In Fall 2021, I threw a extra notebook into my Nolty planner order, just for the heck of it. Then I let it sit around for almost 2 years without reviewing it! Let’s get this situation rectified tout suite. (Or 今すぐ , imasugu, as may be more appropriate.)

This Nolty Notebook is model # NTBNT3201. I can’t read most of the packaging as it’s in Japanese, but it’s pretty clear that the paper band around it specifies measurements of 91 x 156 x 9mm, 192 pages, and paper with a 3.5mm grid. The paper is noted as being “Nolty Diary Paper.”

From the minute you take it out of the package, it feels rather sleek. The black card stock cover has a slight texture, with the product information stamped in one corner, very subtly with just a bit of lamination so the letters are shiny in contrast to the matte surface of the cover. The back cover is blank.

Inside, there is no branding or product information. Just the same black paper as endsheets, which looks great– though if you’re in the habit of writing your contact details on the inside front cover, you’ll have to use a white or metallic pen, or paste in a label. The notebook opens nice and flat, thanks to carefully sewn signatures and a light application of glue.

The paper throughout is an interesting layout. There’s a margin around the edges, wider on the top with a space for the date, and then a grid section inside the margin. There are 4 red triangles marking the mid-point of each edge of the grid area. I’m not quite sure how this is intended to be used, but it looks cool! The packaging shows a page with some kind of diagram of past/now/future, but I don’t know if that’s meant to be a suggested layout or just a sample of an idea or project sketch. If anyone can translate it, I’d love to know more.

The paper feels silky smooth. Though it’s said to be the same as Nolty diary paper, I think it feels even smoother than the paper in my Nolty planner. It is wonderful to write on, and most pens don’t bleed through at all. There is some show-through, as you’d expect of a paper this weight. (No paper weight is specified but it feels quite light.)

If you want a landscape/horizontal format notebook, perhaps to lie in front of a keyboard, I think this would be a very satisfying choice. It could also make a great reporter-style notebook, as you can easily bend the cover back fully.

I paid 770 yen for this notebook, not including shipping. That still seems to be the suggested retail price on the Nolty online store. At the current exchange rate, that is about $5.18, which seems quite reasonable for a notebook of this quality. Shipping from Japan to other countries will add quite a bit, but if you’re ordering other things from Japan via a proxy shipping service, it might not be too much to add on. If you don’t want to deal with all that, ordering from Amazon.com is also an option– as of this writing, they have this notebook available for $20.21. Pink, beige, and ruled versions are also available.