines and no clay coating on the paper and you have it. The MIO paper is rather thin for a notebook (60 gsm) and it comes in taped notebooks, glued pocketbooks, and letter pads. I think the MIO paper would be really good with a sewn binding like in a Moleskine, but I don't think it works well in the formats they chose. The MIO notebooks don't lay open well, especially the pocket-sized ones.

 

Speaking of Kokuyo, while they make a wide range of spiral notebooks, I couldn't find any in shops, and they don't list them on their web site. They do still have them in their print catalog, which is accessible online but tricky to find. To get you started in ordering some, the basic serial number for a B5, twin-ring notebook is Su-T110. When you call/go to Kinokuniya and they look it up in the Kokuyo catalog, they can tell you the range of formats and styles available. Usually, there are A4, B5, and A5 sizes and pages with lines at 7, 6, and 5 mm and blank and 5 mm graph. There are also more formats with limited styles and more styles in just B5 size. The cheapest deal on a Campus notebook is their "spiral ring" model, available in just B5 or A5 and 6 or 7 mm lines. The A5 is Su-105 and the B5 is Su-100.

 

Apica has a pretty wide range of notebooks, but we can roughly sort them by style and paper. For page styles, there are just two; B5 notebooks have 6.5 mm lines while A5 and A4 notebooks have 7 mm lines. There are two types of paper, cream and white. I think only two products have the cream paper, a taped notebook called "Glorious" and a twin-ring called Personal. All the other models have white paper, but I'm not completely sure it's all the same quality.

 

Pricing of Apica notebooks reflects the number of pages and the quality of the cover. So from the size and price, you can get some idea of what an item is like. The Personal note has a very nice cover like a book and the cheapest ones have card stock. The item numbers listed below are for the B5 size and all are twin-ring. I would suggest trying the CD line because it is more economical and offers the widest range of sizes.

 

Personal: SuPu-501B, 50 pp, 609 yen (book cover)

Renaissance: SW81C, 60 pp, 525 yen (book cover)

Figurare: SW113C, 60 pp, 472 yen (book cover?)

Float: SW18C, 80 pp, 525 yen (cardboard cover)

CD: SuPuCD25S, 50 pp, 262 yen (card stock cover)

Twin Ring: SuPu-203B, 40 pp, 241 yen (card stock cover)

Muji Color: SW40B, 30 pp, 200 yen (card stock cover)

 

 

[GeMiNi22]

Kinokuniya is a global chain of Japanese bookstores.

 

But unfortunately they don't have any stationery listed on their Australian website and telephone enquiries are very poorly handled (going on my two experiences).

 

Sydney Kinokuniya is now stocking more and more Campus notebooks. I got one Campus Top Grade (i guess that's what they call) with MIO paper (they have all different sizes and line width). It does look and feel great. There is a special sticker on the cover trying to say how nice MIO paper is (sorry, I dont read Japanese). Haven't tested yet, as don't have many things to write now.

 

Can help if you guys are having trouble finding Campus notebooks in you region.

 

It is so great that I found this forum. I almost felt insane about paying weekly visits to Kinokuniya just to update myself on their new stocks of pens and notebooks. Unfortunately the only Japanese fountain pen the Sydney store carries at the moment is Ohto Tasche.

Edited February 1, 2008 by GeMiNi22

[GeMiNi22]

I also discovered that Kinokuniya is carrying a new line of Campus notebooks. It's called Campus on holiday. Basically you can insert photos, postcards, whatever you want into the page, and write something on the side while travelling. Maybe best illustrated with a photo.

[Phthalo]

Can help if you guys are having trouble finding Campus notebooks in you region.

 

Don't say that - you might find yourself shipping a ton of paper to Queensland.

[GeMiNi22]

Can help if you guys are having trouble finding Campus notebooks in you region.

 

Don't say that - you might find yourself shipping a ton of paper to Queensland.

 

I don't mind helping you get a few samples or even a dozen. but a ton of paper............i still cannot figure out nowadays do ppl really have that much stuff to write on notebooks?

 

I only use one Japanese schedule book for each year and just got a three-year diary from Japan to keep my work notes, so when I do the end-year self-assessment, I wouldn't have blank page.

 

[alc3261]

Necro Posting I'm sorry but anyone know if any of these papers are available to the UK?

I tried ordering from Jet Pens $73 order, $57 postage (which is stupid, no way would it cost anything like that to send).

[tmenyc]

There is a wonderful Japanese bookstore in Manhattan that carries the Campus line -- Kinokuniya Bookstore, on 6th Avenue (Avenue of the Americas if they use that name) and 41st St. Try them.

 

Tim

[jmeldorf]

Has anyone noted yet that Goulet and JetPens sell Apica (not completely mimicking each other) and JetPens sells Tsumabe?

[sarahfar]

I really like Tsubame and the weight of watermark. All things considered it is a smooth laid finish and excellent for cheaper book or school book. I like the ultra smooth finish on Life and then I think they must do the pilot paper, very nice too.

 

And all of the above are nice papers. Compare nicely and great writers with say Rhodoa.

 

 

But I still think just considering paper, Tomoe is supreme.

[sarahfar]

Maido SF carries Tsunami too.

 

I forgot nanami carries Pilot Paper, Apica, Life, Tomoe, and Tsubame.

 

Best,

Mike

Edited September 6, 2014 by sarahfar

[mm1624124]

Thanks for the heads up about Tsubame at JetPens. I usually order from MyMaido or NanamiPaper. Tsubame is still my #1 choice over the rest including Life and Tomoe River. It's too bad that I can't get the Nanami Seven Seas notebook in Tsubame paper. Sigh! But the compromise is still very satisfactory.