When you start using fountain pen, one thing that many people notice immediately is that many papers out there doesn’t help up very well. I may have taken a bit longer since my main paper (which was my university branded) did hold up well, but when I tried it on oh-so-famous Moleskine, I immediately noticed that something was wrong (note: feathering)
Another thing is that at that time I was using Lamy Safari EF with Lamy Black.
When I came to Japan, I only brought the pens with me, so I need to restart my collection. And that’s is what happening right now. However, this post will be only about notebooks.
This post will start with my personal favourite, then continue on other popular notebooks/paper.
Recommendation
1. MD Note
This is actually the first notebooks I bought, and I keep coming back to them. Apart from see-through problem, I think this paper is perfect.
According to the manufacturer Midori, the MD Paper used in this notebooks are designed specifically for fountain pen. It is very smooth but provide a distinctive feedback to make you feel in control. They have an entire page describing the paper: http://www.midori-japan.co.jp/md/en/mdpaper/
Regarding paper quality: Smooth, but with distinctive feedback. See-through might be a problem for some. Bleedthrough is non-existent unless you try very hard. I use this paper a lot, but found no feathering at all. Dry time is quick enough to be recommended for left-handers.
And another plus, their notebooks lay flat. It comes in black, 5mm grid, and 7mm rules. With A6 (文庫), B6 Slim (新書), A5, and A4 Variant (A4変形判). A4 Variant comes in blank only.
There are actually two kinds of MD Paper, the standard one and the cotton. The cotton is much nicer, but a little more expensive and only come in blank format. There are also loose leaf paper for sales, along with paper pads, etc., though it might be hard to find.
Even in Japan, this is a little bit pricey, but I would gladly pay.
2. Maruman Mnemosyne
If you need spiral-bound, this is among the best you could buy. Moreover, it is even perforated for nice tearing.
I currently have the A5 Gridded version as my desk note, and A4 ruled version for classwork.
The only problem with this paper is that I sometimes encounter slight feathering with wetter ink/nibs combination. But it is usually a non-issue.
3. Tomoe River
This paper is very, very good. With it being very thing, see-though is expected. Dry time is also pretty bad but otherwise perfect paper. I find it has worse bleed-through performance than the MD Paper, but you still have to try very hard.
The only thing is that I don’t know any notebook with Tomoe River that is available in Japan at all. But if you want loose leaf, you can get them on Amazon Japan easily.
Other notebooks
Those are also good notebook, but I have my own reason for not liking them.
Rhodia Dotpad, Rhodia Premium R
I don’t like Rhodia Dotpad. When I write on it, I feel there are are something preventing the Nibs from moving, which is unpleasant. But most seems to like it, so don’t take my word.
I actually like paper in Rhodia Preimum R Bloc pads, but I just don’t find the use for such format at all.
Regarding format available, I am pretty sure you can find them everywhere since it is very famous, much like how Lamy pens are very famous all over the world.
Apica C.D. Premium, Life Noble, Tsubame Fool
I have only tried those 3 at stores. Their paper is good, although Apica C.D. is too smooth for my liking. I really like Life Noble papers, but I didn’t buying one.
Why? Because they don’t lay flat. At all. I was actually looking specifically at A4 ruled and gridded version since MD Note doesn’t have this format. So I think I will pass, and just print some ruled/gridded paper to use with blank MD Note instead.
These three notebooks all available in at least A5, B5, and A4 with blank, grid, and rule formats.
Monokaki
This one deserved special place. It is quite expensive (A5 one sells for JPY1080), and also hard to find even in Japan. I read from a few website that their paper rivalled Tomoe River, and boy I was very disappointed. Well, generally, the paper is very good and light and fares well, but there are some spots on page that makes Iroshizuku ink feather like crazy. It’s only small part of page, but after trying a few page it looks like such spots exists on all pages. Oh well.
I think it is only available in A5 and B5, with blank and ruled format.
Ones that I have not tried
Rhodia Webnotebook, Clairefontaine, Quo Vadis ME, Leuchtturm1917, Traveller’s Notebook, anything from Kokuyo, and all non-Japanese brands I haven’t mentioned.
For Kokuyo, it just that I am still confused by their line up. Kokuyo seems to be standard student notebook brand here, and they have their product everywhere.
Traveller’s Notebook… Well, I do have their 005 Passport Lightweight refill, but I haven’t used it much. And it is rumoured that it is actually Tomoe River paper anyway. I plan to buy the system soon, though.
For other western brand, usually the cost is kinda prohibitive. Why do I want to buy a JPY3000++ notebooks where the one that sells for JPY600 is good enough?
Conclusion
Tomoe River if you could, MD Note otherwise or if you are left handed. If you need Spiral bound, it’s Mnemosyne. Life Noble if you want a normal notebooks and is fine if it does not lay flat. Rhodia Preimum R for paper pad.