review: Nakabayashi Yu-sari Notebook
I go through a lot of stationery and supplies for personal use, journal club, and in the classes I teach, but I’ve yet to share my thoughts on these in written form outside an Instagram post. So I’m expanding beyond my usual ramblings about what I love about journals, tapping into my ancient blogger roots, and writing some reviews. Before there were influencers, there were bloggers and a long long time ago, I was a blogger. I loved to write, I wrote reviews, guides & features on menswear and lifestyle.
Hunter Paper Co. kindly gave me one of their latest products to test out. I’ll put my hands up and admit it was not a brand name I was familiar with but when Ross described it, my interest was piqued. Let’s learn more about the Nakabayashi Yu-sari notebook.
The Nakabayashi company motto is Save Memories, Connect to Tomorrow which I think succinctly sums up the joy and purpose of notebooks. We use them for journaling and planning, to help us remember and to help us forecast. This humble collection of paper sheets can be a record of your innermost hopes, thoughts and aspirations or simply what you need to get the next time you’re at the supermarket.
Yu-Sari means night coming quickly after sunset, almost suggesting this is your end-of-the-day journal, the space you use to decant all those thoughts and worries that have been rattling around your head. I do find evenings are when I am at my most reflective and when I have the time (and allow myself the time) to sit and journal.
I always have a few journals in play at once, for creative journaling, commonplace, coffee trips and memory keeping however, what I’ve never tried has been keeping an ink swatch journal. I love fountain pens and I love ink but never really dawned on me to create a space to display my collection. When Ross described the Nakabayashi paper as an alternative to Tomoe River Paper, I knew this would be the book I would be using.
Tomoe River Paper is considered by many to be the best paper for fountain pen use.
While I don’t have a huge collection of inks, I have enough to get started and hopefully, it will become a travelling companion where I can swatch inks from friends or fellow journal lovers.
Lamy (mango, turquoise, coral & green)
Lamy reverse
Ferris Wheel Press (Down the Rabbit Hole: Tumbling Time)
Ferris Wheel Press reverse
Kaweco (palm green, smokey grey & royal blue)
Kaweco reverse
As you can see from the photos, there is little to no bleeding and feathering. Lamy ink is very wet - it can take several minutes to dry on Tomoe and it dried quite quickly here with not much loss of colour saturation. On the reverse, there isn’t much ghosting either, meaning both sides of your page can be used without it becoming messy. (I’m also quite heavy-handed with my pens and even then, it hasn't had much bleed through). The Ferris Wheel Press ink has a red sheen and silver shimmer through it, the red sheen is not overly visible but the silver shimmer can be seen with the naked eye, meaning the ink hasn’t been absorbed too much to lose any inherent fabulousness.
Available in 2 sizes (A5 & B5) and in lined, grid and plain paper, I opted for the B5 grid as it’s not a size I’ve ever used. Its larger size means I can write in it, swatch, sample and scribble with my inks to a bigger scale, allowing me to show more of the colour and effects. With 96 sheets/192 pages, I have a Herculean task to complete the notebook, but that means it can be a labour of love and built up over time. I’m a lefty too so having a lay-flat binding means I’m not having to balance the book or hold my pen awkwardly to use the pages.
If you are a fountain pen enthusiast looking for the ideal journal to support your inks, or as an alternative successor to Tomoe River Paper, I’d highly recommend this for the paper quality, size options and flexibility.
Thank you again to Hunter Paper Co. for sending me the Yu-Sari notebook to review. The extended Nakabayashi range is available online, including the Logic notebook, a subject book available in thread bound and spiral bound in A5 & B5 sizes, and 30-pack of loose sheets of the Nakabayashi paper for letter writing or binding your own books.
