Nitoms S4110 STALOGY Notebook, A5, Squared, 1/2 Ear, Blue

This is a wonderful alternative to the Hobonichi! I have been toying with getting a Hobonichi for months but, because the dated pages are intimidating, I decided to go with this more flexible alternative. The dimensions are the same as the Hobonichi Techo, with one page for each day. There are little Day/Month/Year lists are the top of each page so you can circle/underline the date info if you wish. The paper is shiny but not too shiny and of wonderful quality. I have already done a spread using spray inks, glue, and Fujifilm Instax prints that turned out wonderfully. While I did have some bleed-through with the spray ink because I was too heavy-handed with the application, I think that a more modest amount would be perfect on this paper. The book is well made and cute and fun as an everyday carry journal. I am excited to make regular spreads and use all kinds of media. I layered media - stamps, glue, watercolor/dye, and photos - with no problem, and the adhesive-backed embellishments I used adhered very well. I still love the Hobonichi, but I really feel like this is a high-quality, reasonably-priced alternative I am going to love. Note that this is the larger, A5 version, sized more like the Hobonichi Cousin. There is also an A6 version that is closer in size to the Hobonichi Techo and a full-year A5 version that is twice as thick. These are a fantastic deal for journalers.

Nice intro to Hobonichi style book. It’s a slimmer book, which is a little less intimidating. I have used the A6 Hobonichi techo and liked it a lot. Thought I’d try the A5 size before investing.

Great paper for fountain pens.

This is my go to notebook. Lots of pages, thin notebook. Paper is thin by design. It takes some getting used to but I love it!

Good quality, ball point pen slides smoothly on pages. No significant bleeding but the thin pages do allow some ghosting. I ended up only writing on the right side pages. Also due to the thin paper, corners get wrinkled a lot if you carry it around.

Authentic Stalogy book! I love this notebook.

Very good paper quality. Will buy again

Arrived with a dented corner as it was shipped in a manilla envelope with no padding. The notebook color is also not as bright as it appears on my monitor (I know, monitor calibration varies). I was hoping it would have that robin's egg blue color, but it's more muted. Still pretty, doesn't bug me. The main thing that bothers me and has prompted me to find an alternative is that the paper, though very similar to Tomoe River, is more dry. I know, that sounds weird, but when I write on my Hobonichi Cousin, it's a real pleasure. When I write on this one, I'm aware of a dry quality of the paper against my hand as I rest my hand on the paper to write. My hands are very dry, in general, (I always put a drop of lotion on them after washing them), but the dryness of this paper detracts from my pleasure, so I'm going back to the original Tomoe River paper.