The pen blogs and podcasts have been filled with reports of the imminent demise of our community’s beloved Tomoe River Paper, known for its ability to withstand fountain pen ink despite its extremely light weight. Jesi has the full details over at the Well-Appointed Desk, but suffice to say, it looks like the rumors are true. Personally, I’m not the world’s largest Tomoe River fan - it’s great paper, but I enjoy others equally - so I’m not hoarding or stocking up beyond picking up a couple extra Nanami Cafe Note refills. Plus, various companies are apparently in the process of developing similar products. For now, we continue to have Tomoe River loose sheets in stock, but I can’t guarantee we’ll be able to get more. We also stock a wide range of fountain pen friendly paper from other brands, which you may want to try out if you haven’t already.
Note: While most orders placed today will ship out before I leave, due to some unanticipated family travel, orders placed between Friday 6/4 and Saturday 6/12 will ship on 6/13, after my return. Thank you for understanding, and I’ll be sure to thrown in a little something extra for your trouble. Many thanks!
Midori MD Paper. Midori MD is becoming my favorite Japanese fountain pen friendly paper. It comes in multiple formats and sizes, including A6, A5, and B6 notebooks. I currently stock lined, grid, dot grid, and framed journal versions, as well as the day-to-a-page “Codex” notebooks, which have become extremely popular.
Midori MD Cotton Paper. Extremely ink friendly, 100% cotton paper that also works quite well in typewriters. In addition to the A4 and A5 paper pads, I recently received a shipment of MD Cotton Paper notebooks, and going forward will try to stock this paper in both pad and notebook formats.
Traveler’s Notebook Refills. Traveler’s Company was spun off from Midori into a stand-alone brand years ago, and as such the standard refills use Midori MD paper. While the “Lightweight Paper” specialty refill currently contains Tomoe River paper, the word on the street is that Traveler’s Company is developing their own “replacements”, some of which will be featured in the “B Sides and Rarities” refills that I have on the way. For more information on the Traveler’s Company notebook system and how you can use it, start with this post.
Clairefontaine & Rhodia. Both legendary paper brands have a reputation as rock-solid alternatives for fountain pen enthusiasts, though they tend to fall by the wayside in favor of trendier (and often much-hyped) Japanese alternatives. Clairefontaine paper is a personal favorite of mine, especially the A5 Clothbound French-ruled notebook.
Write Notepads. Last but not least, the first brand we ever carried here remains one of the best. Bound in Baltimore, Maryland, Write Notepads paper makes a wide range of fountain pen friendly spiral notebooks and writing pads, in a variety of rulings.
NOTE: As discussed the other day, all notebooks will ship with complimentary “library pouches” until my supply is exhausted!
For further reading and an overview of additional paper brands, check out our Guide to Fountain Pen Friendly Paper. The T.G.S. Curated Shop is an authorized retailer of all brands we carry. By shopping with us, you are supporting original content, pen reviews, pen show events, etc. from The Gentleman Stationer. If you would like to support us even further, please consider checking out the T.G.S. Patreon Program. Many thanks!
