Yamamoto Ro-Biki Note Covers and Refills Compared

TRAVELER's Notebook vs. Yamamoto Ro-Biki: What's the Difference?

July 9, 2025

Since I’m becoming something of a notebook system specialist (Check out our new resource here!), I sometimes get questions about how the different systems compare to one another. While the Traveler’s Notebook is the most widely known “tall narrow” notebook format, there’s another option out there: The “Ro-Biki Note” series of notebooks from Yamamoto Paper. Online photos can create the perception that these two systems are related and/or interchangeable, and that’s not necessarily the case. Here are a few key differences:

Yamamoto Ro-Biki Note Closed — The Ro-Biki canvas cover is actually more of a wrap. It ships with a velcro strap that not only closes the cover but also allows you to secure pens and other accessories in the outside pocket.

Different Measurements. While both Traveler’s Notebook and Ro-Biki are the same height (8.25”), the Traveler’s refill notebooks are roughly 4.25” wide, and Ro-Biki notebooks are 3.75” wide. This means that Ro-Biki notebooks will fit in a standard-size Traveler’s Notebook cover but a Traveler’s refill will be too wide for the Ro-Biki canvas cover (unless you trim the Traveler’s refill down).
Different Paper. Both brands use excellent paper that works well with a wide range of writing instruments - including fountain pens. Traveler’s Company mostly uses Midori MD paper for its standard refills (both companies share the same corporate parent), while also offering a wider range of options including watercolor, sketch, and ultralight Tomoe River paper. For the Ro-Biki notebooks, Yamamoto has chosen a soft cream-colored paper that I’ve seen identified as either “Chiffon Cream” or “Soliste” (which is one of the select papers in Yamamoto’s latest round of A4 packs). Again, both brands use good paper and this will come down to personal preference.
Different Build/Aesthetics. Traveler’s Company uses a cord-based system to hold the refills inside a basic leather cover that closes with an elastic band. The Ro-Biki is a bit more unique, in that Yamamoto has commissioned a cotton canvas cover that incorporates a zippered case and pockets along the outside. If you enjoy the Ro-Biki paper and notebook dimensions, you might find that the Ro-Biki also offers more built-in functionality out of the box, though this comes at the expense of customization. Those looking to avoid leather might also prefer the Yamamoto option.

Yamamoto Ro-Biki Note Unfolded — I might take a Ro-Biki to the beach next week, since I can take it to the pool and down to the water without worrying about water getting splashed on leather.

Yamamoto Ro-Biki Writing Sample — Sorry, some of my writing had to be blurred here, for personal reasons.

Yamamoto Ro-Biki Rubber Bands — Ro-Biki notebooks attach to the canvas cover by sliding the back cover of one notebook into a pocket, and then attaching additional notebooks to the “anchor notebook” using two supplied rubber bands, which are very thin and unobtrusive. Oh, and can we also get a shout-out for reticle grid? It’s one of the more underutilized rulings, IMHO.

Ro-Biki Stationery Pouch (Open) — Regardless of which stationery pouch I’m carrying, I have post-it notes, stamps, and document flags with me.

Takeaways and My Personal Thoughts

Traveler’s Notebook and Yamamoto Ro-Biki Note are different products that I suspect will appeal to different users. Traveler’s Notebook is more of a truly customizable system/system techo, while I’d characterize Ro-Biki as a notebook with a bit of built-in functionality in the canvas cover (which may be perfectly adequate for many users). Update: I’ve published a YouTube demonstration of me setting up the Ro-Biki, plus a size comparison with the Traveler’s Notebook.

Personally, I love Yamamoto’s Soliste paper, and I’ve enjoyed using one of the Ro-Biki reticle-grid notebooks for testing. This was enough to make me grab one of the covers for myself, as I already have Soliste hole-punched in my Plotters for general writing and the Ro-Biki Note paper has the same soft feel to it. (I’d love to confirm whether these are indeed Soliste notebooks - stay tuned.) Whatever paper it is, it’s handled all my inks quite well, and it makes me want to keep writing with it.

As of today, we have Yamamoto Paper Robiki covers and Robiki-Note notebooks in stock, and of course we continue to offer the full Traveler’s Notebook lineup and the new similarly sized Lochby Voyager Journals. Come see us in-store this week, starting tomorrow and Friday from 1-6, and Saturday from 10-6. Next week (July 13-20) we will be on vacation so get your shopping in before then!

Discovering Unusual Paper: "Paper Tasting" Sets from Yamamoto Paper

May 10, 2025

It’s easy sometimes to get stuck in a rut with hobbies and interests, and many times over the years I’ve found myself bored with my stationery routine, using the same pens, pencils, and especially paper without much variation. The good thing about paper is that if you write enough you will use it up and need more, which offers you endless opportunities for experimentation (as long as you keep writing). Japanese distributor Yamamoto Paper offers a seemingly endless array of unique and uncommon Japanese papers, and sells them in convenient sample packs of pads and loose sheets.

Yamamoto Paper Tasting Sample Descriptions for Gray Pack — Each Yamamoto Paper Tasting Sampler includes a cover sheet with a short description on the manufacture, history, and usage of each of the three papers. It will also indicate Yamamoto’s opinion on how each paper reacts to different types of ink.These sorts of opinions are incredibly subjective, and as I’ll discuss more below, your own opinion may differ wildly (which is part of why these sorts of samplers are so much fun). Photos of additional information included with each Paper Tasting Sampler are included in the gallery below.

