Front cover of the Kokuyo Campus Notebook

The Kokuyo Campus Notebook is something that I found on my search for office supplies in San Francisco recently.  This was another of my many finds at the Maido Stationery, which I cant recommend enough if you live near them.

Side view of the unique edge of the Kokuyo Notebook

If you didnt notice the “V” shaped cut out on the edge in the first picture of this notebook, go back and take another look so that the next picture above gives you a little more perspective on the unique design of this notebook.    Its hard to describe, and the pictures might not do it justice, but basically the top half of each notebook page is slightly wider than the one before it, creating a slanted edge that slopes slightly outward.  The bottom half of the notebook does the opposite, so as you move towards the back of the notebook it creates a shelf-like appearance.

One more view of the unique edge of the Kokuyo Campus Notebook

Because I may not have described it clearly enough I wanted to include one more image of the Kokuyo Notebook.  I guess you could also describe it as a beveled edge on the notebook, and it kind of switches directions half way down the length of its edge.  When you hold this notebook in your hand its immediately obvious one of the reasons that it was designed with this unique edge, its almost as if the notebook is calling you to place a thumb on the edge and start flipping through it.  The way that the edge is cut like this makes it incredibly easy to do the normal flipping that you would with a standard notebook using your thumb to pull back and release the pages…but its just so much more easy and fun with this design.

Rolling up the Kokuyo Campus Notebook

I dont know how many of you do the roll up thing with your notebook, where you roll it into a tube to carry it, or as I remember hearing also makes for a good weapon for self defense (probably not the recommended use here) to thrust into someones side.  If this is your style (for carrying or bludgeoning) the tapered edges of the notebook make it easier to carry this way because the pages now actually lay smooth and flat when you roll it up in either direction.  Its a pretty simple design, yet such genius.

Some standard info about the notebook is as follows:

• 80 Sheets of paper with 6mm ruled lines
• Size A5 or 210mm x 148mm
• 80% recycled content…I think (I say I think because my Japanese is horrible, and by horrible I mean I dont read it at all)
• $10.75 from Maido, no discount or special consideration was given for this review or the mention

On to the writing sample….

Writing sample for the Kokuyo Campus Notebook

The Kokuyo Campus notebook has some VERY smooth paper in it, and I really like that the lines and edges of the notebook are color coordinated with the cover, which is a nice touch.  The paper itself is not a bright white, but not quite a cream color, and is very easy on the eyes.  In my writing sample I used a variety of pens including the Sharpie Pen, a Fountain Pen, Uniball Signo, Pentel Slicci, Pilot Hi Tec C, Paper Mate Liquid Expresso, and Pilot Razor Point among others.  None of the pens I used showed any kind of feathering on the paper at all, but I will say for the most part you probably wont find yourself writing on the other side of the page with this notebook because the show through on the other side is pretty strong with all of the pens, even in the lighter colors.

Overall this unique notebook has some really nice features that make it stand out from the crowd, and the writing experience itself is quite nice.  The only downside that I see is the issue with the show through on the back side of the pages.   Although I do like this notebook I am starting to find myself with way too many notebooks, so I may end up including this in an upcoming giveaway, if you are interested, keep an eye out for it.

©2017, Brian Greene. All rights reserved.