Lightweight papers blind taste test: summary of results

[A Smug Dill]

 

Eight test packs, each containing one A6 sheet cut from each of: 

 

(from packs of loose, plain sheets)

• Original Tomoe River 52g/m² paper (OTRP) made by Tomoegawa [SakaeTP product code TMR-A4P-W]

• Tomoe River S 52g/m² paper (TRSP) made by Sanzen [SakaeTP product code SR-A4P-W]

• CRENA 春罗纸 Spring Satin paper 52g/m²

• CRENA 晴空紙 Clear Skies paper 52g/m²

• CRENA 雪砂纸 Snowfall Sands paper 52g/m²

• CRENA 星虹紙 Starbow (R1) paper 52g/m²

• CRENA 星虹紙R2 Starbow R2 paper 52g/m²

• CRENA 星火纸 Spark (R1) paper 50g/m²

• CRENA 星火纸R2 Spark R2 paper 50g/m²

• CRENA 星尘紙 Stardust paper 55g/m²

(and from notebook products with line grids printed on pages)

• Hobonichi Plain A5 Notebook – Yamazakura [2023 release]

• Hobonichi Plain A5 Notebook [2023 release]

were sent to eight different testers who purport to have never used OTRP previously, to test however they wish to assess the papers' performance and/or decide how much they liked the various papers.

 

The plain sheets were only identified by numeric codes, so that nobody could approach it as an exercise to specifically test, or benchmark against, OTRP; or, for that matter, TRSP, or CRENA Spark R1, etc. Only after feedback was received did I give the individual tester a list of which numeric code in their test pack corresponds to which product.

 

Whereas, consistently in all packs, Notebook A is the Hobonichi Plain A5 notebook with the Yamazakura covers, and Notebook B is the Hobonichi Plain A5 notebook with standard (orangey-yellow) covers.

 

Except for OTRP, all of the source retail products are available to be bought new today, as far as I'm aware.

 

RESULTS

I have received feedback from seven of the testers. Here's a summary of the results, in answer to specific questions I had in mind when designing the test format.

 

How good would someone find OTRP to be, if they have never used or tested it first-hand, and only know it by reputation?

Only 1 out of 7 testers had included OTRP in their Top Three preferred paper types.

• 1 out of 7 ranked OTRP 3rd

• 2 out of 7 ranked OTRP 4th

• 2 out of 7 ranked OTRP 6th

• 1 out of 7 ranked OTRP 7th

• 1 out of 7 did not rank all the papers, only their Top Three, and OTRP was not in their Top Three

 

Is there consensus that OTRP is superior to TRSP in performance or personal appeal, if one is insulated from the influence of the “hive mind”?

• 2 out of 7 ranked TRSP (in 4th place for both) more highly than OTRP

• 4 out of 7 ranked OTRP more highly than TRSP

• 1 out of 7 included neither OTRP nor TRSP in their Top Three

 

2023 was the release year (so production was likely to be in 2022) when Hobonichi used up the last of its stock of OTRP in its retail products. The company did not say which products or (if there is a switch-over when paper stock ran out) production batches contained OTRP; we only know for certain that the Techo 2023 planners did not contain OTRP. The Plain notebooks were the most likely to be the last Hobonichi products to contain OTRP, but there is no known or agreed litmus test for OTRP. There are two main Plain A5 notebook products for the 2023 release, one with the standard orangey-yellow covers, and one with the limited edition Yamazakura (botanical illustration) covers. Notwithstanding the official product names, the pages in both have square grids printed on them (in four different colours, each being for one quarter of each notebook). While the pages look identical in both products, they may or may not contain the same type of paper. Rumour is that the books with the standard covers contained OTRP (to the end of the production run), and someone (not me) claimed on Reddit that they've tested every unit of multiple units they bought, and are convinced by the results that the paper is OTRP because of how it renders the colours of particular inks, that appear differently on paper produced by Sanzen. However, nobody in the hobby/community can authoritatively identify the paper type(s) used in the Plain notebooks.

 

Would someone who doesn't know how to test specifically for OTRP conclude that either (or both) of the Plain notebook products as containing OTRP, from the appearance of tests applied uniformly to all the paper types in the blind taste test pack?

