The Best Pens & Inks for Tomoe River Paper (Plus Paper Alternatives)

Tomoe River paper has had a profound effect on the fountain pen paper landscape that can’t be denied. It grew from its humble beginnings as a paper shared within small pockets of the fountain pen community to a juggernaut that appears in notebooks, planners, notepads, and more. Its low paper weight and ability to bring out the best of sheen and shading in fountain pen inks makes it a standout among thicker and more absorbent papers.

However, while it’s one of the best papers for fountain pens, it might not be the perfect paper for everyone. Because it’s so thin, it can feel fragile to writers who are used to more robust papers. It has high amounts of showthrough, which may be distracting to lovers of broad nibs and dark inks. Using Tomoe River paper can be a compromise for some fountain pen enthusiasts who don’t enjoy its quirks but do appreciate its high performance and ubiquity.

Thankfully, lots of other fountain pen friendly papers exist, so you don’t have to compromise if you don’t want to. No paper is an exact duplicate of Tomoe River paper, but we’ll discuss several different papers that are excellent substitutes for Tomoe River paper.