Excellent info, thanks! I’m getting into bookbinding and make my own writing journals. So, I seek out A4 paper, fold in half and use pamphlet stitch binding. The result is an A5 size journal. Your bound personal journals are impressive! But, I use every excuse possible to write with a fountain pen, so I prefer the act of writing in a hardcopy journal. Thanks again! Enjoy your journey. 🖋🙋♀️❤️
Excellent overview. I just came back from Japan and a lot of my free time was in office supply stores looking at FP inks and different notebooks. I also got some notebook paper and binders this time for the same reasons as you. Cheers.
That's so funny, I use exactly the same things, down to every last detail including the large and small binders and the hole punch. In my opinion, the Sarasara loose leaf from Kokuyo is just a better version of a standard recommendation fountain pen paper like Rhodia, and it comes in a dizzying amount of rulings & sizes and there is even a thicker, textured version of it called Shikkari(the packaging looks almost identical to Sarasara, except the colours are darker). It's even cheaper than the papers you often hear being recommended, especially if you buy the 150 sheet reams. Another thing to add to the phenomenon of the whiteness of paper changing the colour of the ink is that the absorption is actually a major factor too. When the ink is absorbed into the paper, it sits between the fibres of the paper, and they are never perfectly white, even when heavily bleached. So if you get two otherwise identically coloured papers, but one is more absorbent than the other, the more absorbent paper will pull whatever ink you put on it more in the spectral direction of the yellow fibres, whereas the ink resistant paper will show the true colour of the dye more closely. This is especially apparent in the azure/cyan(teal)/mint area of the spectrum. If you put something like Pilot Iroshizuku Syo-ro on Tomoe River, it will look teal. If you put it on Sarasara, it will be solidly mint(half-way towards green).
Wonderful comment. Another way to tell the two apart besides the color - assuming that like me you can’t read Japanese - is that one type has an oval in the bottom left, the other a square. I prefer the oval: sarasara
@@pensinfocus I hadn't even noticed that before. That's actually a nice touch, because the smooth oval and pointy square in turn also refer to the properties of the paper: the word "sarasara" in Japanese means smooth or slick and the word "shikkari" means firm or steady. I also prefer the sarasara, both for the shorter drying times and the writing feeling. I also find the sizing around the edges of pretty much all Japanese paper much more consistent. Clairefontaine and Rhodia seem to use a type of sizing that degrades as the paper ages, and then you get bleeding and feathering if you write all the way to the edge of the paper.
no! just when i thought i settled on walking to my neighborhood printers to print directly from my thifted digicam to paste onto my journal entries… then u share a digital version! i think thats neat, id def do that when im traveling. But ill stay more analogue for now so i can utilize my fountain pens that way. Ive also settled on loose leaf for some journals, like my bujo. how does the tomoe river hold up jn the binder notebooks? i wouldn’t have faith in 6 ring binders but the 20+ ring format is sturdier. Midori md sells looseleaf & iroful is available on amazon & theyre heavier than tomoe but i havent pulled the trigger in case theres more fountain pen friendly options. Do you have any suggestions?
TR holds up pretty well in the 20 ring binders. With 20 rings, any force is spread out across so many rings you don't get tears without some pretty serious effort. I've used the A5 Kokuyo Campus notebook w/ TR paper for a bujo for several months and didn't have any issues. I've not tried Midori looseleaf, but I have a Midori journal. It's fine, but it doesn't stand out to me in any way - that's not to say it's bad, it's just fine. The Kokuyo Campus just hits the sweet spot for me in terms of whiteness, durability and it has plenty of options in terms of ruling (lined, graph, blank, etc) and most ink behaves well on it. You don't get the massive sheen like you do on TR, but you get faster dry times. I normally get the Campus from JetPens, but I've also purchased it from Amazon when JetPens was out of stock.
Sorry about that! I stopped getting emails on new comments, so I thought people just weren't watching! Just found all these unanswered comments this evening.
Excellent info, thanks! I’m getting into bookbinding and make my own writing journals. So, I seek out A4 paper, fold in half and use pamphlet stitch binding. The result is an A5 size journal. Your bound personal journals are impressive! But, I use every excuse possible to write with a fountain pen, so I prefer the act of writing in a hardcopy journal. Thanks again! Enjoy your journey. 🖋🙋♀️❤️
Bookbinding seems like it would be a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. If only I had infinite time!
