Muji Notebooks / Cahiers

[Bigeddie]

Hi all,

 

I recently discovered the Muji shop in Birmingham (UK). They seem to stock everything from scented candles, to origami, to vacuum packed clothing. They also have a large line of stationary and Japanese paper products.

 

I should say from the outset that this review relates only to the charcoal lined notebook line, there is a similar book (buff colour cover) with noticeably 'whiter' paper which I have not yet tried. Some of the other products such as the 'passport notebook' are very FP unfriendly. There are some soft back higher capacity books which seem pretty good but with more show-through than these. (Reviews as I use them)

 

The Muji 'Charcoal Lined Notebook' is a cashier style and comes in various dimensions, all 30 sheet (60 page). The cover is a thick dark grey card and the stitching is taped. They feel nicely constructed and wear well (compared to the moleskine cashiers, where I find the un-taped sticking tends to start to fray).

 

The paper inside did not fill me with confidence when I bought one as a sample. Some of the papers they stock seem to be around 50% recycled, this line seems to make no claims about paper content. When I put a pen to it I was astounded by it's quality. Ink has very little show through, no bleed on any of the ink/pen combinations I have tried (even with wet writers), and feathering is at a minimum. Dry times are equivalent to Rhodia.

 

In colour it is a little less yellow than the moleskine, somewhere in between that and the Midori. edges are square cut. The label is stuck to the reverse of the book, leaving the front plain, for some reason this is the reverse (literally) of what I expect.

 

In terms of cost; these notebooks are extremely good value compared to equivalent products:

 

A4 - £1.75

B5 - £1.25

A5 - £0.95

A6 - £0.60

 

Availability:

The website's store locator shows stores in Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham and Guildford in the UK. There are stores in New York for our American friends, and some scattered through Europe.

 

Alternatively they are available on-line at: http://www.muji.eu/index.asp Shipping seems reasonable for the UK, there may be a .com or other regional site with different rates, but they seem high for US and EU.

 

Please note that the photos below are not colour corrected, but the show-through is fairly accurate, there are one or 2 more on the flickr stream. Rhodia with the same inks for comparison.

 

A normal everyday use - used on both sides with Diamine Umber - Pelikan M200 F: (Please don't mention the content of this photo to anyone until January!)

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6108/6372342573_808bc60f63.jpg

Muji Paper (used both sides) by Bigeddie100, on Flickr

 

Muji Paper Front (smudge was human error!):

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6226/6372354205_25c6b761eb.jpg

Muji Paper by Bigeddie100, on Flickr

 

Muji Paper Reverse:

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6094/6372357887_377d86d65f.jpg

Muji Paper (reverse) by Bigeddie100, on Flickr

 

Rhodia Bloc Paper Reverse (same inks for comparison):

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6229/6372369335_fb31e90a13.jpg

Rhodia Bloc (reverse) by Bigeddie100, on Flickr

 

Different sizes:

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6045/6372377863_5819465033.jpg

Muji Notebooks by Bigeddie100, on Flickr

http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6041/6372373597_2ef362aba3.jpg

Muji / Molskine by Bigeddie100, on Flickr

 

Conclusion:

I find these to be fantastic little notebooks and I now have quite a few. I'm not a Moleskine hater, and quite like the 'classic' hardback size and style with an IG ink for some of my notes; I have to say that these seem to be consistently better paper than the Moleskines. I have stocked up, I think these will be my mainstay for the future. :clap1:

Edited March 3, 2012 by HDoug

[Bigeddie]

Intended for reviews section. A bump over would be appreciated!

 

Also - No affiliation ect.

 

Thanks,

Ed

[ralfstc]

Great review! These are terrific notebooks. If only they were easier to get hold of-- the Glasgow Muji closed!

 

Thanks,

 

Ralf

[Beechwood]

Impressive review.

 

Muji used to sell a good all aluminium cartridge pen too, stylish, its only problem is that the clip used to break off.

[Bigeddie]

Muji apear to have sites for different countries, linked here. They dont all stock the notebook featured in this review. I'll try and pick up some of the other more avalible ones next time i'm near the store.

 

The US site seems to have much more reasonable US shipping rates! (5-6 dollars, rather than 22-23)).

[John the Monkey]

Impressive review.

 

Muji used to sell a good all aluminium cartridge pen too, stylish, its only problem is that the clip used to break off.

This one?

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/202460-muji-aluminum-round-fountain-pen-review/

 

Their UK branches never had it, when I looked, sadly.

 

Another option for this sort of book, if you don't have a Muji nearby is paperchase - I've been pleasantly surprised by their "Kraft" paper range lately, which come as cahiers and notebook style (190 pages) books.

[AlejoPlay]

I got these in the Kraft paper iteration. Not sure if they are the same, but I had varying success with the paper (even more so than with Moleskine Cahiers). My ruling is narrower than what you show, so maybe they are different papers?

 

That said, they were CHEAP and one notebook lasted me 3 weeks of daily journaling, so not a bad investment as long as I use drier/finer pens and inks.

[Bigeddie]

I haven't seen anything quite like these in a Kraft version. The Kraft's seem pretty good from the few that I've tried, I have a £3.00 one right now in A5 'Kraft Cream Exercise Book' from Paperchase.

