Tomoe River: Two Thumbs Up

[senzen]

Finally got my 500 sheet package of Tomoe River from Nanami paper: they delivered very quickly but I had to wait until someone could bring it from California to Mexico. It's a pleasure to write with this paper, even my Kaweco Sport writes more smoothly. Everything that has been said is true, it lives up to the hype: smooth, no feathering, thin, no bleed through.

 

The 500 sheet package weighs 2.4 kg (5.2. kg for the metrically challenged) which is quite heavy. The only downside is my friends are now sure I'm certifiable. If you're going to do something crazy like buying japanese paper in another country why not go all the way and go for the big package?

[frogbaby]

great paper, love it

i am trying to print my own version of a hobonichi daily diary with some success (laser is better than inkjet)

i love the thinness and feel of the paper

so far i have been able to make it work in the printer but you need to handle it with care

[rafapa]

"The 500 sheet package weighs 2.4 kg (5.2. kg for the metrically challenged)"

?????

[Notgatherox]

"The 500 sheet package weighs 2.4 kg (5.2. kg for the metrically challenged)"

?????

 

Presumably OP meant 5.2 lb.

 

 

~Epic

[migo984]

Finally got my 500 sheet package of Tomoe River ........ The only downside is my friends are now sure I'm certifiable. If you're going to do something crazy like buying japanese paper in another country why not go all the way and go for the big package?

You think that's crazy? I bought 4,000 sheets, shipped direct from Japan, and I live in the UK! I could hardly lift that box lol.

 

Mind you, even with the huge freight costs, it was still massively cheaper than buying from any seller anywhere else.

[senzen]

 

Presumably OP meant 5.2 lb.

 

 

~Epic

 

Yup, 5.2 lbs, sorry.

[senzen]

You think that's crazy? I bought 4,000 sheets, shipped direct from Japan, and I live in the UK! I could hardly lift that box lol.

 

Mind you, even with the huge freight costs, it was still massively cheaper than buying from any seller anywhere else.

 

Well I had a friend of mine bring it over, it was a bit embarrassing what with airline restrictions these days. But worth it!

[MKB]

I got to try it for the first time today. After I wrote a few lines, I could see the wet ink reflect light, and set the sheet aside. After watching a longish movie I happened upon the sheet, and to my amazement every dotted i and period still reflected light. To confirm, I wiped my finger across the page and sure enough they smeared. I did get wonderful shading and the writing experience is very smooth, but due to the drying issue, I don't imagine using it much.

 

Are others having the same issue? I used four different pens/inks to check out the shading in that initial writing sample, all with the same result. Maybe there's a dry ink that shades which I should try?

[DaveBj]

I got to try it for the first time today. After I wrote a few lines, I could see the wet ink reflect light, and set the sheet aside. After watching a longish movie I happened upon the sheet, and to my amazement every dotted i and period still reflected light. To confirm, I wiped my finger across the page and sure enough they smeared. I did get wonderful shading and the writing experience is very smooth, but due to the drying issue, I don't imagine using it much.

 

Are others having the same issue? I used four different pens/inks to check out the shading in that initial writing sample, all with the same result. Maybe there's a dry ink that shades which I should try?

 

Right after I got my TR I wrote a letter using my new Ahab (unmodified nib) and J. Herbin's Lie de The. I left it out overnight, and the next morning some of the writing was still wet. However, since then I have written many letters using other pens and other inks, and the drying time has been normal, within a minute or two. What pen/ink combos were you using?

[frogbaby]

I just tried different colors of Watermans and Iroshizuku with pens from EF to M and got almost instant drying time.

 

It seems to me that if you put down a wet line and end up with "pools" in spots there simple is no place for this ink to go.

 

The paper underneath is fully saturated (this is a thin, dense paper, correct ?) and it doesn't feather so there is no way for the ink to easily dry, it can't be "sopped up". It makes sense that it would simply pool and remain wet.

 

Perhaps an old fashioned large blotter is the order of the day ?

