Novelist's Monokaki Notebook

If you believe that using the same notebook as past Nobel Prize winners will make you a better writer as some companies would have you believe, then Monokaki should be a similarly appealing notebook. The one exception being that while other's marketing campaigns are entirely fabricated, the Monokaki notebook's paper - Kotobukiya paper - was really created as a bespoke product for Japanese author Fumio Niwa by the grandmother of the present-day owner in 1939 and used by countless authors and poets including no less than two Literature Nobel prize winners and one nominee.

These are: novelist Yasunari Kawabata and existentialist philosopher Kenzaburo Oe who received the prize respectively in 1968 and 1994; Yukio Mishima, also a user of Kotobukiya paper, was nominated three times unsuccessfully. 

The manuscript paper was indeed designed with novelists in mind for its excellent performance when used with fountain pens - no bleeding, no feathering - the creme de la creme of writing paper (other pens and pencils welcome too)

Masuya, the 4th generation family company making these beautiful notebooks was founded in 1882. It still operates and manufactures from the Asakusa district in Tokyo (here pictured its office sometime in the late 40s)

So many details in spirit and manufacturing, make this notebook a special piece of stationery. For its authenticity, contribution to literature and aesthetic surprises, it is a personal favourite of Choosing Keeping and certainly of its most discerning customers.

It is available ruled/lined or plain/blank in three sizes featuring a 1940's inspired and stationery themed woodblock design by manga artist Ryo Takagi.

Soft flexible washi paper card cover 
Acid-free smooth light cream paper
Plain or ruled (lines 9mm apart)
160 pages
Fountain pen friendly
Thread-stitch bound in small sections for flat opening throughout

Size guide:
Large, B5 - 257 x 175 mm
Medium, A5 - 210 x 148 mm
Pocket, A6