Tag Archives: japanese

Notebook Review: The Kokuyo Sketch Book

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

Notebook Addict of the Week: Nobuhiro Imai

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

Notebooks from Europe

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

Nolty Diary and New York Times

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

Review: Nolty Gold 2019 Diary/Planner

As regular readers know, I am a big fan of the Nolty Diary. Also known as the “Efficiency Notebook,” this Japanese planner has deservedly become a cult favorite, with Instagram posts galore showing off how people use their Nolty diaries. After very happily using a Nolty diary all through 2018, I decided to spring for … Continue reading Review: Nolty Gold 2019 Diary/Planner

Mark’s Souple Planner 2019

I hate it when I see cute dated planners. There’s only so many planners one person can use each year, so it’s much harder to justify buying lots of them! I already have three Nolty diaries for 2019. But here’s another Japanese planner that looks intriguing: Mark’s Souple EDiT Daily Planner 2019 – B7 – … Continue reading Mark’s Souple Planner 2019

Mom’s Manga Sketchbook

Japanese manga artist Haruka Komowata discovered that her mother was also a talented illustrator when these 50 year old sketchbooks turned up! Professional manga artist learns that talent runs in the family. Read more: Japanese mom’s sketchbook of amazing anime character designs from 50 years ago amazes daughter | SoraNews24

2019 Planners

What’s your planner pick for 2019? Here’s a few that caught my eye… The Hobonichi Techo 2019 is $37.00 at Amazon and JenPens. Moleskine has a slew of options, including themed diaries with Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter, Peanuts, and Le Petit Prince. (2020 Moleskine planners are already showing up on Amazon for preorder too, … Continue reading 2019 Planners

Nolty 2019 Efficiency Notebook Diary from Japan Management

I’ve been loving using my 2018 Nolty diary all this year (full review here), and eagerly awaiting the 2019 version. It looks like they are finally appearing online and I’ll be hoping to score one (or maybe a few!) at Kinokuniya on a trip into NYC this fall. It’s interesting to see all the different … Continue reading Nolty 2019 Efficiency Notebook Diary from Japan Management

Review: Stalogy Notebook

Stalogy is a Japanese notebook brand that has been growing in popularity from what I can see on social media. The brand name is a contraction of the words stationery, standard and technology. I’m not sure this notebook is particularly technological, but I’m a sucker for pretty much any Japanese notebook, so of course I … Continue reading Review: Stalogy Notebook