• 7 out of 7 reported that the two notebooks contained different paper from each other, and consistently that Notebook A is inferior to Notebook B

• 2 out of 7 identified the paper in Notebook B as being as the same as what turned out to be OTRP in their individual packs

• 5 out of 7 did not (from my reading of the feedback) make any identification

• 2 out of 7 gave the assessment of the paper in Notebook B as being poor (and Notebook A poorer)

 

So it appears none of the test participants will be leaping to snap up remaining stock of the Hobonichi Plain A5 notebooks with standard covers in the 2023 release, even if the product is likely to contain OTRP and can be bought new today.

 

Other results

• 5 out of 7 ranked CRENA Spring Satin paper last/worst, but 1 out of 7 ranked it 3rd, and 1 out of 7 didn't give it a ranking other than not ranking it last/worst (because some other paper type had that dishonour)

• 7 out of 7 had at least one variant of CRENA Starbow paper in their Top Three; some prefer Starbow R1, and others prefer Starbow R2

• CRENA Spark R1 paper did not fare as well: 3 out of 7 ranked it 8th, 1 out of 7 ranked it 9th, 1 out of 7 did not rank it (but just that it's not last/worst). Not that it is without fans, 1 out of 7 put it in their personal 1st place, and 1 out of 7 put it in 3rd place, and both of those testers ranked Spark R1 more highly than Spark R2

• 4 out of 7 ranked Spark R2 more highly than Spark R1; 1 out of 7 put it in 1st place, and 1 out of 7 put it in 3rd place, while the others who gave it a ranking put it in 5th or 6th place

 

Thank you for reading.

[JasonR]

And of course those papers don’t look to be available in the US at first search.  I really need another notebook like I need another hole in the head.  

[A Smug Dill]

9 hours ago, JasonR said:

And of course…

 

I'm based in neither the US or China, so I'm afraid it was not, and is not, anywhere near my primary or significant concern as a member of the global hobbyist community. But if I can order it remotely and have it delivered to me in Australia, and paper is not likely to be a prohibited import anywhere else, I'd expect anyone in the English-speaking areas of the world can order the CRENA papers if they're prepared to pay the price (item price is low, shipping and taxes may not be so) and deal with the risk and rigmarole.

For what it's worth, I've been alerted only recently to the fact that Soe & Soe, a retailer in Australia (and my home state of NSW), has started grey importing a narrow range of CRENA paper products to sell; and they'll ship to the US, UK, Germany, and almost anywhere else. I'm not part of their marketing push, and have no personal or business interest in promoting sales for them; but, just to be fair, they're an option for US-based hobbyists, if no retailer in continental US wants to step up to the mark at this stage.

[JasonR]

32 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I'm based in neither the US or China, so I'm afraid it was not, and is not, anywhere near my primary or significant concern as a member of the global hobbyist community. But if I can order it remotely and have it delivered to me in Australia, and paper is not likely to be a prohibited import anywhere else, I'd expect anyone in the English-speaking areas of the world can order the CRENA papers if they're prepared to pay the price (item price is low, shipping and taxes may not be so) and deal with the risk and rigmarole.

For what it's worth, I've been alerted only recently to the fact that Soe & Soe, a retailer in Australia (and my home state of NSW), has started grey importing a narrow range of CRENA paper products to sell; and they'll ship to the US, UK, Germany, and almost anywhere else. I'm not part of their marketing push, and have no personal or business interest in promoting sales for them; but, just to be fair, they're an option for US-based hobbyists, if no retailer in continental US wants to step up to the mark at this stage.

Yeah looks like I’m going to have to figure out how to order from TaoBao!   Thanks for the detailed readout - interesting results and solid methodology.    
 

[inkypete]

16 hours ago, JasonR said:

And of course those papers don’t look to be available in the US at first search.  I really need another notebook like I need another hole in the head.  

You already have a hole in your head?

[drakolord]

On 5/15/2026 at 1:24 AM, JasonR said:

Yeah looks like I’m going to have to figure out how to order from TaoBao!   Thanks for the detailed readout - interesting results and solid methodology.    
 

Try looking for third party shippers. But you will still have to pay fees for them handling storing and shipping.

