Hobonichi is still using Tomoe River Paper, it's just that the brand was purchased by a new company, Sanzen, so it's no longer made by Tomoegawa. So this year all of the A5 and A6 Hobonichi books switched over to the Sanzen version of TRP, while the Weeks and I believe also the 5-year Techos still have Tomoegawa TRP. Basically, the books made with white (actually slightly off-white) paper have the new Sanzen TRP, while the books made with cream paper still have the old Tomoegawa TRP. Before Tomoegawa sold the brand to Sanzen, they made an intermediary version of TRP. They had to change machinery because the original machinery wore out, but unfortunately the newer machinery couldn't replicate the paper as it was from the original machinery, and it didn't perform nearly as well as the original TRP. This was especially disappointing for those of us who love using fountain pens. At that point, Tomoegawa decided to discontinue TRP altogether, but then Sanzen offered to purchase the brand, and that's where we are now. Sorry for the long explanation! It's a complicated story. :)
Oh wow thanks for the nice explanation and it's sad that the original paper was discontinued. I have started to dab into the world of fountain pens so even more sad! I hope they can somehow presever the older paper! I guess I better order the 5 year before they change that too! Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me!
Hobonichi is still using Tomoe River Paper, it's just that the brand was purchased by a new company, Sanzen, so it's no longer made by Tomoegawa. So this year all of the A5 and A6 Hobonichi books switched over to the Sanzen version of TRP, while the Weeks and I believe also the 5-year Techos still have Tomoegawa TRP. Basically, the books made with white (actually slightly off-white) paper have the new Sanzen TRP, while the books made with cream paper still have the old Tomoegawa TRP. Before Tomoegawa sold the brand to Sanzen, they made an intermediary version of TRP. They had to change machinery because the original machinery wore out, but unfortunately the newer machinery couldn't replicate the paper as it was from the original machinery, and it didn't perform nearly as well as the original TRP. This was especially disappointing for those of us who love using fountain pens. At that point, Tomoegawa decided to discontinue TRP altogether, but then Sanzen offered to purchase the brand, and that's where we are now. Sorry for the long explanation! It's a complicated story. :)
Oh wow thanks for the nice explanation and it's sad that the original paper was discontinued. I have started to dab into the world of fountain pens so even more sad! I hope they can somehow presever the older paper! I guess I better order the 5 year before they change that too! Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me!