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.
The Zebra Sarasa is no ordinary gel ink pen. While the Hi-Tec-C and Signo gel pens tend to grab the spotlight, pen nerds love the Zebra Sarasa for its smooth ink flow, fast-drying qualities, comfortable grip, wide barrel, and retractable tip (whew, that's a long list!). Watch the video below to see the Sarasa in action, and keep reading for a detailed look at each product... read more
Last year was the year of rose gold for TWSBI. Ever since they came out with the 580 mini in rose gold a few years ago, I've lusted after a rose gold TWSBI. I put off purchasing one a few years ago because of the reported quality issues but for the rose gold editions of 2020, they reassured customers that the problems had been fixed. So far so good!Today,... read more
October is a busy month, playing host to a number of international holidays such as Oktoberfest and Halloween to name just a few. It is punctuated by the crisp fall air, a tapestry of fall foliage, and the scent of pumpkin spice. Perhaps less well known globally is that October is also home to German […] read more
Tomoe River notebooks are omnipresent these days, offered by various brands in many different styles. With good reason of course, as everyone wants a piece of the Japanese wonder paper to get the absolute best out of their fountain pens! Turkish stationery and leather goods company, Galen Leather, jumped on the Tomoe River wagon quite a while ago with their collection of 'Everyday Books': a selection of thin softcover... read more
In the UK, junior doctors rotate every August. From August 2019 - August 2020, I decided not to do, what we call, a 'training job'. This meant that the year did not count towards my future training in whatever specialty I choose (which happens to be urology). This was fine with me and this 'year out' was intentional. I applied for a clinical fellow role which had a large... read more
Students and office workers alike depend on highlighter pens to flag information for special attention. Most highlighters do this with ink that’s simply too bright to ignore. As effective as this is, such harsh colors can quickly become overwhelming. Pastel highlighters provide a refuge of balanced colors that accent text with distinct, yet muted hues. This gives highlighted materials a calming feel for more pleasant and... read more
The Goodwriters Pens sales site is back open again! The web admin installed ‘Honey Pot’, an add-on that helps to identify false accounts, and further, my brilliant friend Brenda went through the settings to try to identify as many indicators of fake accounts as possible, as well as working some of her other magic so […] read more
