And that's exactly how we end up at Kunisawa today. If you remember my first encounter (review HERE) with this young Japanese stationery brand, their immaculate,
business-chic design language created very high expectations... only to ultimately be let down by the terribly inconsistent paper quality. So
sad.
Onto present day, and I'm looking at a stack of the updated 'Find'
notebooks Kunisawa recently sent me. 'Find', of course being
the unifying Moniker of every product sold under the Kunisawa brand. How I
understand it, Kunisawa is part of a larger company Kawachiya Printing & Stationery, and represents the more business-styled side of the product catalog.
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The contrast between Kunisawa and Pont Neuf couldn't possibly be any bigger! |
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All-black everything |
But enough about the outside, because I was of course dying to find out if they managed to change the inside of their notebooks: the paper! I conducted some randomized tests throughout the different notebooks, and these are my findings...
The paper is exceptionally smooth. It's MUCH smoother than the old watermarked 'Foolscap' paper, much smoother than Rhodia's vellum stock, much smoother than even most Life paper, yet the latter certainly comes closest. The smoothness makes it feels like a strongly coated paper, yet for some strange reason, it doesn't feel too coated or slick when you write on it, retaining just the right amount of texture - it's very strange and difficult to explain. In any case, I like writing on it, and it doesn't even seem to be too bothered by oils from your hand (Even though that's something smoother paper types often struggle with!).
Shading and sheen are strong, even when compared to the reigning champion, Tomoe River. It's very difficult to get the paper to show any bleedthrough, despite throwing ink swatches and very wet and wide nibs at it. Even show through (or ghosting) is very well-contained.
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Yes, that's perfect sheen and shading, on a sticky note! |
So, what about those sticky notes then? I obviously went 'oh no!' when I saw the recycled paper inside. However, to my biggest surprise, even this paper performed excellently in my writing test! No bleedthrough, no feathering, even the shading, and sheen can perfectly live up to the performance of the rest of the Kunisawa lineup! I don't know what sorcery they used for this, but clearly, it works very well!
The paper is downright excellent, and most of all, it's excellent all
across the board. Every product, from the new Executive ring notebook,
down to even the recycled paper sticky notes, showcased excellent paper,
the kind of paper I'd expect when I crack open a notebook from Japanese
manufacture.
Considering the more 'premium' style of the Kunisiwa brand, I'd say their pricing isn't that excessive (the Find sticky memo, Find Executive Ring note, and Find Note Hard notebook are priced at 6€/ 7$, 12€/ 14.5$, and 24€/ 29$, respectively), though they certainly land on the pricier side once you account for the costs of importing from Japan. With the quality I'm seeing today, that easily earns Kunisawa a recommendation from my end!
Note: The products shown here were provided by Kunisawa, 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.
Thanks for a great review! Your ink swabs and writing really show how this paper functions. I appreciate that. I'd love to buy some; I went to their website and sent them an email stating my interest, as they suggested. If you know of a quicker route, I'd sure like to know.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading! The ink swabs are in many cases probably not representative of real-world usage, but they do make for a great 'stress test' (and it's also easier to compare shading and sheen off of them)! Kawachiy has their own online store, but I've asked and they have already been distributing the new paper to their retailers worldwide. The problem is to know whether what you buy is old or new paper, since there could still be retailers that have old stock. Best guess would be to ask Kunisawa or the retailers directly for a confirmation that what you are buying is indeed the new paper!
DeleteGreat review! Very useful, thanks!
ReplyDeleteon the other hand... could you tell which is the ink in 1 and 4 swatches? , I'm intrigued!
Thanks in advance!
Thanks for reading! I'm not entirely sure which inks these are, but I think the top one is Sailor Manyo HaHa, and the fourth one Robert Oster Avocado.
DeleteMy experience is exactly the same. A year ago I bought a kunisawa notebook and although I really liked the design, the paper was not the most appropriate to use with a fountain pen. A week ago I bought another notebook and the change in the quality of the paper has been radical. It is the softest and most pleasant paper I have tried. Fountain pen writing is just perfect. I've even tried watercolors on it and it holds up amazingly well. It's the best paper I've ever tasted. Kunisawa has done an incredible job.
ReplyDelete