[MKB]

 

Right after I got my TR I wrote a letter using my new Ahab (unmodified nib) and J. Herbin's Lie de The. I left it out overnight, and the next morning some of the writing was still wet. However, since then I have written many letters using other pens and other inks, and the drying time has been normal, within a minute or two. What pen/ink combos were you using?

Yeah, maybe it's just wet writers and ink. I used the following combinations, Ahab with Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher, Monteverde Prima 1.1 stub with Noodler's Navajo Turquoise, Lamy Al Star M with Noodler's Habanero, and Lamy Safari 1.1 stub with Noodler's Nightshade. They all tend to be wet in descending order as listed. I write and mail letters on lunch break, so I can't really leave pages to dry. However, if I can find a combination that takes advantage of the shading properties of this paper, but dries in two minutes, I could work with that. I am a complete fan of the shading of this paper, but if I have to sacrifice that aspect, then I would look to use something else.

 

Frogbaby - Thanks for the blotter suggestion, I hadn't thought of that.

Edited May 10, 2015 by MKB

[senzen]

I got to try it for the first time today. After I wrote a few lines, I could see the wet ink reflect light, and set the sheet aside. After watching a longish movie I happened upon the sheet, and to my amazement every dotted i and period still reflected light. To confirm, I wiped my finger across the page and sure enough they smeared. I did get wonderful shading and the writing experience is very smooth, but due to the drying issue, I don't imagine using it much.

 

Are others having the same issue? I used four different pens/inks to check out the shading in that initial writing sample, all with the same result. Maybe there's a dry ink that shades which I should try?

 

Folded one in two, wrote one side with all my inks... Sheaffer, Herbin, Iroshizuku, Stipula... All dried quickly, well more quickly than clairefontaine which of course isnt exactly fast... Passed a finger over it, none smeared...

Edited May 11, 2015 by pseudo88

[fountainpenlady]

Finally got my 500 sheet package of Tomoe River from Nanami paper: they delivered very quickly but I had to wait until someone could bring it from California to Mexico. It's a pleasure to write with this paper, even my Kaweco Sport writes more smoothly. Everything that has been said is true, it lives up to the hype: smooth, no feathering, thin, no bleed through.

 

The 500 sheet package weighs 2.4 kg (5.2. kg for the metrically challenged) which is quite heavy. The only downside is my friends are now sure I'm certifiable. If you're going to do something crazy like buying japanese paper in another country why not go all the way and go for the big package?

One of the ideas of being a member of the FPN, in my opinion is that nothing short of stepping, or purposely dropping a pen on its nib (18kt gold would be totally insane), or smearing a bottle of the most expensive bottled ink onto a white wall would be considered crazy to many of us. Once any of us sharing with strangers, acquaintances, friends, family members, who don't value this interest would find what we do crazy in our pursuits. As a point of idle conversation, sharing a thrill is fine; yet, thinking anyone who has little or no interest in any of it would remotely find what we do making any sense is actually crazier.

 

Enjoy your paper, I don't find it crazy at all. In fact, I find it appropriate to receive the tomoe river paper in such a large quantity, which will probably last you through writing for hopefully quite a while. Enjoy

[MKB]

 

Folded one in two, wrote one side with all my inks... Sheaffer, Herbin, Iroshizuku, Stipula... All dried quickly, well more quickly than clairefontaine which of course isnt exactly fast... Passed a finger over it, none smeared...

Update: I had much better luck with PR Chocolate!

[senzen]

Ok one did smear, I probably put an arm over it: Sheaffer blue, it might be the special circumstances of the pen it's coming from a Parker Sonnet with a crooked beat up nib, which has trouble starting up but eventually writes, and smoothly in spite of everything (I need to change this nib). On the same page are Ama Iro and Tsuyu Kusa from a Platinum "Balance/Cool" and a Lamy which didn't smear.

[cpmcnamara]

I like wet nibs on tr paper (and I'm left handed). Yes, it is slow drying, but the shading and smoothness makes every stroke seem worthwhile. Furthermore, I'm more concerned about feathering with wet nibs and tr paper has no feathering issues. and the friction is perfect - it's not like you're writing on vellum

Edited May 14, 2015 by cpmcnamara

[edebill]

Are others having the same issue? I used four different pens/inks to check out the shading in that initial writing sample, all with the same result. Maybe there's a dry ink that shades which I should try?

