I thought I’d share a couple pictures of this year’s Nolty Gold vs. the new one that just arrived for 2020. It’s always fun to look at the current year’s beaten up, well-loved diary next to a brand new shiny one! My 2020 Nolty Gold feels even more luscious than the previous one– the 2019 … Continue reading Nolty Gold 2020 vs 2019
Life (or L!fe) notebooks are another Japanese notebook favorite with a classic design. I don’t know much about them but apparently the company has been around since the 1940s. I had seen them a lot but never actually bought one until a few months ago when I found this adorable little wire-bound notebook: Most of … Continue reading Life Noble Note Review
I love this collection of notebooks, which have been used to record hundreds or even thousands of haiku. (The original post at Notebookers.jp is in Japanese, so I am relying on Google translate.) I don’t know much about Japanese writing and only know the most basic structure of haiku, but short poems with this kind … Continue reading Haiku Notebooks
Several months ago, I treated myself to a couple of slim little Japanese notebooks from JetPens. The Monokaki notebook was one of them. It is made by the Masuya company, a manufacturer of writing papers since 1882. The Monokaki notebook is the perfect size for any pocket at 3 5/16″ x 5 1/2″ x 1/4″. … Continue reading Monokaki Notebook Review
Hot news today! I just happened to see a post on Instagram where JMAM, the makers of Nolty diaries, announced some additional 70th anniversary products. Most exciting to me is that they are introducing a Nolty page-per-day Efficiency Notebook! It looks like they are calling it the “Daily Book.” It looks a lot like the … Continue reading Nolty Page Per Day Efficiency Notebook for 2020
Japanese public broadcaster NHK has obtained documents showing that former Emperor Hirohito repeatedly felt sorry about World War II and tried, unsuccessfully, to express his feelings by using the word “remorse†in a 1952 speech. The records of conversations with Hirohito spanning several years were kept by Michiji Tajima, a top Imperial Household Agency official … Continue reading Post-War Japanese Notebooks Recording Hirohito’s Regrets
The Kokuyo Sketch Book is a Japanese classic with a cult following. In Japan, this style of notebook is known as Sokuryo Yacho: Sokuryo Yacho = surveying field book, Literally Means A “Surveying Field Notebook.” It’S Often Simply Called “Yacho” By Our Loyal Users. You could compare it to the government issue Memorandum notebooks used by … Continue reading Notebook Review: The Kokuyo Sketch Book
I found this week’s addict on Instagram, where he displays an amazing 38 year loyalty to the Nolty diary. (The original text is in Japanese, but has been auto-translated into English in the image above.) See more at @motohashinobuhiro 5884
I’m very fortunate to have friends in Paris and Amsterdam that I’ve been able to visit a few times. I went in 2014 and bought quite a few notebooks. This past year, I went again, and also included Belgium on my itinerary. I wasn’t expecting to buy as many notebooks this time, but I ended … Continue reading Notebooks from Europe
The New York Times did something rather neat in their last weekend paper of the year. They reproduced in miniature some of the front pages with the biggest stories of the year. I was excited to see that these mini front pages were just the right size to fit in a notebook! I carefully cut … Continue reading Nolty Diary and New York Times