[drakolord]

On 5/15/2026 at 12:50 AM, A Smug Dill said:

 

I'm based in neither the US or China, so I'm afraid it was not, and is not, anywhere near my primary or significant concern as a member of the global hobbyist community. But if I can order it remotely and have it delivered to me in Australia, and paper is not likely to be a prohibited import anywhere else, I'd expect anyone in the English-speaking areas of the world can order the CRENA papers if they're prepared to pay the price (item price is low, shipping and taxes may not be so) and deal with the risk and rigmarole.

For what it's worth, I've been alerted only recently to the fact that Soe & Soe, a retailer in Australia (and my home state of NSW), has started grey importing a narrow range of CRENA paper products to sell; and they'll ship to the US, UK, Germany, and almost anywhere else. I'm not part of their marketing push, and have no personal or business interest in promoting sales for them; but, just to be fair, they're an option for US-based hobbyists, if no retailer in continental US wants to step up to the mark at this stage.

Issue is taobao is kinda hard to do in USA unless you have passport. But good news is there are third-party shippers. Which might be a little cheaper for shipping, I do not know. 

[A Smug Dill]

10 hours ago, drakolord said:

Issue is taobao is kinda hard to do in USA unless you have passport.

 

I'm not sure if that's a new requirement I never encountered first-hand or heard reported, or just one that applies only to the US (and perhaps select other countries), but I'll take your word for it.

 

Previously, the stumbling blocks were:

• you need to provide a mobile number to sign up — Taobao handles overseas mobile numbers just fine these days
• you need to have a usable payment method — but Alipay now handles payment by foreign credit cards (and charges a fee for it) just fine, although dealing with refunds is still an issue
• you need to deal with shipping, but that it's so much easier (and cheaper, even if the charges are still non-trivial, compared to three years ago) and there isn't a problem with shipping either liquids (e.g. inks) or really dense material (e.g. paper, books) any more

[drakolord]

14 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I'm not sure if that's a new requirement I never encountered first-hand or heard reported, or just one that applies only to the US (and perhaps select other countries), but I'll take your word for it.

 

Previously, the stumbling blocks were:

• you need to provide a mobile number to sign up — Taobao handles overseas mobile numbers just fine these days
• you need to have a usable payment method — but Alipay now handles payment by foreign credit cards (and charges a fee for it) just fine, although dealing with refunds is still an issue
• you need to deal with shipping, but that it's so much easier (and cheaper, even if the charges are still non-trivial, compared to three years ago) and there isn't a problem with shipping either liquids (e.g. inks) or really dense material (e.g. paper, books) any more

Yeah contacted taobao support yesterday and told them about the situation. I was surprised I got someone who was actually fluent in English. The support person also stated that if I registered with Cainiao and then linked the taobao account with Cainiao with the same cell number that it would bypass the whole verification process.

 

They also told me that it would be a lot cheaper to ship to usa then using third party shippers. Yep broke reddit rule of saying I was from usa.

[inkstainedruth]

On 5/15/2026 at 7:34 AM, inkypete said:

You already have a hole in your head?

Everyone has several (nostrils and mouth).  Ears?  That's a little more complicated of course.... 

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[A Smug Dill]

ERRATUM: I was incorrect in stating that we know for certain that the Hobonichi Techo planners for 2023 did not contain OTRP. With sincere thanks to Eleanor Holmes, Hobonichi has stated authoritatively that “the paper previously used in the Hobonichi Techo (Tomoe River paper by Tomoegawa Paper) will change to Tomoe River S paper by Sanzen Paper Manufacturing starting with the 2024 edition” and, ”the January-start 2024 Hobonichi Techo Weeks will still feature the old style Tomoe River paper.” (Source: https://www.1101.com/store/techo/en/magazine/contents/feature_tomoerivers/ysmpngg2y.html) All the same, the Hobonichi Plain notebooks for the 2023 edition with different covers proved to contain different paper (performing noticeably differently with respect to fountain pen inks). In the absence of any authoritative statement or incontestable proof, you'd just have to test the individual/particular product and release for actual performance. I still believe that the Hobonichi Plain A5 notebooks (with the standard, plain orangey-yellow covers) in the 2023 release contained OTRP 52g/m², but there is no way for me to substantiate the claim without Hobonichi itself backing me up somehow.