The world of paper manufacturing has been an uncertain place lately. There have been changes. There have been rumors. There may have even been lies. Or little fibs. Intrigue at least. So I was sent out by the Well-Appointed Desk on a mission to uncover the truth as far as possible.
Some questions we were asked:
I know there’s a lot of gossip around the end of Tomoe River 52 gsm. First, they were changing manufacturing locations but now I’m hearing they are discontinuing it completely. What’s the story?
Tomoe River 52 gsm paper is highly prized by many fountain pen users. The paper is incredibly thin and light, yet fountain pen ink doesn’t bleed through the page (well, it can if you really try). The coating on the paper allows characteristics of fountain pen ink to show up that are lost on other paper varieties. Sheen, shading, and multi-chromatic properties are greatly enhanced.
In 2020, rumors started up that the manufacturer of Tomoe River paper, Tomoegawa, had changed the manufacturing process of their 52 gsm offering without making the change public. Although the company denied this at first, Tomoegawa did release information confirming the changes. Unfortunately there was not a good way to distinguish the two batches at first, however, this was remedied by adding an N suffix to the paper code.
Is it just the 52 gsm that’s going away or the 68 gsm too?
As the fountain pen community was starting to move forward from this incident, a new rumor started to circulate that Tomoegawa would cease the manufacture of all Tomoe River paper, 52 gsm and the heavier 68 gsm. According to this post by Sakae TP, the company is no longer manufacturing products with Tomoe River paper “due to the discontinuation of the base paper product”. The document showing the discontinued items includes both the 68 gsm and 52 gsm notebooks.
According to Tomoegawa, they have been making Tomoe River paper for the last year at a loss due to increases in the price of wood pulp. At first the loss was small but increased steadily. Once the machines needed repair, the decision was made to discontinue the paper production.
I am sad to say that yes, the rumor is true. Tomoe River paper has come to an end as of December 2020 and the paper that now exists is the last.
I’m having trouble finding any Tomoe River at all. Are people hoarding it?
I have noticed several retailers have sold out of most Tomoe River products. I’m sure this recent news has increase sales of the paper as individuals who fell in love with TR paper try to calculate how much is needed for a lifetime supply. I have been guilty of stocking up a few extra notebooks.
However, I don’t believe even die-hard fans of Tomoe River paper will be able to exhaust the current supply too quickly. Stock is also low due to overseas shipping. Delivery times are getting better as the world emerges from Covid lockdowns, but freight deliveries still face delays.
Most retailers have an option to be notified when they restock their inventory. If you are having trouble finding Tomoe River products, sign up with one or more stores to receive these notifications. Don’t panic.
What’s your best advice for alternatives?
Here is where I can bring good news. The problems we have seen with Tomoe River paper over the last two years has encouraged the search for new paper that would bring out the best in fountain pen ink. New paper types are supposedly being developed by several groups.
The best answer I can give to this question is that paper exists already that is great for fountain pens. However, no other paper behaves exactly like Tomoe River paper. What is the feature you most love about Tomoe River paper? If it is the shading, try Cosmo Air Light. If it is the sheen, take a chance with onion skin paper. If it is how the paper enhances the ink, grab some Bank paper. Perhaps you just want to pour out a bottle of ink on a page without ink bleeding through. Is so, try the new washable paper from Traveler’s. If you love the extra long dry time of Tomoe River paper, try Yupo brands. This last one may not ever dry, however.
I know you like the Cosmo Air Light but what else do you recommend?
Nanami Paper has announced a new paper in notebook form that they call ZEN paper. You can even request a sample of it by sending in a self-addressed stamped envelope! Sakae Technical Paper Company is looking into alternative papers as well.
Musubi has been ahead of the curve on this front, having released folio notebooks with Cosmo Air Light paper and Bank paper. They still have stock of Tomoe River folio notebooks as well (Musubi has confirmed that their current stock is the original, pre-2019 TR paper).
Yamamoto Paper has a collection of 18 types of specialty papers in one notepad. I highly recommend this to individuals seeking new paper adventures! Their paper pad can be purchased directly on their site or from many popular retailers. Shigure Inks, Dromgooles, Pen Boutique carries Yamamoto notepads and several kinds of loose leaf paper.
Graphilo paper does an excellent job holding up to fountain pen ink. Midori MD paper and Midori cotton paper are wonderful with fountain pen ink as well and are becoming more widely available. Onion skin is interesting to use with ink and is unique in the texture department. Curnow Bookbinding and Leather makes A5, Traveler’s size and Passport sized notebooks made of a variety of papers including onion skin.
Traveler’s put out several new types of notebooks this year – the B-sides and Rarities collection – that includes a non-Tomoe River paper that is fountain pen friendly. I plan to review that very soon.
The great news about this change is that many groups are looking for suitable replacements. New paper types are being created. Notebooks are being made with a greater variety of paper. The fountain pen world is full of innovative and driven people who will not rest until the right paper or papers have been found and the Well-Appointed Desk will be here to keep you informed about new products and reviewing those products.
We have written this post to be up to date as of June 3, 2021 and have made every effort to only repeat information from the actual manufacturers. We will update the blog with further information as it becomes available.
We should start a Go Fund Me for Tomoegawa to repair or replace their machine
Thank you for this information! Do you have any idea what Hobonichi intends to do now that this has occurred? Their entire product line seems dependent on Tomoe River.
Right?! This makes me so sad.
Informative. I think I have enough correspondence paper for quite a while. I tend to rotate through notebooks with varying paper so this is unfortunate, but doesn’t stop my rotation.
notebooks aren’t my issue… A4 loose sheets (or glue bound for easy separation) is. TR was a great option for lightweight international correspondence. What are the options now?
