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Nanami Seven Seas Standard A5 Notebook Review


Mongoosey

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Your review inspired me to buy a couple of seven seas. I had heard of the brand before, but the shipping to Europe is just too expensive. After reading this post, I ordered a microdot and a writer. $45 each with shipping. Worth it!!

 

I am happier with the writer than the microdot. The dots are fun, but they are misaligned on some pages. I didnt get the standard because I can find Tomoe River notebooks in Europe with blank pages for much cheaper price.

 

 

That is steep. That's a tough first purchase because you don't know if you like it or not.

 

I'm glad you at least picked up the Writer cuz I feel that's a very agreeable notebook.

 

My favorite is the Writer, beating out the Standard by smidge. I haven't tried the Crossfield yet and I don't use Grid.

 

I was going to do a review on the Writer, but I only have 3 older versions: One completed, One I'm in the middle of, and One back up.

 

I was going to pick up 3 new Writers for that review, but I was interested in waiting for a version without the W on the front, since I love the blank cover so much, so I purchased 3 Standards instead and did this review.

 

I find I've quickly developed a habit of stockpiling several new A5 Nanami Notebooks at least once a year despite the fact that I may only complete one a year, and even if Nanami doesn't revert back to the Writer with the Blank Cover, which I hope they do, I may still purchase more Writers anyways.

 

I just love these Notebooks. Finding Nanami Notebooks was like finding my Grail Pen or my Desert Island ink.

 

I use my Writer every day and it never loses that feel of quality nor that ability to acknowledge the importance of pen to paper. It's hard to describe.

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Agreed! It is the feeling of quality thats making me so happy with seven seas.

 

The cheaper Tomoe River notebooks in Europe are really not that much cheaper, if I count the per page cost, and the lesser quality. For some reason, those manufacturers make smaller-than-A5 notebooks while marketing them as A5.

 

I like the W marking on the writer notebook very much. It is easy to tell the front side and lining of the book, when I have multiple books in use.

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I find I've quickly developed a habit of stockpiling several new A5 Nanami Notebooks at least once a year despite the fact that I may only complete one a year, and even if Nanami doesn't revert back to the Writer with the Blank Cover, which I hope they do, I may still purchase more Writers anyways.

 

I just love these Notebooks. Finding Nanami Notebooks was like finding my Grail Pen or my Desert Island ink.

 

 

Agreed on stockpiling. I highly, highly recommend it to everyone who reads this thread. I just got burned AGAIN this morning when I found that my favorite Nanami A5 notebook, the Studio Note, is now out of stock! And it was in stock yesterday! And I already knew I should have stockpiled more, and this morning I was going to place an order for at least a couple more since I had that haunting feeling I better act soon. I'm actually very bummed, since the Studio Note was basically THE perfect Tomoe River 3.7mm grid Hobonichi A5 replacement. Did I say perfect? Now it's history.

 

Who knows if we'll see that same set of specifications again? For all I know, Dave will add polka dots on the next version, if there IS a next version, and who knows WHEN that might come out? I mean, the Nanami Crossfield is on hiatus for who knows how long, "tweaked" many times over the years (sometimes not for the better) and then currently replaced with the well-meaning but far less exciting MicroDot, so it's a mystery how the mind of Dave works on things like this. And now the mighty Studio Note is gone.

 

I told myself I wouldn't miss out on a favorite Nanami notebook again, but here I am this morning scratching my head, staring at, "Sorry but this item is currently unavailable."

 

So a lesson to the wise: If you love a certain Nanami notebook, stock up.

 

And since I already knew this bit of wisdom, and STILL missed it, my modified lesson to the wise: If you love a certain Nanami notebook, stock up *early* with as many as you'll need for at LEAST a few years.

 

Fortunately, Nanami released two wonderful grid notebooks I love (the Cafe Note B6 v2 and the Cafe Note Pocket Edition) and I've already bought several of each. Better order some more though.

 

So disappointed about the Studio Note, though! Missed it by ONE day.

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Thank you jamwrite for letting us know about the Studio I was just about to order one or two. I guess I need to check out and see what he does have. Perhaps I will email Dave and find out what is "in the works".

"Today will be gone in less than 24 hours. When it is gone, it is gone. Be wise, but enjoy! - anonymous today

 

 

 

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Agreed on stockpiling. I highly, highly recommend it to everyone who reads this thread. I just got burned AGAIN this morning when I found that my favorite Nanami A5 notebook, the Studio Note, is now out of stock! And it was in stock yesterday! And I already knew I should have stockpiled more, and this morning I was going to place an order for at least a couple more since I had that haunting feeling I better act soon. I'm actually very bummed, since the Studio Note was basically THE perfect Tomoe River 3.7mm grid Hobonichi A5 replacement. Did I say perfect? Now it's history.

