If you’re connected to the online fountain pen community in any way, you’ve probably heard rumblings about Tomoe River paper lately. If you haven’t heard yet, it seems that Tomoegawa, the company who manufacturers Tomoe River, has plans to shut down the machine that currently makes Tomoe River later this year. A replacement machine for manufacturing has not yet been announced. Even if production does move to another machine (which is currently doubted by many), it is unlikely the paper will remain unchanged. Some rumors even claim that retailers in the United States will not be receiving any new shipments, meaning what is currently in shops right now is it… possibly forever!
As you can probably guess, this has led to a recent rush on Tomoe River paper and notebooks. Many people love this paper and want to make sure that they have a long-term supply in the event that the paper changes or even becomes impossible to find. Eventually though, people will have to find alternative papers if Tomoe River is no longer available. That’s what I want to talk about in this article. What are some good Tomoe River paper alternatives and replacements?
What Makes Tomoe River So Desirable?
If you haven’t already figured it out, Tomoe River is a very popular paper. What are the qualities that make it so desirable? One of the main reasons is that it is widely available in many different notebooks from different manufacturers. It could be argued that so many notebook manufacturers use it because it is so popular, but I think the opposite also holds true and that it is popular because so many people know about it and trust it. It is not a closed-system paper, like how Midori notebooks are the only ones that use Midori paper or Rhodia notebooks and notepads are the only ones that use Rhodia paper. It’s more “open source”, meaning anyone who knew how and had the means could buy enough Tomoe River paper to make their own notebooks. And the consumers buying those notebooks could trust that the paper would live up to their expectations based on previous Tomoe River experiences.
Tomoe River is available in loose leaf as well as notebooks.
Other features that make Tomoe River so popular are its sheening capabilities and the weight of the paper. It is basically the go-to paper for testing sheen in fountain pen ink. Few papers can match the amount of sheen you’ll get from Tomoe River. It is also a light-weight paper, coming in 52gsm and 68gsm versions. Both of these lead to thinner and lighter notebooks than you’d get with other papers. Many people also like the tactile feel of the thinner 52gsm paper.
Another less-prevalent reason for the popularity of Tomoe River paper is how well it stands up to large amounts of ink and even water. I know many people, myself included, like to use Tomoe River for playing with ink and water. The fact that you can pool liquids on its surface and not have them soak through and ruin the pages underneath make it ideal for wet projects that other notebooks couldn’t dream of handling.
What Are Some Alternative Papers?
So now that you have an idea of what makes Tomoe River so popular, let’s look for some other papers that have the same qualities. I can already tell you that there is no one single paper that will check all of the Tomoe River boxes, so I’m going to say that there is currently no replacement for it. There are alternatives, though.
Feature: Availability
One paper that has become quite popular in the last year or so is Cosmo Air Light. It shows great amounts of sheen, has even better shading than Tomoe River and is what I consider to be a high-contrast paper, meaning that it really makes inks pop. Still, not everyone is a fan of the writing experience. The best comparison I can come up with is that it is similar to writing on a dry-erase board. It also can’t handle water like Tomoe River. It is also a heavier paper, with the lightest version coming in at 75gsm. Still, it is popular enough that many notebook manufacturers have started offing it as an option. Similar to Tomoe River, it is also available loose leaf from most online shops if that’s more your style.
Similar to Tomoe River, Cosmo Air Light is available in notebooks and loose leaf sheets.
Feature: Sheen
If sheen is your thing, Tomoe River is going to be hard to replace. Fortunately, I have a great option for you! Unfortunately, it’s not as easy to find and is significantly more experience. What paper am I talking about? Graphilo. As far as writing experience and ink-handling capabilities, I believe it is superior to Tomoe River. In my recent paper tests, it scores as high or higher than Tomoe River in every category. Unfortunately, it costs around 4-5x more than Tomoe River, only comes in 32-page notebooks and is often sold out. Still, if pure paper performance is your main concern, you can’t go wrong with Graphilo.
Graphilo is one of the top papers on the market.
Feature: Weight
Finding a lightweight but fountain pen friendly paper may prove to be a bit more of a challenge. The best recommendation I have for you is Profolio Oasis Light. Weighing in at 70gsm, it is still heavier than the 68gsm Tomoe River, but just barely. Thankfully, it matches the 68gsm Tomoe River paper in every test, even surpassing it in dry time. Unfortunately, it is only available in 30-sheet, B5-sized notebooks with Profolio’s unique custom line/grid pattern. Fortunately, they are very inexpensive and available at many online and brick-and-mortar pen shops.
Oasis Light is a wonderful, lightweight paper.
Feature: Water Resistance
This may be the trickiest feature of all to replace. In my experience, Tomoe River is one of the few writing papers I’ve tried that handles water as well as it handles ink. Of course, you could always use watercolor or multimedia paper, which is meant to handle water (and actually is quite nice to write on), but there aren’t really any notebooks made with watercolor paper. Still, I don’t want to leave you wanting in this area, so I pulled out some water and pens and started playing with different papers. I was surprised to find multiple papers that handled ink and water fairly well. Midori MD, Life Noble and G. Lalo Verge de France all stood up to pooling water and ink without allowing it to soak through to the other side. Others had decent performance as well, but these are three of the easier to find papers that you may already have in your possession.
