PAPER REVIEW: STALOGY 365 DAYS NOTEBOOK

The world of Japanese stationery is vast, and from my -rather limited- experience, filled with a LOT of fantastic products. Stalogy is a new brand to me, but I'm glad I got introduced to their products back in September when I visited 'Buiten De Lijntjes', a stationery/lifestyle shop in the Netherlands! 

The product that was recommended to me by the shopkeeper was the Stalogy Editor's note 365 Days notebook. A seemingly simple and low-key notebook that didn't stand out much, apart from its bright-yellow packaging. It immediately reminded me of the Hobonichi journals, but it's in no way connected to them (at least as far as I know). 

"...Eliminating unnecessary ornamentation and function, we are taking a new look at what's really necessary, rediscovering essential elements and aiming to finally arrive at what should have existed all along. What should have been, is," -Stalogy

The Stalogy 365 journals are plain-looking, softcover notebooks with a black textured 'plastic' outside cover. A few Stalogy logo's and their slogan "what should have been, is" adorn the top left edge of the front cover, hot-foiled in gold. It's a fairly no-nonsense, industrial-looking product at first sight.

One reason why I love Japanese stationery is their excellent eye for detail, and Stalogy definitely does not disappoint in that regard. The 365 notebook is flawlessly put together with a tight stitched spine and neatly cut edges. The 365 Days notebook comes in 4 form factors: B6, A6, B5 and B5. All versions come with a massive 368 pages, yet are only about as thick as a regular Leuchtturm notebook (which is only approx. 250 pages!). Reason for that is the extremely thin paper they use. I have the urge to say it's Tomoe River paper (probably the 68 gsm variant), but I couldn't find any information to back this up. 

In use, the outside cover is flexible enough to fold almost 360° if you want to. The notebook lays open on itself, but it doesn't stay completely flat. I used the smaller B6 size and it's comfortable to use and take with you on the go, although I usually tend to go for slightly larger notebooks. 

Again in true Japanese style, we're seeing a notebook with very little features. The pages have a faint grey grid printed on them (5x5 mm). The ruling is very pleasant to write on, and doesn't interfere when reading what you wrote down. The 365 Days -as the name suggests- is subtly optimized to be used as a bullet journal or agenda. 

The top right of the page features a date system, and to the left of the grid you can find the hours 7 to 23 printed in a tiny and unobtrusive font. Together, these let you use the notebook as a planner where you can indicate the date and divide the page into the hours of the day (Unless you wake up before 7am, or have appointments after 11pm. In that case I guess you're out of luck...). It's a useful feature when you want to, but it doesn't get in the way when you want to use the notebook as something other than an agenda. Don't bother searching for a page marker, page numbers, index table... you won't find those here.

One way to add structure to your notebook are the Stalogy stickers and sticky notes. They offer a wide variety of plastic post-it's and tab stickers, among which these small (5x5 cm) square see-through stickers (available in blank, ruled or grid). They are made of some sort of plastic film with an adhesive back, yet their textured surface makes it possible to write on them, even with fountain pen.

These sticky notes let you add small notes or details throughout your notebook, without making a permanent mark. While I like the idea of these little 'add-ons', they do come at a considerable cost and I admittedly didn't find much use for them. They might be useful for bullet journalling, or important notes, though.

Some interesting shading going on in some places where the ink meets the grid ruling. And look at that sheen!

The paper is very smooth to write on, and behaves perfectly with fountain pen (perhaps a bit too slick for pencil use). Ink is handled without feathering and very little bleedthrough (ink swabs, very wet writers and a few flex nibs could give bleedthrough, but all in all it's very well-behaved). Ink dries with a crisp edge and the paper brings out the best of the ink with rich shading and sheen. With the paper being relatively thin, you should expect quite a bit of showthrough, which makes it a bit less legible when you use both sides of the page (it's possible, but not ideal). Overall, if this isn't Tomoe River, at least it's a damn good copy. 

Quite some showthrough but little to no bleedthrough...except with a sharpie of course

The Stalogy 365 is an all-round excellent notebook. It won't turn heads with its design, but the build quality is bar none, and the paper is great for fountain pen use. Unfortunately quality comes at a price, with these 365 Days notebooks starting at 26€ for the smallest A6, up to 39€ for the B5 size (in the US they can be had for less). Regardless of where you buy, these are a good bit more expensive than, say, a Leuchtturm notebook of the same size (though you do get about a third more pages). The stickers and post-its also come with a pretty price tag, with the see-through post-its coming in at a hefty 9€ (about 6.5$ in the US). While I'm not a huge fan of the accessories at that price, the 365 Days notebook definitely comes highly recommended!

This product was sent to me by Buiten De Lijntjes so I could write this review. I was in no way influenced in the making of this review, the opinions shared in this review are completely my own! This post does not contain affiliate links.