@@pensinfocus , yea, I’ve got more time now that I’m a retired old lady!! 🙋♀️🤣
Very interesting review. I have for years used Southworth 100% cotton paper for correspondence. I like the feel. I cut it in half for letter writing!
I love your videos -- they're informative, hilarious and with excellent B roll. Good job!
Excellent overview. I just came back from Japan and a lot of my free time was in office supply stores looking at FP inks and different notebooks. I also got some notebook paper and binders this time for the same reasons as you. Cheers.
New subscriber... Love the printed digital journal. Enjoying your style of video very much 🐾🐾
Thank you :)
Oh, I've been waiting to find a video like this. Good content!
Thank you for explaining the paper sizes outside of the states.
That's so funny, I use exactly the same things, down to every last detail including the large and small binders and the hole punch. In my opinion, the Sarasara loose leaf from Kokuyo is just a better version of a standard recommendation fountain pen paper like Rhodia, and it comes in a dizzying amount of rulings & sizes and there is even a thicker, textured version of it called Shikkari(the packaging looks almost identical to Sarasara, except the colours are darker). It's even cheaper than the papers you often hear being recommended, especially if you buy the 150 sheet reams.
Another thing to add to the phenomenon of the whiteness of paper changing the colour of the ink is that the absorption is actually a major factor too. When the ink is absorbed into the paper, it sits between the fibres of the paper, and they are never perfectly white, even when heavily bleached. So if you get two otherwise identically coloured papers, but one is more absorbent than the other, the more absorbent paper will pull whatever ink you put on it more in the spectral direction of the yellow fibres, whereas the ink resistant paper will show the true colour of the dye more closely. This is especially apparent in the azure/cyan(teal)/mint area of the spectrum. If you put something like Pilot Iroshizuku Syo-ro on Tomoe River, it will look teal. If you put it on Sarasara, it will be solidly mint(half-way towards green).
Wonderful comment. Another way to tell the two apart besides the color - assuming that like me you can’t read Japanese - is that one type has an oval in the bottom left, the other a square. I prefer the oval: sarasara
@@pensinfocus I hadn't even noticed that before. That's actually a nice touch, because the smooth oval and pointy square in turn also refer to the properties of the paper: the word "sarasara" in Japanese means smooth or slick and the word "shikkari" means firm or steady. I also prefer the sarasara, both for the shorter drying times and the writing feeling. I also find the sizing around the edges of pretty much all Japanese paper much more consistent. Clairefontaine and Rhodia seem to use a type of sizing that degrades as the paper ages, and then you get bleeding and feathering if you write all the way to the edge of the paper.
no! just when i thought i settled on walking to my neighborhood printers to print directly from my thifted digicam to paste onto my journal entries… then u share a digital version! i think thats neat, id def do that when im traveling. But ill stay more analogue for now so i can utilize my fountain pens that way.
Ive also settled on loose leaf for some journals, like my bujo. how does the tomoe river hold up jn the binder notebooks? i wouldn’t have faith in 6 ring binders but the 20+ ring format is sturdier. Midori md sells looseleaf & iroful is available on amazon & theyre heavier than tomoe but i havent pulled the trigger in case theres more fountain pen friendly options. Do you have any suggestions?
TR holds up pretty well in the 20 ring binders. With 20 rings, any force is spread out across so many rings you don't get tears without some pretty serious effort. I've used the A5 Kokuyo Campus notebook w/ TR paper for a bujo for several months and didn't have any issues.
I've not tried Midori looseleaf, but I have a Midori journal. It's fine, but it doesn't stand out to me in any way - that's not to say it's bad, it's just fine. The Kokuyo Campus just hits the sweet spot for me in terms of whiteness, durability and it has plenty of options in terms of ruling (lined, graph, blank, etc) and most ink behaves well on it. You don't get the massive sheen like you do on TR, but you get faster dry times. I normally get the Campus from JetPens, but I've also purchased it from Amazon when JetPens was out of stock.
This youtube guy never, ever, responds to the poor folks who try and ask him a question.
Sorry about that! I stopped getting emails on new comments, so I thought people just weren't watching! Just found all these unanswered comments this evening.