The Paper Mind
Tomoe River Hardcover Notebook - RULED
Tomoe River Hardcover Notebook - RULED
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Experience maximum performance with our 400-page Tomoe River hardcover notebook. Ultra thin and ultra powerful, Tomoe River S handles fountain pens, rollerballs, gel pens, and ballpoints with ease.
Why it's special:
- 400 fountain-pen-friendly pages and only 17.5 mm (0.69") thick
- Super flexible stitched binding for maximum comfort
- Simple design for distraction-free writing
See our paper performance test
Detailed specs:
- 400 pages of white 52 gsm Tomoe River S paper
- A5 size: 148 x 210 x 17.5 mm
- 7mm light gray rule
- Stitched binding with 25 signatures
- Vinyl cloth hardcover
- Black woven bookmark
- Black elastic band
- Pink blotter sheet
- Gray end papers
- Made in Japan
About Tomoe River Paper:
About Tomoe River Paper:
This notebook uses Tomoe River S paper. The "S" stands for Sanzen Paper Manufacturing Co., Ltd. When Tomoegawa (the original manufacturer of Tomoe River) discontinued its production, Sanzen stepped in to fill the void with an incredible new paper inspired by the original.
Confusion exists because there were three different papers to use the name Tomoe River at the 52gsm paper weight:
- Discontinued "Original" (aka "Old") Tomoe River produced by Tomoegawa on Machine No. 7.
- Discontinued "New" Tomoe River produced by Tomoegawa on Machine No 9.
- Tomoe River "S" produced by Sanzen
Tomoegawa made two Tomoe River papers. When they shut down Machine No. 7 and moved production to Machine No. 9, they created a new paper with diminished performance. This short-lived paper was referred to as "new" Tomoe River and the paper from Machine No. 7 became known as "old" or "original."
Tomoe River S is a new paper not to be confused with the "new" or "original" Tomoe River.
Similarities to the original Tomoe River:
- Ultra thin and super light 52 gsm weight
- Phenomenal performance with fountain pen ink
- Exceptional drape
Differences from the original Tomoe River:
- Improved opacity (less ghosting) due to pulp impregnated with white pigment
- Enhanced resistance to bleeding
- Crisper surface
- Higher tensile strength (harder to tear)
- More porous paper surface
- Slightly faster dry times
- Increased feedback (still smooth)
- Less line smoothing
- Reduced line spread
- Increased performance with rollerballs
As writers, journalers, and notetakers, the biggest difference in our experience is the feel of the paper. The "original" Tomoe River is smoother and more crinkly, like onion skin paper. Tomoe River S is smooth but feels more natural. In our opinion, Tomoe River S is less polarizing and easier to use daily while maintaining (and in some cases improving upon) the performance of the original.
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First of all, the quality of this notebook is impeccable. It is an understated dark green with a fine texture on the outside cover, and includes end papers to divide the lined tomoe river papers from the cover. The line spacing is just right, and the lines themselves are unobtrusively light. The paper is thin, but inks do not show through. What immediately jumps out when writing in this notebook are the ink’s shading and sheening qualities, which is the reason I bought this notebook. That, and the vividness of the ink’s color, was a delightful surprise, and I have tried many different high quality papers and this exceeds them all. The other criterion in buying this paper for me was that the line made by the pen was not one size larger, as it is on other tomoe river papers. It is definitely not. Lines made by extra fine nibs remain extra fine. The notebook has 400 pages but lies flat when opened at any place within, and isn’t so thick that it is an uncomfortable sensation when your hand reaches the bottom of the page.
In addition to having outstanding products, Paper Mind’s Customer Service is several notches above other pen/stationery stores. All questions I have asked have been promptly, knowledgeably, and very courteously answered. My order arrived quickly, beautifully wrapped, with a very nice hand written note from Blake, and all I ordered was a notebook! This is a store to whom I want to give my business.
Smooth paper, great for my fountain pen, no bleed through on other pages
Very nice notebook, the cover feels different, I am exited.
I have been taking notes or journaling since around 2007. I have tried various notebooks over the years and never really LOVED any of them for one reason or another. I saw a review on YouTube, asked a question, and with the answer provided, I decided to give it a try. I am so glad I did. It takes my various fountain pen inks beautifully, no bleed though, and very little ghosting even with darker inks. I am so glad I tried this and would recommend it to anyone looking for a solid hardcover notebook.
Tomoe River Hardcover Notebook - RULED