Find your pen-friendly paper: “Japanese notebooks are so pen friendly and there are so many types of great paper. How can I learn more about them? Where do I begin?” This product was born from such a conversation with a friend living abroad. “Paper tasting” is a collection of writing pads, expressly to let you try different kinds of papers and enjoy the pleasure of writing on them. Like wine tasting, you will be able to find your favorite pairing of pen and paper, or even pencil and paper. Each package comes with a short description of the included papers, along with a classification table that will show you how the papers fit into the broader landscape of Japanese paper categories. It is like having your very own paper sommelier!
Paper Tasting Washi vol. 2 comes with three notepads of unique Washi papers (traditional Japanese papers) for you to try. Each notepad comes with 25 sheets of paper.
B7 size: Yoshi Washi (not suitable for fountain pens)
Production areas: FUKUI prefecture / This paper’s material is the high quality yoshi, a type of reed, was collected for the prodcution of traditional Japanese instruments, in particular the Shou.
A6 size: Sheep Clouds Washi (not suitable for fountain pens)
Production areas: EHIME prefecture / This washi has a texture almost as sheep clouds, but it is suitable for offset printing. This contradiction was solved due to the unique process of its paper making.
B6 size: Kinkakuden (suitable for fountain pens)
Made on the banks of the Nito river in Kochi prefecture, this is a paper popular with brush calligraphers and often used for copying Buddhist prayers. While the paper itself is made by a machine, all other steps, including QA, counting, cutting, and packaging are done by hand.