Muji Double Ring Blank Notebook @MujiUSA

I am not fond of double ring notebooks, as I've had problems in the past with the end rings separating and catching on my clothes or other things. But this Muji beige double ring notebook caught my eye for its unusual shape: 6.9 by 9.8 inches. It's a hard cover as well, so notetaking using my knees as a desk top works out okay.


The blank paper also made an impression: the pictures don't capture the color, but it's a very deep ivory with a lot of weight to it that I don't expect in recycled paper. It's also got a very smooth surface, making writing a pleasure.

The paper (80 sheets, by the way) is also fountain pen friendly, and does pretty well with gel ink pens. The ultimate test is a Sharpie fine point, and there the paper couldn't keep back the bleed through. But the paper did absorb the ink quite well, so there was not dotting or ghost writing on the following page.

All in all, a good notebook and something I'm going to enjoy using. But I will have to stop by one of the NYC stores and check out this recycled dot notebook, which comes in an A6 pocket size.

Muji Notebooks Update

Didn't know this, Muji notebooks come in three flavors: Malt, Corn, and Bamboo.

Muji 4x4 Recycled Scratch Pad

Just a small item I picked up on one of my trips to Muji, but hadn't had a chance to use it until now. I like to use scratch pads instead of yellow stickies for quick notes, as I feel like I'm wasting a perfectly good 3M for a calculation or phone number. But with a scratch pad, especially one made from recycled paper, I don't feel quite as guilty.

Muji's pad is a 4x4 square made from 50% recycled paper with the feel of a slightly heavier newsprint. It's a dull cream color, which you don't really see too well in the picture (only one of which would load for some reason, grrrrrrr!!!!). The square size fits perfectly on my desk or in one of the compartments in my handbag or carry case, so it's portable as well and could actually be divided into smaller amounts (there are 400 sheets, enough for 4 to 8 pads if you're so minded).

The paper itself is quite nice, a bit thicker than regular newsprint but nowhere near the Rhodia/Quo Vadis 80gsm to 90gsm weight. I forget the price, but less than $2 definitely, which makes it a great stocking stuffer for the paper and office supply lovers on your various lists (birthday, holiday, I'm sorry day, etc.).

Writing is fine, the paper is thick enough so there is no bleed through but a definite shadow using a gel ink pen. Pencils work well too, although you have to be careful of smearing the graphite. All in all this is a cute scratch pad that looks much nicer than the regular bright white rectangles you see on everyone's desks. If you're near Muji sometime (or online, although these are just slightly larger), check out these cute pads.

Muji Double Ring Notebook

One of the Muji double ring notebooks that caught my eye was this one, a 5x8 notebook with a vinyl folder on the outside for pens and papers as well as a gray cotton elastic band to keep the notebook closed.


Inside is pale ivory paper with gray/violet dots instead of lines, very Rhodia dotPad. The paper isn't Rhodia, however, as there is quite a bit of bleed through with fountain pens ink,

I tried out a number of gel ink pens, some Sharpies and Staples OXO pens, and a few different fountain pens.

As you can see, almost all had a heavy shadow on the back side of the paper if not total bleed through. This is paper meant for pencils and ballpoint ink, or someone who doesn't mind writing on one side only.

I like this notebook, however, and plan to take it along with me for work notes and jottings. The biggest problem next to the paper is that the notebook won't lay flat if you have pens inside the vinyl folder.

So basically it's a great idea that looks good, but execution needs a bit more thought.

Muji Pocket Notebook

Muji carries some very nice notebooks in its stationery lineup, including this pocket notebook with dark ivory paper and a red cloth page marker. The dark tan paper cover is fairly heavy but the notebook itself is flexible rather than hard. The 5.75 by 3.75 size makes it ideal for pockets or purses, although the 144 pages means it is very thick (about a half inch or more) and therefore could be unwieldy.

The paper is a bit darker than shown in the picture above, and not very fountain pen friendly (some bleed through). Gel inks and ballpoints work well on this very smooth recycled paper so if you just need to jot notes or make some quick sketches this is the right paper for you. Unfortunately the notebook isn't available online, but if you're around a store take a look at this pocket notebook.

Muji Aluminum Ballpoint Pen

I saw an interesting hexagonal ballpoint pen on Muji's website and was curious to see it in person, so off to a shop I went to have a look. But there were no metal pens like that in the store. What they did have was a ballpoint that looks like their aluminum fountain pen. Measuring about 5 1/3 inches when capped, the Mulji aluminum ballpoint has a needle point tip that produces a 0.7mm width line.


The aluminum ballpoint has one of the nicest oil-based inks I've used in some time, although there is some blotting so smearing is likely. It's a light-weight pen, with a brushed grip that is easy on the fingers and a shiny, polished metal barrel and capt.