One thing I love about TR is that it is great for washing inks with water. CAL is not a good option for that at all, and Bank and MD cotton flatten out multi—shading inks. I think there are other good papers out there (Nolty for example), but if someone doesn’t bring them in from Japan, I’m not sure we’ll really get something even close to equivalent.
Yes! I agree. I’m sending away for the sample of the paper Nanami found, hoping its a good replacement.
Thank you for this investigative work Jesi. It really clears up the Tomoe situation. I placed an order for 10 packages of white 52gsm A4 size sheets from Zeller Writing Company. I’m going in on it with my brother, so we’ll each end up with 500 sheets of Tomoe paper, sharing the cost.
I appreciate learning about the alternatives too. Maybe we’ll end up with even better paper some day. What I like about Tomoe River paper is the light weight paper is good for international pen pals. I can write on many sheets, and stay under 1 ounce.
Thanks for the hint about Zeller Writing Company! Their price and quantity discount saved me about $20 on a big order of TR.
I use the following (I prefer 68gsm TRP) and I’m not sure what is actually TRP vs similar to it:
Endless Recorder notebook (TRP, I think)
Stalogy365 notebook (not TRP?)
Midori lightweight paper Traveller’s notebook (TRP, maybe?)
For those who like letter writing, consider Life Air Mail which is delightfully thin and crinkly and strong!
I also recently discovered Midori washi stationery and Kokuyo campus letter pad, both thin paper supplied with guide sheets to assist letter writing.
I will check out Life Air Mail! I prefer the old 52gsm TRP and this makes me so sad. For me, I want a replacement that is as thin, lightweight, durable with watercolors and markers as well as inks and has that special “crinkle” that softens up after being written on. It is magical paper and I’m so sad it’s going away.
I haven’t tried Endless Recorder, but you are correct that Stalogy doesn’t use TRP, and the Midori lightweight paper IS TRP.
Check out the Fedrigoni Splendorgel Avorio 85 GSM notebooks: https://goodinkpressions.com/collections/clairefontaine-splendorgel-papers/products/013-60-page-splendorgel-paper-tn-inserts
Described thus: “ Ultra smooth, natural cream coloured paper. The paper is bleed-resistant, feather-resistant and has low show-through, all contributing to the most pleasant writing experience. Ideal for fountain pen users.”
I’ve been using these in a couple of sizes for about a year. Simply the finest notebooks I have ever used. You can order from the website link or Nuria’s ETSY store. Made with exquisite attention to detail.
Thank you for the information!
Thanks for the advisory. Tomoe challenged even Rhodia and Clairefontaine for status and appeal there for a while but for me didn’t replace them at all. I was introduced to Tomoe by Hippo Noto in their first Kickstarter campaigns and have more than enough books with the 68 paper. I also filled in from Jet and Musubi. It’s a shame though and I hope they come back somehow. I’ve went through this in the past with Levenger on legal pads of true legal size and the Exacompta Black Block pads in 6 styles which I accumulated. Hanging in there I guess. I use legal pads pretty fast so I’ve sprinkled in other types and manufacturers of pads and books to diversify and maintain supplies. I can write a lot more here but won’t for the sake of bandwidth.
Thanks for the resource I’m in the process of ordering some from the link provided above. Is the timeframe 30-50 days approximately?
Kobeha Graphilo is pretty great stuff
FYI… Amazon US seems to have a good supply of TR paper available and I just purchased 2 packs of A4 68 gsm.
Thanks for the reference. I bought one in cream and one in white.
I got the response from Tomoegawa about the whole situation. It remains alive at least until September and they are actively persuing a way to continue it. https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/nvslqq/official_response_from_tomoegawa_regarding_the/
I shared this thread with Nuria at goodINKpressions (see link in my June 5 comment above); I heard back from her the same day. Not surprisingly, since she is a major user of TR for a variety of notebooks, she had already been in contact with Tomoegawa. Her reply is fully consistent with Isao’s comment and his post on reddit, and similarly hopeful. Thank you for this very informative comment, Isao.
Thanks so much for this info! It is much appreciated and helpful and encouraging!
Me, too.
I strongly suggest this article gets edited or even removed completely, since it contains inaccurate information and is far from an “answers all your questions” piece. “Tomoe River paper has come to an end as of December 2020” – this is objectively untrue. There is Tomoe River paper being produced right now.
I understand you wanted to get this article out to clear some rumors of misunderstandings, but it seems you added to that.
The author seems to have machine-translated the sources cited, which is far from ideal.
Please try to be responsible with information.
The Yamamoto link goes to their website which doesn’t sell the fountain pen variety pad and their link to an Etsy page states that the store is taking a break. No other links to buying the pad exist any where. For an article that was published this month, that is really bad form.
I’ve written with fountain pens all my life. I’ve learned that paper, and inks come and go. Sorry to see another one bite the dust.
What about Sanzen’s replacement? https://www.fudefan.com/2021/11/sanzen/
Tomoe River paper will have a new manufacturer by November 28 after Sanzen Paper Manufacturing acquired business rights from Tomoegawa for JPY300 million (US$2.64 million).
Sanzen announced the deal covering naming rights and inventories in a statement on Thursday, with additional financial details disclosed by its parent company Chuetsu Pulp and Paper.
Why don’t you append this post, or just delete it altogether? It is incorrect information, and it has always been.
How do I identify the Tomoe River old batch 52gsm loose paper vs the new batch 52gsm loose paper. I have both the white and cream color loose paper. I did not see any “N” after any sku or model number. Does that mean I have the old batch? Where is the “N” added to the suffix of what number or word?
Any info would be gratefully appreciated.
The paper was actually discontinued due to the surge in currency counterfeiters in the United States, as it had been discovered in numerous investigations around the country, raising concerns about its identical properties to real currency.