Posts filed under Notebook Reviews

Kunisawa A5 Find Notebook: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Earlier this week, Jeff did a review of the Kunisawa Pocket Find Notebook. Today, I’m reviewing its larger cousin: the Kunisawa Find Notebook.

The Kunisawa Find Notebook is an A5-sized, cardboard bound notebook with 192 pages. The outside edges of the pages are gilded, making the notebook look especially sophisticated.

The first page of the notebook says, “i do not seek, i find.” Thus the name: Find Notebook.

The exterior of the notebook is dark gray with a metallic sheen. The Kunisawa logo and name adorn the book in copper (which matches the gilded edges). This is definitely a great-looking notebook.

The notebook is nicely bound so that the book lies flat when open. The pages aren’t perforated, so you cannot easily remove them. A ribbon bookmark is included.

The paper is called “Foolscap,” but I could not find the weight on the website. It is a cream color with 5mm gridlines. I tested the paper with various fountain pens and inks. All of the pens and inks seemed to work well in this initial test. I didn’t notice any bleeding and the paper was very smooth.

However, there’s quite a bit of show through on the reverse side.

I also tested the notebook with other kinds of pens, a highlighter, and a pencil. It handled all of these quite nicely. However, the Sharpie (unsurprisingly) bled completely through the paper, and there was a bit of show through with the other pens.

Next, I tested the paper with my my Aurora 88 stub inked with Iroshizuku Ama-Iro. In this test, I discovered that the ink feathered and bled through pretty obviously.

Although I love the look of the Kunisawa notebook, I am not impressed with the paper. It works well with fine-point fountain pens, rollerballs, and pencils. But even some of those exhibited show through. With the Aurora 88 stub, there was feathering, show through, and bleeding. For a notebook “specifically designed for fountain pens” (according to the website), the amount of bleeding and show through was disappointing.

You can purchase the Kunisawa A5 Find Notebook directly from the Kunisawa Stationery Store for 3,000 yen (= $27.13).

(Kunisawa provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on September 7, 2018 by Susan Pigott and filed under Kunisawa, Notebook Reviews.

Kunisawa Find Pocket Notebook Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

The market for good pocket notebooks is one that continually grows and allows new players to offer their unique take on what makes a pocket notebook great. The latest notebook I've had the pleasure of using is from a company called Kunisawa. The Find Pocket Notebook is a plain book with good paper, strong and attractive binding, and a great price.

Like any true pocket notebook, the Find Pocket comes in at 145x90mm (or 5.7x3.5"), which is a great size for stuffing in pockets, bags, and other small spaces. It's just a little taller than a standard Field Notes book, so you already know the form factor. With 50 sheets, you also get a bit more use out of it through its life.

The cover is a thick and durable chipboard. I love the texture and colors of these books. I have three versions, which come in a light gray-blue, a tan khaki color, and a medium gray. The bottom corners are rounded, which make it easier to slip into pockets without getting snagged. This isn't the thickest chipboard I've seen on notebooks, but it's certainly a durable variant. I've had no concerns that the cover will ever tear, break, or come undone from the binding.

Unlike a lot of pocket notebooks these days, the Find Pocket notebook contains minimal branding. On the front cover, there's a small gold-embossed logo that includes the company name along with a small bird. On the inside of the front cover, there's a small embossed logo as well. The only other branding present on this book is in the inside of the back cover, which contains the company logo, name, and some information on where it was made.

The binding is an attractive double spiral made from (what looks like) brass. It's fairly strong and resilient, but it can be bent and misshapen if enough pressure is applied. The binding is smooth, looks great, and does a great job of keeping the pages connected. The color an absolutely perfect compliment to the cover colors.

Now to the paper! The paper in this notebook is lightweight, but still very capable. The exact weight isn't listed on the website, but I'd guess it's somewhere around the 80 or 90 gsm. The pages are not perforated, so keep that in mind if you tend to remove pages from spiral notebooks. It's possible with this notebook, but you have to tear from the binding and deal with the paper teeth that are left behind.

The paper is covered in a light gray graph pattern. The graph is spaced at 5mm, which is a comfortable distance. The paper is also a light cream color, which also looks great against the binding color.