The ink cartridge is one of the biggest I've seen, and surprising since Muji gel ink pens tend to use very think ink refills. The aluminum ballpoint is pricey ($16.50 plus tax), and may be in the phase-out stage as it's not on the website. It might also be an in-store only purchase, while the hexagonal ballpoint is online only. It's an interesting pen, and one that I'll be carrying with me for the times I need something other than a fountain pen to make a quick note.

Muji Gel Ink RT (Violet)

Another Muji gel ink retractable I bought, besides the Steel Blue that I posted about last week, is this Violet ink pen. Or at least that's what I'm calling it. Muji has a retractable in a deep purple color, and then there is this one with a lighter shade plunger that would seem to be violet. But when you write with it (0.5mm, btw), the color is much different.

Next to my Hi-Tec Violet 0.5mm, the Muji Violet looks like a true purple, with a lot more blue in it than the Hi-Tec. What I also didn't realize is that the Muji RT is quite a bit smaller than a Hi-Tec, almost half an in with the plunger depressed. The Muji RT Violet is a very pretty color, definitely not as light as the polycarbon barrel color would have you believe. If you're looking for a dark, true purple then this is for you.

Muji Gel Ink RT (Steel Blue)

I stopped by Muji this past weekend to look for some supplies, and saw this retractable gel ink pen. I have several Muji RTs, but it was the color of this one that caught my eye: a medium blue-gray/steel blue that looked quite inviting. There was another color I hadn't seen before as well, so I bought both and went on my way (the other will be posted later this week, as I haven't tried that one out yet).

Muji pens are fantastic and inexpensive, and there are now some interesting colors beyond the standard blue-black-green-red to choose from. This steel blue comes in0.38mm only, or at least only at the one Muji I went to on W. 19th Street. For $1.50 I am inclined to buy several with this color and some other refill colors and just swap out the steel-blue when I need to change. The point is sharp, which makes the line crisp and thin. And the steel-blue color complements the Doane Paper I used for my try out, rather than fading it out and making the writing hard to decipher (a problem I've had with some thin line pens). All in all, a definite keeper. If you are near a Muji, check this pen and color out.

Muji Gel Ink Pen 0.5mm in Plum

Like The Pen Addict I really like the Muji gel ink pens, and have a selection of colors in 0.38mm and 0.5mm. So when I saw some on eBay I figured they were nothing special, until I went to look at the color selection. Wine? Plum? Yellow-Green? Hmmm, some different colors not available in the US stores. I ordered the Plum, and as they were comng from Hong Kong the shipping was high but not outrageous. The total cost was about $2.50 per pen, but this is a one-time splurge.

The Plum gel ink (the 0.5mm in the pic above) is very close to the Red, I had to look carefully to see the difference. But eventually I realized that the Plum had pink in it while the Red had yellow added in. Love the color and am wondering what the Wine looks like.

Muji Hexagonal Gel Ink Pen

Stopped by Muji on W. 19th Street to pick up some pens and saw this Hexagonal gel ink pen in the usual wide range of colors for $3.75, somewhat more than the Classic Muji gel ink pen reviewed by the Pen Addict. The Hex has only a few differences from the Classic that might account for the price increase, but it was an interesting looking pen and as I don't have a hexagonal gel ink in my collection I thought I'd give it a try.

The differences between the Muji Hex and the Classic Muji are mostly cosmetic. The Hex has a hexagonal, solid-colored, matte rubber barrel in the same shade as the ink (black, dark blue, light blue, red, pink, green, orange) rather than a frosted plastic round barrel. The Hex's cap is clear plastic with a colored cap while the pen itself is more of a needle-point than a ballpoint like the Classic Muji. Finally, the Muji Hex comes in two point sizes: 0.3m and 0.4m. The Classic Muji also has two point sizes, but they are slightly bigger: 0.38m and 0.5m. If you like a finer point, the Muji Hex is for you.

Like the Classic, the Hex is a smooth writer and the 0.4m has a nice fine point that doesn't disappear into the paper. The only negative to the Hex is that the cap does not snap into place when posted as it does with the Classic. The only thing keeping the cap on the end of the pen is your good wishes, which may not be enough if you have to move suddenly. While I prefer frosted to matte, the Hex is quite a bit edgier than the Classic in every sense of the word and will be a great addition to my pen rotataion. Another color, like pink or orange, would also add some fun to using the Hex rather than staid, mourning black.

Muji Fountain Pen

Besides the great gel ink pens, Muji also stocks a nice aluminum fountain pen called, approriately, the Alumi-Round Fountain Pen. The Alumi-Round is a slim fountain pen with an iridium fine point nib. The pen is a matte silver color with a honeycomb grip that doesn't irritate the finger, even though it's a bit rough. It measures about 5 1/8 inches capped; 6 1/4 inches posted; and about 5 inches open, about a standard length yet the pen seems longer and sleeker. It takes international cartridges, such as the Mont Blanc black ink cartridge I am currently using but will probably also take a converter. I haven't checked to see what kind of converter it will take, as I'm content with the cartridge system right now.