 

Who knows if we'll see that same set of specifications again? For all I know, Dave will add polka dots on the next version, if there IS a next version, and who knows WHEN that might come out? I mean, the Nanami Crossfield is on hiatus for who knows how long, "tweaked" many times over the years (sometimes not for the better) and then currently replaced with the well-meaning but far less exciting MicroDot, so it's a mystery how the mind of Dave works on things like this. And now the mighty Studio Note is gone.

 

I told myself I wouldn't miss out on a favorite Nanami notebook again, but here I am this morning scratching my head, staring at, "Sorry but this item is currently unavailable."

 

So a lesson to the wise: If you love a certain Nanami notebook, stock up.

 

And since I already knew this bit of wisdom, and STILL missed it, my modified lesson to the wise: If you love a certain Nanami notebook, stock up *early* with as many as you'll need for at LEAST a few years.

 

Fortunately, Nanami released two wonderful grid notebooks I love (the Cafe Note B6 v2 and the Cafe Note Pocket Edition) and I've already bought several of each. Better order some more though.

 

So disappointed about the Studio Note, though! Missed it by ONE day.

 

That's how I learned my lesson and with feedback in reviews from others who talked about stockpiling it seemed like there was no other choice. Alternatives are either lesser quality, over priced, or paper I'd be settling for with the feeling not of content or joy like I have with my Nanami's, but of not being able to find a better paper : (

 

I was extremely happy with my first set of Writers a year or so ago. They were the Blank Cover-Whitish Paper versions. Then they changed them to Blank Cover-Cream Paper versions, which is no big deal, but I prefer the whitish paper. But that made me hesitate to stockpile. And that hesitation I deeply regret...

 

...because within a month of that hesitation the Blank Cover-Cream Paper Writer's sold out only to be replaced many months later with Writer's with the W on the Cover, which has a functionality, but substantially detracts from the Personal feel of the Blank Slate of a Blank Cover, especially with its awkward Blocky-ness with no character obtrusively stamped front and center like a rigid impersonal and cold interjection to the elegance that was once there.

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Email to Dave sent. Hopefully, he has something really great coming up. Stay tuned . . .

"Today will be gone in less than 24 hours. When it is gone, it is gone. Be wise, but enjoy! - anonymous today

 

 

 

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Email to Dave sent. Hopefully, he has something really great coming up. Stay tuned . . .

 

Thanks, DrPenfection. I had also emailed Dave -- his percentage chance of getting back to me has been about 50% in the past (maybe less!). This time he did fortunately get back to me and said that he DOES plan on reordering another batch of Studio Note A5 notebooks! However, he has no estimated date. I then asked him if he plans on making changes to the design (I hope he doesn't!), and he did not get back to me, lol. So we'll see what happens... my guess would be that it will be several months at best. But hopefully they will show up by this fall. It didn't sound like he had already ordered them, and I know from prior exchanges that it takes at least a few months from when he places an order with his partner in Japan.

 

In any case, would love to hear what he says to you. Hopefully you have a better chance of getting more info. I can understand that he must be very busy, but at least I'm relieved some form of the Studio Note A5 will return. Just hope he doesn't decide to change it!

Edited by jamwrite
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And now the mighty Studio Note is gone.

 

 

I'll take "currently unavailable" to mean just that.

Add lightness and simplicate.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Just ordered my A5 writer today. This thread just got me even more excited for it!

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  • 1 month later...

Love Tomoe River in my Nanami Seven Seas notebook.

People new to Tomoe River be advised that I only write on one side because the paper is so thin, writing shows through.

Thoreau "for every thousand hacking at the branches of evil, there is one chopping at the root"

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Love Tomoe River in my Nanami Seven Seas notebook.

People new to Tomoe River be advised that I only write on one side because the paper is so thin, writing shows through.

 

I just cover it up with more writing :D

Add lightness and simplicate.

 

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Let us know how you like it.

 

I was introduced to by the PenHabit video here,

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaWodTWDtfo

 

then did some research and found Nanami.

 

It's the only journal I'll ever use. The paper is excellent, the binding is solid and opens flat, and considering the amount of pages, it's a monster of a bargain. Has some show-through, but it's not enough to prevent both sides of each page from being usable!

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Love Tomoe River in my Nanami Seven Seas notebook.

People new to Tomoe River be advised that I only write on one side because the paper is so thin, writing shows through.

