[Yamamoto Paper] Writing Pad (A5) "SANZEN Tomoe River"

About the Paper
Tomoe River, originally created by Tomoegawa Co., Ltd., ceased production in 2021 due to a change in business strategy. However, to continue the legacy of this beloved paper, the brand was passed on to Sanzen Paper Co., Ltd. in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture. Since 1976, Sanzen Paper has been producing 52 gsm paper for notebooks. They used this expertise to re-engineer the raw materials, specifically the blend of broadleaf pulp (eucalyptus) and conifer pulp (pine, etc.), to create Sanzen Tomoe River S. This new formulation has a more uniform fiber entanglement, resulting in a smoother surface and improved ink resistance. The paper is also slightly thicker—about 5 microns—and has a firmer texture. A new feature is its resistance to warping, even when erased with a friction pen. Sanzen Paper began full-scale production of Sanzen Tomoe River S in February 2022. In fountain pen tests conducted by Yamamoto Paper, low-viscosity inks, such as those from HERBIN in pink and red, dried quickly and did not bleed through the paper even with layering.

Yamamoto Paper’s WRITING PAD series is a collection of writing pads that let you enjoy the textures and writing experiences of various types of paper. The outbreak of the global COVID-19 pandemic has brought about major changes in the social infrastructure across a wide spectrum of fields. The paper industry has also been greatly affected by this outbreak, with an accelerating trend to digitize traditional paper-based workflows to support remote workers hitting them particularly hard. Up until these times, Japanese paper manufacturers have strived to offer a wide variety of　products to meet every customer’s specific needs, tweaking formulations based on regional needs or for very particular usage scenarios. As a result, Japanese paper manufacturers have managed to produce a vast breadth of paper varieties that are unmatched in any other part of the world.
Unfortunately though, the pandemic has put these paper manufacturers in a severe financial strain, forcing them to find ways to cut costs for survival. The consolidation of product offerings has been accelerated and less profitable paper varieties are rapidly being phased out. In order to preserve the obscure gems of writing papers that are on the brink of possible extinction, Yamamoto Paper has curated our favorite writing papers and turned them into writing pads your enjoyment. We hope you will enjoy the wonderful feeling of writing on these papers as it may only be a matter of time before they disappear forever!

WRITING PAD A5 / SANZEN TOMOE RIVER S
Size: A5 (148 x 210 mm)
Sheets: 200
Paper: Sanzen Tomoe River S
Weight: 52 gsm (Includes a ruled guideline sheet for A5 size)

 (Quoted from the Yamamoto Paper Co., Ltd. website.)