I’ve purchased many different paper sampling or “Paper Tasting” products from Yamamoto Paper over the years, starting back in 2022 at the San Francisco Pen Show where they had a setup at their table that allowed you to assemble a small box of samples of different papers in square sheets. I bought two full boxes, and I’m now well into my last one which I’m working through sparingly. I use them for small notes, and have found that they fit well inside a six-ring plotter binder if I punch them with three holes. What I plan to write about today, though, is Yamamoto’s “Paper Tasting” series. These relatively inexpensive sets of three bound notepads are organized by paper texture, color, and/or other properties such as translucency, and are released in different “volumes” as Yamamoto acquires new papers, and other papers are discontinued.

Among the most recent set of releases is this new set of “Gray” papers (Volume 4). I’m a fan of unusual paper colors such as gray and blue, as these tones add some visual depth to written correspondence and often showcase different undertones in fountain pen ink than standard white or ivory. The current Yamamoto “Gray” paper sampler comes with three different paper options: First Vintage Ash (B7 pad), Half Tone Color Abyss (A6 pad), and Kona Wrap Sky (B6). The latter two papers are blue-grey, so directly fall within my own personal preferences.

Testing Fountain Pens for the Yamamoto Paper Sampler Set — When I test papers, I often choose fountain pens that will “challenge” the paper. Shown here is a Pilot Custom 823 ground to an architect nib, a very wet Parker 61 with a medium 14k nib, and a relatively wet Aurora 88 Sigaro Blu with an ebonite feed that delivers a lot of ink to the page.

Half Tone Color Abyss and Kona Wrap Sky Writing Samples — My two favorites from this sampler pack are the Half-tone Color Abyss (Top) and Kona Wrap Sky. I would probably flip Yamamoto’s descriptions in terms of fountain pen friendliness. All of these papers are indicated as working well with fountain pens, but I wouldn’t consider the First Vintage Ash (below) to be the best of the bunch. Again, there’s no substitute for your own experimentation.

First Vintage Ash Paper Writing Sample — First Vintage Ash didn’t bleed through, but there was some feathering with the architect nib on this fibrous paper. I assume that Yamamoto values dry time over the lack of feathering, thus explaining why this particular paper received the highest marks of the three for fountain pens? This strikes me as a better pencil paper than anything, given the texture.

Yamamoto Paper Kona Wrap Sky Writing Samples — The largest pad in this assortment (Kona Wrap Sky, in B6) will probably get the most use, as I will use it to write letters and for general notetaking. This paper showed zero feathering or bleedthrough, and it has a wonderful cool blue-gray tone.

So are these papers purely “samples”, or are they usable? It depends on how you use your paper. I’ve personally always found great practical usage for my Yamamoto Paper, and these particular papers are bound into pads so they are incredibly useful for things like short notes and even written correspondence, if you like the A6 and B6 sizing. I’ve also turned the smaller pads sideways and hole-punched them to add notes to my binder systems.

Takeaways and Where to Buy

For me, trying out different papers, even one-offs or papers so rare that I likely won’t be able to find them again, is one of the most enjoyable parts of the stationery hobby. These Yamamoto Paper samplers are an easy way to do that. I appreciate that these aren’t just loose sheets of paper, and the fact that they’re bound into small pads makes them much more usable as notepads, writing tablets for letters, or even small sheets that you can hole-punch and add to your binder system.

As I noted above, we currently have seven different Yamamoto “Paper Tasting” Samplers available in the shop, alongside the packs of larger A4 looseleaf papers (which of course can be cut down to different sizes using a paper cutter). Patreon members should check this week’s Patreon feed or the “Announcements” section of the Discord for a special Yamamoto Paper Sampler offer.

If you’re ever in the Nashville, Tennessee area, please stop in and see us! We’d love to welcome you in store and answer any questions you may have. The Gentleman Stationer is open this week Thursday (1-4) and Friday (1-6) and Saturday from 10-4. Our site is entirely self-supported through the shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program.

Iroful Paper Notebooks and Looseleaf Sheets

New Arrivals: Select Japanese Papers from Yamamoto, Iroful Paper, Tomoe River and More!

February 11, 2025

If there’s one request we get, it’s for more fountain pen friendly paper, especially paper designed to show off ink. Of course, the gold standard for years has been Tomoe River (which is back in stock!) but of course there are so many more excellent options that have now reached the U.S. market. Sakae Technical Paper, known for it’s Tomoe River notebooks and pads, has developed “Iroful,” an incredibly ink-friendly paper that comes in blank, .5mm dot, and .5mm grid layouts, in both A4 and A5 looseleaf, as well as A5 notebook formats.

Yamamoto Bank Paper and Tomoegawa Tomoe River (not Sanzen) A5 writing pads are back, along with A4 looseleaf packs of various Japanese Specialty Papers including different Tomoe River varieties, OK Fools, Slight White, Kin Kaku Den, Soliste, and Typewriter Paper. Though the specialty paper packs ship in packages of 50 A4 sheets, note that by cutting these sheets in half you will have 100 sheets of A5 paper, should you wish to hole-punch them for use in a disc-bound or ring-based notebook system.

The Gentleman Stationer is supported by the T.G.S. Curated Shop and the T.G.S. Patreon Program. If you’d like to visit our in-person location, you can view directions and up-to-date hours here.