 

 

I just cover it up with more writing :D

 

I write on both sides gratuitously, without reservation, with all kinds of pens, day and night, with lots of ink, with all kinds of emotions, in anger and in joy, in contemplative script and distracted doodles, until my pens are beaten into submission and the mighty Tomoe River itself feels the ripple of the pages in my notebooks. ;)

 

Okay, so that's a little bit of exaggeration. Sometimes I just write on one side of the page too. :D

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I just cover it up with more writing :D

 

LOL! I feel the same way.

 

I don't have a problem with the ghosting even with my darkest inks (HOD, Kiwa-Guro, Platinum Carbon Black). I always write on both sides.

 

The only time I've been distracted with the ghosting was when I used the Scmhidt Easyflow9000 Hybrid Ballpoint Refill. For some reason that ink has properties that cause it to show through heavily and even bleed through in spots,

 

which is a shame because that refill writes as effortlessly as a fountain pen on the 52 gsm TRP.

 

However, I've found the Uni SXR-600-07 Hybrid Ballpoint Refill fixes that problem, adds a nice little bit of positive feedback, and still writes effortlessly under the weight of the pen (used with Parker Jotter and rOtring Tikky).

 

I know it's fountain pen sacrilege, but I've been using my rOtring Tikky-Uni SXR-600-07 pen with my Nanami Notebooks for a while now to accommodate my large amount of intermittent writing, jotting, and the need for a quickdraw EDC pen, and I've fallen in love with that pen-ink-paper combo for the writing I've had to do lately.

Edited by Mongoosey
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  • 1 month later...

Very interesting and thus, well done review! For now I only have the Taroko design A5 and have been wondering how they compare, both being Tomoe River paper, although the Taroko is 68gsm..

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Very interesting and thus, well done review! For now I only have the Taroko design A5 and have been wondering how they compare, both being Tomoe River paper, although the Taroko is 68gsm..

 

There are several threads out there that discuss the difference between the 68 gsm and the 52 gsm. I have tried both and both are exceptional. I have been using the Nanami 52 gsm journal for over a year and now the Bond 68 gsm journal for the last couple of months, and my preference is for the Nanami 52 gsm. I prefer the way the ink looks on the 52 gsm, and I prefer the larger number of pages in the Nanami. Also I prefer the soft cover on the Nanami journal over the hard cover of the Bond, which surprised me. I do, however, really like the Bond journal cover that came with the journal (or the other way around).

"Today will be gone in less than 24 hours. When it is gone, it is gone. Be wise, but enjoy! - anonymous today

 

 

 

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There are several threads out there that discuss the difference between the 68 gsm and the 52 gsm. I have tried both and both are exceptional. I have been using the Nanami 52 gsm journal for over a year and now the Bond 68 gsm journal for the last couple of months, and my preference is for the Nanami 52 gsm. I prefer the way the ink looks on the 52 gsm, and I prefer the larger number of pages in the Nanami. Also I prefer the soft cover on the Nanami journal over the hard cover of the Bond, which surprised me. I do, however, really like the Bond journal cover that came with the journal (or the other way around).

 

I agree,

 

I get more out of the 52 gsm,

 

but 68 gsm is still up there with the best of the papers.

 

It's worth checking out the 52 gsm vs 68 gsm threads.

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Oh, if only it came in A4! I write in a large hand and the smaller pages just don't fo it for me.

 

Why not turn it side-ways? The pages will be A4 size although you will only have half as many!

 

i have done that with several journals over the years and it works well for me.

“Don't put off till tomorrow what you can do today, because if you do it today and like it, you can do again tomorrow!”

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I agree,

 

I get more out of the 52 gsm,

 

but 68 gsm is still up there with the best of the papers.

 

It's worth checking out the 52 gsm vs 68 gsm threads.

 

Also agree -- I've tested 68gsm TR notebooks against 52gsm recently, and I find I prefer the 52gsm... nothing against the 68gsm, which is still great. But there's something magical about 52gsm for some reason... it's like an unexpected kick of satisfaction each time I come back to it. And honestly, I EXPECT 68gsm to be great... it should be, and it is. But 52gsm makes me want to write a little more. Also, for 68gsm, I find there are similar competitors that are very good, like the Stalogy notebooks which feel close to 68gsm TR, and give me a similar experience. So the 52gsm TR just feels more unique on the market by comparison, stands out like a unicorn of the paper world IMO. Anyway, it's a personal preference of course, and it's always great to see other makers of any TR products -- or any high-quality paper products in general. It's worth the cost, especially if the paper/experience invites you to write more.

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