I’m always on the hunt for a new notebook to try and I was gifted a Paper Mind Bank Paper A5 Notebook for Christmas in 2023 and have finally started using it in the past few weeks and wanted to put in my thoughts!
The notebook comes in three formats: Ruled, Blank, and Dot Grid. The dot grid (which is what I have) comes in either black or a nice darker green color. It’s a paper cloth cover which feels kind of canvas like and is completely blank on the front while the logo, website, and where it’s made is stamped in silver on the back.
I’ve been carrying this notebook around in my backpack in a zippered pouch for about a month now, and already I can see where the edges of the notebook have been caught in my struggle to get it into the pouch, or where the zipper has rubbed on the edges since I keep it spine down. There’s also a very long black woven bookmark, which in truth, I’m really considering shortening and burning the edge of because it hangs out 2.75″ or roughly 7cm from the bottom of the notebook. I’m all about a nice bookmark, but this is a little excessive. But I suppose it also lets you tie in a charm or something if that’s your jam.
I love the exposed spine and it lays flat with very very very little prompting (aka, you might need to smooth the page down and that’s about it. No force required). The notebook is 192 pages of 5mm dot grid, which I think is just the right spacing personally, and made from 87.9gsm Mitsubishi Bank Paper.
If you aren’t familiar with Mitsubishi Bank Paper, I would encourage you to try it. It’s a bit toothy, but not scratchy to write on. I try to keep a sheet of paper under my hand when writing, but it doesn’t seem to be super susceptible to hand oils. I’ve had a few spots which have feathered a little from where I’ve not had paper under my hand, but they’re small and at least the page isn’t straight up rejecting fountain pen ink (which is something I’ve come across in other notebooks on different papers…).
At 87.9gsm the paper is a bit thicker from your standard copier paper which is generally a 20lb sheet but can vary depending on the paper (HP Copy & Print 20 is 20lb or 75gsm, while Hammermill Premium Color Copy is 28lb or 105gsm). What it really boils down to is… ghosting yes, bleed through no. On the first and last pages the ghosting isn’t as visible because of the grey end paper, but as you are writing, there is noticeable ghosting but it doesn’t interfere with writing at all. But I’m also a person who likes ghosting so I’m a bit biased.
As Mitsubishi Bank Paper is an uncoated stock, I was not expecting much when it came to sheen and since I don’t really keep any “super sheening” inks on hand, I used inks I know sheen on the regular, Sailor Lyrcoris Red and Sailor Studio 731, as well as a chromashading ink, Sailor Manyo Nekoyanagi. Plus whatever pens I already have inked up for the month.
Lycoris Red only had hints of sheening around the edges of some letters and the edge of the larger swatch, while 731 had a decent showing of sheen in heavy applications, as well as some regular writing with my Sailor Lucky Charm. It helps that pen has been inked since January so I’m sure some water evaporation also came into play there.
The swatch of Nekoyanagi is beautiful in it’s pastel greens, teals, and purples and a nice medium or broad nib would probably make this ink sing on the page. Meanwhile, Diamine Three Kings, Robert Oster Australis Tea, Colorverse Sea Europa, and Sailor Shikiori Shito-Shito (all standard inks with some shading) preformed wonderfully.
I was a bit surprised at the dry times, but I think I never notice them because I tend to blow across the page as I finish a page, or tend to take long breaks throughout my writing on a page. If you are someone who wants to write down quick notes and slam your book closed, you might want a blotter sheet tucked in between the pages.
Pencil did fine, but all of them did smear. Not sure if that’s a graphite thing or a paper thing. I also don’t really know too many people who are smearing their fingers all over their writing/drawing unless they’re doing artistic blending.
And the Uni-Ball One F pretty much dried instantly aside from that spot where the line ended, but I ran my finger over that as quick as I could from the second I picked up the pen, and even then it’s such a small smear it’s not crazy noticeable.
All in all, SUPER happy with The Paper Mind Mitsubishi Bank Paper notebook. The paper is fantastic, and I love how flat it lays open regardless of where I open it. The bookmark is a great touch, if a tad long, and I’m looking forward to filling this notebook up. I just hope it doesn’t take me as long as my last one.
My only wish… B6. I know it’s not a popular size, but I sure wish it was!
Casual Crossings 