The paper looks and feels nice, but it's also a great paper to write on! I tried many pens with this paper, and it performed incredibly well. No issues with bleeding or feathering, and acceptable amounts of show-through on the back of the page. Depending on the pen and ink you're using, you can probably write on both sides of the page. The paper has a smooth coating on top of it that makes writing an enjoyable experience. This coating does mean that dry times are close to 15 or 20 seconds in most cases. Despite that, this paper is fantastic.

The retail price of the Kunisawa Find Pocket notebooks are somewhere between six and seven US Dollars (750 yen), which is a great deal. The paper is premium, the aesthetic has a great vibe, and it fits in small spaces.

There are many shops that carry the Kunisawa brand, and if you happen upon these notebooks, I encourage you to give them a try. You really can't go wrong.

(Kunisawa provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Posted on September 5, 2018 by Jeff Abbott and filed under Kunisawa, Notebook Reviews.

Kyokuto F.O.B. COOP To Do List Sticky Notes Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

If there's one thing I always wish there were more of, it's high-quality sticky notes. The brand that made sticky notes famous doesn't use the highest quality paper, which is a bummer. There are a few other companies that strive to make sticky notes that work with more than just standard ballpoints and gel pens, but they are few and far between.

I recently discovered the Kyokuto F.O.B. COOP To Do List Sticky Notes (what a name, right? I'll refer to them as Kyokuto sticky notes from now on.), which has renewed my interest in this category. The Kyokuto sticky notes come in three variations: To Do List, Daily, and Weekly. Each sticky pad has 30 one-sided sheets and measures in at 2 x 5.5 inches. This is a perfect size for attaching these small notes to the margin of another notebook, planner, or calendar.

The to do list variant has 15 lines with check boxes included. The Daily version has hourly markers starting at 9 and ending at 22. Finally, the weekly version includes all seven days of the week along with three small check boxes for each day next to the date section.

Each sticky note pad has a translucent protective cover that looks really cool. Yeah, it has some branding and example scribbles on the cover, but I like the frosty translucent look.

In use, I've found it easier to remove a sticky note and apply it to another surface before I start jotting down notes, but it works fine while still in the pad. Your mileage may vary.

On the surface, these sticky pads seem to do a great job of filling their utilitarian purpose. In practice, I think it will come down to personal preference and how small you can write. In every variation, I don't have a comfortable amount of room to write out my tasks, agenda, or events. I don't enjoy writing small, but I also don't think I write that large in the first place. 2x5.5" is a convenient size, but I'd love to see a 2.5x7" or something similar so I have a little extra room to breathe.

The quality of these little pads is top notch. The printing is sharp, the shading on different rows in the daily planner is great, and the idea is fantastic. The paper quality is great, but not resilient against certain fountain pen/ink combinations. In my practice, fine nibs with inks that have anti-bleed tendencies are best with these sticky pads. That said, these pads are only meant to be written on the top side, which makes bleed-through irrelevant as long as the bleed doesn't soak into the next page. I haven't had that happen, but I'm sure some inks are up to the challenge.

Gel pens, rollerballs, and ballpoints work great with this paper. It's a smooth, glossy texture that's pleasant to use. The top inch of the paper has an adhesive backing, so sticking these notes onto other surfaces is easy and secure. I haven't had any issues with corners pulling up or notes falling out of notebooks, so that's a good sign that Kyokuto have used a good adhesive in these pads. That said, the notes are still easy to remove or move around without any degraded adhesive performance.

I think my favorite of the three is the generic to do list variant. It's the most versatile of the bunch, but I like all three. They're a perfect companion to your favorite notebook, planner, or paper calendar.

The Kyokuto F.O.B COOP to do list sticky notes are $5.50 a piece, which means you'll spent over $15 for all three. At 30 sheets, this seems like a premium price, but they are well made. If these were closer to the three-dollar mark, it would be an easier sell, but the price still feels fair if you plan on using these every now and then instead of one or two per day.

You'll probably know from looking at the pictures here or on JetPens whether or not these will be something that you splurge on. If you pick some up, you certainly won't be disappointed by the quality! These cute planner assistants are a lot of fun and do the job well.

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