 

I did buy a thicker Muji passport size book for a Christmas gift and it seems to be a similar paper to the passport notebooks I mention in the review. The paper doesn't take ink as well as the Kraft's I've tried (the recipient uses a Rotring 600 tri-pen, no bleed problems there!).

 

These Muji books all seem smaller capacity (30 leaf) and all say 'Made in Japan', whereas the Kraft says 'Made in China' which leads me to believe they are different papers. I've used each of the sizes in the sample, 2 of the largest size and they seem to be consistent so far.

[AlejoPlay]

I haven't seen anything quite like these in a Kraft version. The Kraft's seem pretty good from the few that I've tried, I have a £3.00 one right now in A5 'Kraft Cream Exercise Book' from Paperchase.

 

I did buy a thicker Muji passport size book for a Christmas gift and it seems to be a similar paper to the passport notebooks I mention in the review. The paper doesn't take ink as well as the Kraft's I've tried (the recipient uses a Rotring 600 tri-pen, no bleed problems there!).

 

These Muji books all seem smaller capacity (30 leaf) and all say 'Made in Japan', whereas the Kraft says 'Made in China' which leads me to believe they are different papers. I've used each of the sizes in the sample, 2 of the largest size and they seem to be consistent so far.

 

That's a good tip for me to check in the future. Will check the "Made in" labels!

[Beechwood]

Impressive review.

 

Muji used to sell a good all aluminium cartridge pen too, stylish, its only problem is that the clip used to break off.

This one?

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/202460-muji-aluminum-round-fountain-pen-review/

 

Their UK branches never had it, when I looked, sadly.

 

Another option for this sort of book, if you don't have a Muji nearby is paperchase - I've been pleasantly surprised by their "Kraft" paper range lately, which come as cahiers and notebook style (190 pages) books.

 

 

 

Yes JtM, just that one, you can have mine if its something that you particularly need

 

 

G

[John the Monkey]

Yes JtM, just that one, you can have mine if its something that you particularly need

That's a very kind offer, thank you, but I think I can only justify having one in the remote eventuality that I happen across one in the shops, given the large-ish number of reasonably priced international cartridge/converter pens in my collection!

[Bigeddie]

These are now on Muji's US site here. Edited January 18, 2012 by Bigeddie

[R_Dorothy Wayneright]

Nice! I gotta check these out.

[Bigeddie]

An update:

 

Today's trip to my nearest Muji yielded 10 A6 notebooks, and this...

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7184/6801513838_1afe42ba49_z.jpg

IMG_0855 by Bigeddie100, on Flickr

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7177/6801515586_78d4df5e4d_z.jpg

IMG_0853 by Bigeddie100, on Flickr

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7192/6801517228_58d8a1675c_z.jpg

IMG_0854 by Bigeddie100, on Flickr

Its a Denim case to hold 2 of the B5 size notebooks.

The cover of the book just slide into the two pockets, one either side.

 

The material feels like a very heavy cotton card, seems well stitched and fairly durable.

 

Cost was around £4 (without the notebooks).

[HDoug]

Thanks much for the pix and review! Just moved it to Reviews as requested and posting this to give it a well deserved bump,

 

Doug

[whitedot]

I have been a happy customer since primary school. I lived in Hong Kong, where the entire population is obsessed with Japanese stationery. Muji has massive branches in all the major shopping centres. The boyfriend even has a Muji credit card.

 

http://www.muji.com.hk/MUJICard/img/MUJICard_Header.png

 

I have sampled other mass-produced notebooks, and I have never found it necessary to replace Muji for everyday use. I would say the writing experience is one of gliding. The paper isn't absorbent, but the ink isn't wet. Just right.

 

Edit: I highly recommend their products in general, save the ones in leather. I'm particularly a fan of their filing accessories, very sturdy, and their slippers, very comfy.

Edited March 3, 2012 by whitedot

[pokermind]

...The boyfriend even has a Muji credit card.

yikes! You posted an image of your credit card . I know it's past the expiration date, but I recommend you take that image down or at least manipulate the image to obscure the account number.

 

By the way, love your avitar!

[Holypie]

...The boyfriend even has a Muji credit card.

yikes! You posted an image of your credit card . I know it's past the expiration date, but I recommend you take that image down or at least manipulate the image to obscure the account number.

 

By the way, love your avitar!

 

I'm fairly certain that's a stock image, considering the image is hosted at Muji's HK site.

[jimhughes]

Unfortunately the Muji USA Online store only carries the B5 Charcoal version cahier. I was looking for an A6 size.

I did break down and order some other A6 Muji products. Thanks for the review, Jim

[whitedot]

...The boyfriend even has a Muji credit card.

yikes! You posted an image of your credit card . I know it's past the expiration date, but I recommend you take that image down or at least manipulate the image to obscure the account number.

 

By the way, love your avitar!

 

I'm fairly certain that's a stock image, considering the image is hosted at Muji's HK site.

 

Right. I've done a lot of silly things, but I'm not that stupid.

 

The avatar is a photograph by Yau Leung, "Cheongsams" (1961). Here is a brief article in TIME about his significance and more examples of his incredible work.

Edited March 4, 2012 by whitedot