The pen writes smoothly, with just a slight resistance to the Whitelines paper I used. It's a wet nib, with lots of ink flow, but there's no feathering and the line width is quite nice although it seems just a touch broader than some of my other fine point nibs. All in all, for $15.50 this is a very good fountain pen with a sleek, contemporary design that doesn't take up a lot of space and writes quite well. I don't think you could get a better fountain pen for the price.

Muji Recycled Journal

I thought I would try something different and take a look at a new journal I'm using for some fiction writing, one that I just picked up at Muji. This journal, made with recycled lined paper, comes in a 5-pack and is a size B5--just a bit smaller than the Moleskine Cahier Extra Large Journal. The Muji journal has 30 pages, about half the amount as a Moleskine, but each 5-pack costs $3.95 plus tax, significantly less than the Cahier, which comes in a 3-pack and sells for between $15 to $17 plus tax.

The paper itself feels smooth and thick and not at all like recycled paper, which I find tends to feel a bit scratchy. But the pen doesn't resist the surface and glides right over the paper. The ink saturates well, doesn't feather, and dries quickly (I'm using a 0.38mm black gel ink and have tried it with some fountain pens as well). These are really great notebooks at an inexpensive price, and a workable alternative to the Cahier (which is on the right in this pic).

The song is one of my favorites, and this YouTube is the best version.

Muji

Muji is one of those elegant Asian stores you find in coast cities with neighborhoods like Chinatown, Little Seoul, and Tokyo-Lite. There are three Muji stores in Manhattan, and one at JFK airport for people on the go. Well-cut clothes, nylon bags, nice spare furniture, and all those really interesting things you never knew you needed--small silver polishing cloths, polyvinyl pill and earring boxes, individually wrapped Q-tips. Japanese ingenuity at its best, and all reasonably priced.

If you happen to be on West 19th Street off 5th Avenue, there are two places to visit: Uncle Moe's Tacos (for the steak burrito) and Muji Chelsea at 16 W. 19th Street. Through September 13, 2009, all pens and other writing accessories ate 10% off. And if you prefer to build your own pen from scratch, you can purchase a polycarbonate shell and your choice of gel ink or oil-based ballpoint ink cartridges for a total of $1.60 or less.

The gel pen I'm using to write this is a 0.38mm in dark green, on Staples bagasse paper. The pen is a bit scratchy on this pad, and there is a definite shadow on the other side but no bleed through. I first read about these pens in a New York Times column a few weeks back, and went to Muji Chelsea to give it a try. I really liked the look and feel of the pen and bought quite a few.

The pen comes in 0.38mm and 0.5mm; if you decide to build your own, you can also get a refill in 1.0mm. But be careful--the ink refills are in Japanese with no English translation, and the oil-based ballpoints and gel inks look exactly the same and have been mixed in with each other. Check at the register to make sure you're getting the one you want; I have 4 ballpoint refills sitting in my pen drawer, hoping I'll give up gel ink soon and come back to them. I really prefer the 0.38mm, it has a smoother feel to it. But YMMV. And you have lots of colors to choose from: black, dark blue, light blue, red, yellow, orange, pink, dark green, and light green.

I managed to get a few pics of the pen area, an amazing display of color and plastic. Gel pens, oil based ballpoints, mechanical pencils, multi-ballpoints, fountain pens, pen cases, scissors, erasers, and colored drawing pencils. And underneath are the papers, notepads, journals and scratchpads. Lots and lots of paper.

A 5-pack of B5 30 line notebooks similar to Moleskine is $3.95 plus tax (you can see them in the pic of my Muji stash, mid-to-upper left with the dark gray border). Notepads in the A4 range (8.5 x 11) are a cream color with a vinyl protector and run abut $1.75 plus tax. There are binders and loose leaf, journals, newsprint, scratch pads, and more for very, very little money.

These are most of my Muji purchases, including the set of colored pens for $7.50 plus tax and the vinyl carryalls I use for pens, pads, change and whatever else I don't want to lose in my handbag. The paper varies, from smooth Rhodia 80gm style notebooks to newsprint scratchpads and drawing journals.

And if you're not interested in pens or paper, check out the housewares, bedding and linens, shoes and clothing. Canvas sneakers are on sale for 30% off ($20 down to $14). The size is interesting. My foot grew into a 7, went down to a 6.5 in most shoes, but in this particular sneaker I wear a 6.

Muji Soho, 455 Broadway, 212-334-2002
Muji Times Square, 620 8th Avenue, 212-382-2300
Muji Chelsea, 16 W. 19th Street, 212-414-9024