 

For me it's down to one individual ink having the problem. Big problem with Noodler's Nightshade. It can sit all night and still be wet.

 

 

 

Everything else I've tried has had no problem. I'll mark ones that I can confirm shaded with an asterisk:

 

Aurora: Black

de Atramentis: Deepwater Obsession*

Diamine: Red Dragon, Poppy Red, Amber

Iroshizuku: Yama-Budo, Chiku-Rin*

 

Lamy: Blue*

Noodler's X-Feather, Purple Martin*, Bad Blue Heron, Gruene Cactus*, Red-Black*, Polar Black

 

Private Reserve: American Blue (fast dry)*

 

Waterman: Tender Purple*, Harmonious Green*, Florida Blue*

 

 

I may have a bit of an ink habit. I'm generally writing with F or EF nibs, but I also print instead of writing cursive so there are lots of opportunities to leave a big ink deposit right before lifting the nib. I've noticed that even inks that shade nicely under those conditions may not shade at all when used with a super wet flex nib. The exception to that being the Lamy Blue, which shades beautifully all over but seems to be doing odd things over night in my Konrad/Zebra G frankenpen.

[GatzBcn]

You think that's crazy? I bought 4,000 sheets, shipped direct from Japan, and I live in the UK! I could hardly lift that box lol.

 

Mind you, even with the huge freight costs, it was still massively cheaper than buying from any seller anywhere else.

 

Oh, Tomoe River. I was going to buy 4000 sheets from Japan, but somewhere I read - or, best said, Google translator read for me - that the weight was about 44 kg, which is insane. I found online that something of 30 kg was already more than 300 euros of freight.... Crazy!!! Instead, I bought from Ebay. I think it is a great option if you don't want to buy that much (that seller sold packages of 1000 and 100 sheets) and specially if you live on US, so shipping is not that expensive and you don't have to pay customs.

After more researching, I realized that weight MUST have been wrong in the Japanese web. The 2000 sheets I bought from the US were less than 7 kg, so I calculated 14-15 kg top for 4000 sheets + box. I will probably give it a try next time I buy more sheets.

 

One question: were you asked about the eye of the sheet? What is this about? What did you choose? I had never heard about it, and I am not sure if it refers to the fibers of the paper.

[MKB]

As I mentioned before, my experience has been wet ink not drying, but I continue to use the paper and blot with a paper towel. However, today, I wrote a letter with De Atramentis Johann Sebastian Bach which at one point was getting pretty wet coming out of my pen. After I finished I went to blot, knowing that I would pick up all the dots at least and some ink from the gusher sentence, but the paper towel came up with nothing, not even something from my signature which I had just finished. I was astonished. I need to do more testing to find other inks that react like this one. So happy!

[penhand]

As I mentioned before, my experience has been wet ink not drying, but I continue to use the paper and blot with a paper towel. However, today, I wrote a letter with De Atramentis Johann Sebastian Bach which at one point was getting pretty wet coming out of my pen. After I finished I went to blot, knowing that I would pick up all the dots at least and some ink from the gusher sentence, but the paper towel came up with nothing, not even something from my signature which I had just finished. I was astonished. I need to do more testing to find other inks that react like this one. So happy!

So 2 years ago when I was bringing in cases of Tomoe River from Japan, I ran some tests. I was surprised by the results even with 2 inks that I thought would have behaved identically: Noodlers Heart of Darkness and Noodlers Bulletproof Black. The HOD would still smear after 1 week while the Black dried within a day. My theory is that the surface of the paper is so hard (I believe they do a special roll on it during processing) that the thing we like about it - wonderful shading - also causes long dry times for some inks that can't permeate this hard surface. Some of the Noodlers cellulose reactive inks (but not all) have "longer than normal" drying characteristics. Some of the "wetter" Noodlers inks seem to flow into the paper fairly quickly. I never figured out the real answer, and typically blot each sheet "just in case". I think I did some tests where I added a bit of water to inks with long drying times and they improved significantly ... but my memory could be faulty on this one.