Posts filed under Kokuyo

KOKUYO Good Tools Soft Ring Notebook Review

Kokuyo got me before with the Perpanep range, and once again, they have landed right in my wheelhouse with their Good Tools lineup, specifically the Soft Ring A5 Notebook.

As best as I can tell, the Good Tools collection is Kokuyo’s way of offering a curated group of desk accessories. Everything seems to be accounted for - from pens and paper, to scissors and staplers. A basic white aesthetic runs through all of the products (did they get ahead of Pantone?) with only a few pops of color seen throughout the full lineup.

I’m a sucker for this look, but I wasn’t into the pens, and I don’t need any of the accessories. So, where did that leave me? Paper. Specifically, the Soft Ring A5 Graph notebook.

To cut directly to the chase, this notebook is perfect for me. Maybe I think that because I had zero expectations going into it. It was an add-on to an order, and I had no plans for it outside of testing some gel ink pens inside of it, or using it as part of a giveaway. It has quickly become a notebook I reach for more than most, even for fountain pens, and even for ink swatching.

KOKUYO Good Tools Soft Ring A5 — *The 0.4 mm Zebra Sarasa R colors pop off the page.*

KOKUYO Good Tools Soft Ring A5 Back — *More of a shadow on the backside, as opposed to ghosting.*

That it holds up well to a lot of ink on the page shouldn’t surprise me - Kokuyo has always been a good choice for that. My issue has always been formats. The Kokuyo Campus product lineup is great, but I never dialed in which one of the many (MANY!) options is for me. They make for great recommendations though, because the quality is always there.

KOKUYO Good Tools Soft Ring A5 Fineliner — *Smooth for fineliners.*

The Good Tools Soft Ring nails everything that I’m looking for in a product. For starters, the plain design looks fantastic. I can keep it clean like it looks now, or I can customize it in many different ways with stickers, art, washi, or whatever. The A5 size is perfect for a desk or on the go, and the Soft Ring binding won’t scratch up anything it lays on or next to, like wire binding would. The page perforation is clean, and the Grey 5mm grid is exactly the right shade to provide guidance, and stay out of the way.

KOKUYO Good Tools Soft Ring A5 Ink — *Ink swatches with the Kakimori Steel Dip Nib.*

KOKUYO Good Tools Soft Ring A5 Ink Back — Gas Works Park went through the back, only because I ran a second layer over the top and the steel nib breaks up the page. I even added water to Penn Cove Mussel, which is second from the top left, and nothing went through.

It’s right there with the Kokuyo X Platinum Preppy Perpanep, which is about as high of praise as I can give. For less than $20 combined I can have a brilliant pen and paper combo. What am I doing with my life? 🤣

KOKUYO Good Tools Soft Ring A5 Fountain Pen — Van Diemans Nightfall is part of their Dual Shader series, and while the full color range isn’t S-Tier like it would be on classic Tomoe River 52 gsm paper, it shows off a lot, especially in the right light.

Kokuyo’s prices are always reasonable, and $10.50 for 70 sheets (140 pages) - in either Graph or their popular Dotted Line format - is exactly that. Unless you require a hard cover notebook, I think the only thing holding this notebook back are the lack of a Dot Grid, or even a Blank page. On quality alone, it’s more enough to be your primary paper in most situations.

I said I didn’t need anything else from the Kokuyo Good Tools lineup, but I guess it is time to take another look after all of this fawning over a plain white notebook.

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

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Posted on December 8, 2025 by Brad Dowdy and filed under Kokuyo, Notebook Reviews.

Kokuyo ME Stand Tool Pouch Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

We have a new, robust member of the "stationery cases that turn into phone stands" family, and that is this Kokuyo ME Stand Tool Pouch, which is not nearly as fun to say as SMAND, but is infinitely more useful (fight me).

This case is made from padded soft nylon fabric that is reinforced to help it keep its shape. It has a quilted surface, which I understand is in style these days. The case zips open like a clamshell, though the zip goes diagonally across the side edges and the front folds back on itself, creating a shelf upon which to lean your phone or notes. There is a wee snap tab that secures the front piece to the spine-base to keep it folded down.

Inside, the case is lined with grey nylon fabric. The main compartment is spacious and would fit bulkier tools, or even an e-reader or notebook. Along the back wall of the case, there is a strap you can clip pens to or slide tall tools behind, and a shallow mesh pocket that's perfect for small things like flash drives, dongles, or washi tape. On the front, there is a mesh pocket that goes the whole length of the case, and on the folded-down lip there is a velcro strap for securing cords. There is another slip pocket on the back exterior of the case that can fit a slim notebook or papers.

The storage layout is thoughtful and functional. It's a good balance of organization and flexibility, so it can serve a lot of purposes. It would make a great writing kit, a great art-on-the-go kit (with built-in easel!), a great tech pouch--or you could just fill it with pens. It would hold a lot of pens! At $33 on JetPens, it's reasonably priced for a case this size, and less expensive than a lot of pen cases that have fewer features. It's the best stand-case I've used so far, which means my children will probably steal it. And I'll pretend to be mad about that, knowing that I'm secretly allowing them to become discerning users of fine stationery.

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

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on May 1, 2025 by Sarah Read and filed under Kokuyo, Pen Case.

Kokuyo Hakoake 2Way Cutter + Mini Scissors

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Bluesky. And her latest book, The Atropine Tree, is now available!)

Spare your good craft scissors! I'm terribly guilty of using the good scissors to open boxes, which everyone knows is not cool. This handy gadget is a box opener and scissors in one, so you can snip or slice as needed.

The Kokuyo Hakoake 2Way Cutter looks like a standard box cutter, though it's smaller and a lot more lightweight. The body is made of plastic. It has a textured finish that makes it easy to grip, and there's a loop on the back end for attaching a strap. The top edge has a black plastic slider that moves along a track to extend the blades.

The body is labeled with the three stations for the slider. The back end has the "lock" setting, where the blades are locked completely inside the body. If you push down on the slider and move it forward, it slides into the next setting, "cutter," which extends just a short edge of blade from the tip of the case. If you push down and move the slider all the way forward, it pops up and becomes the lever for operating the scissors. Each station locks into place, so you don't have to worry about any slipping.

The design is simple but clever and it's a conveniently compact tool for opening all those stationery packages that find their way to your porch.

The blades on the cutters are made from either stainless steel or titanium, depending on which model you select. The stainless steel model has a beige handle, and the other titanium model has a forest green handle with brown blades. Both the cutter and the scissors cut well, though neither are very sharp. This tool isn't meant to replace a pocketknife or proper scissors. It's meant to do the dirty work of opening packaging, so your knife and scissors stay nice.

The titanium blade models sell for $13.25 on JetPens, and the stainless steel model is $9.25. It's a very fair price for such a handy thing. I've found myself reaching for it often to open boxes or letters, snip tape or tags or yarn tails. My youngest recently had a birthday, so there was a lot to open, and this was the perfect thing to have on hand. It now has a permanent spot on my desk, next to my scissors, which are probably very relieved that they'll never again have to struggle through packing tape.

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

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!