From top to bottom: Life Noble, Midori MD, G. Lalo Verge de France
Conclusions
You can probably tell by now that no paper on the market today is a replacement for Tomoe River paper. It somehow has an almost magical mix of availability, performance and weight. I didn’t even really mention cost, but when purchased loose leaf, Tomoe River has a very low cost per sheet. Even many Tomoe River notebooks have a very low cost per sheet compared to similar notebooks with other paper in them. So what are you to do if it is your favorite paper and you can’t find it any more? Take this opportunity to figure out what you like about it and explore new papers! There are some amazing papers out there that many people aren’t aware of. While it may take a few tries to find a different paper that really speaks to you, I am sure that you’ll be able to find something that you love (almost) as much as Tomoe River paper.
There are plenty of paper options on the market besides Tomoe River.
If you want to try a variety of different papers before buying a bunch of notebooks, I have paper sample packs available in my shop. Head on over and see if there’s something there that you want to try! If you want to find papers with specific qualities or features, you can use my Paper Search Tool to help with your search.
Resources
I mentioned at the top of this article that the online fountain pen community has been talking about Tomoe River paper. If you’re interested in being more social or informed, here are a few resources you may want to explore:
Tokyo Inklings – A podcast with great info about the Tokyo pen community and a good source for Tomoe River updates.
The Pen Addict Slack – Constant conversations about everything pen related. You can request an invite here.
musubi – One of the original sources of Tomoe River info to the fountain pen community.
r/fountainpens – The fountain pen subreddit that has occasional discussions about current events.
Comments 21
It’s just too bad that TRP will go away. What will a big company like Hobonichi do, who are solely using this paper for their planners? I hope they will find a good alternative. Thank you for making tests with other papers, I think Cosmo Air might be the one for me
Author
It really is, but many of us, big companies included, will need to adjust. I do hope people will take this opportunity to branch out to other types of paper. Best of luck with Cosmo Air Light!
Oh boy, I can see it now. Instagram glamour shots of hoarded stacks of Tomoe River paper á la Arco material fountain pens.
Author
I think I’ve already seen a few of these. Luckily, paper is a whole lot more affordable than an Arco pen!
For me, my preference for TR Paper has nothing to do with sheen (which I loathe) or water resistance, and everything to do with the silky tactlie feel of the paper against my nibs. TR paper makes every pen feel well-tuned and loaded with a good lubricated ink. (Well, almost every pen.) I have tried all the papers you mentioned as replacements, but sadly none of them come close to the feel of 52gr TR paper. When writing for extensive sessions (1+ hours) I can’t use anything else. I gave a small stash now, and will be careful about what I use it for. I’m very sad.
Author
I think you’ve got a great point, Elaine. Tomoe River has a very specific feel, especially when writing in a notebook with a stack of it underneath. There are many papers out there that are super smooth and very luxurious to write on, but I’d agree that none can quite match the overall experience of TR.
I can’t miss what I’ve never used, but my condolences to those of you who will be losing a longtime friend. I myself have struck up a friendship with HP Premium32 paper. As Mr. Bosley has mentioned in other articles, it is relatively inexpensive, coming in at around $12/ream, give or take.
Author
Thanks for the kind words, David. The HP Premium32 is a fantastic paper, but is a very different paper than Tomoe River. Still, having a variety of papers for different uses is a good thing!
I enjoy Kokuyo paper- similar feel to TRP, and its sheen is excellent, with no ghosting- it’s 4gs/m different in weight, so it’s a little sturdier.
Author
Kokuyo is very nice paper and a good option for everyday use.
It may sound a bit odd but Canson XL Marker paper (pads of 100 70g sheets) is a fairly good replacement for some uses. As far as I know it only comes in 9×12, but it’s available at Michael’s and Joann’s, a single pad is cheaper on Amazon but the craft stores frequently run BOGOs which can make as low as $9/pad. Not bad for 100 sheets, especially if you fold them in half and make notebooks out of them. It shows sheening, shading, and can handle a little water, and it’s very smooth. Though it doesn’t feel as lovely as TRP, it does act as well as TRP in my experience.
That being said, I’m going to miss TR 52g paper once my stash of Endless notebooks runs out. I had a notebook hoard before and it’s only gotten larger since I rediscovered fountain pens and all the lovely inks over the past 9 months. 😮
Author
That’s really interesting, Heather! I’ll definitely see if I can find some of this paper and try it out. Glad to hear you have a stash of TR. I’m sure it will last for quite a while.
And I do plan on getting some different papers for different uses. It’ll just have to wait until I can better afford to. I’m an almost-rabid list maker (I have lists of and for just about everything), and I’ve made one for fountain pen stuffs to get. The middle column is for paper, left for pens, right for inks.
Another not as well-known, possible TR-replacement paper is Kokuyo MIO (a ‘premium’ paper variety offered by Kokuyo). I happened upon a notebook with MIO not too long ago, almost by accident, but I’m sure glad I did!
Having been previously unfamiliar with MIO, I was honestly blown away by its performance. It’s exceptionally smooth to the touch (finger or nib), lightweight (~60gsm), and in my opinion (IMO haha get it?) it’s propensity for demonstrating sheen is outstanding (2nd only to Tomoe among all the papers I’ve tried/tested).
I guess the biggest setback, however, is that despite being relatively resilient for its weight, it’s still noticeably more prone to bleed-thru (under the heaviest applications) than TR.
Author
Thanks for the suggestion, Steven. I have a MIO notebook and, while I haven’t reviewed it yet, can say that it has great paper and performs better than the standard Campus notebooks. Glad you’ve found a paper you love to use!
I’m just learning about the end of TRP paper. I’ve used a combination of Seven Seas Crossfield and Hobonichi Cousin for the last 7 years for my journaling (plus watercolors). I use the Platinum Carbon Desk Pen with the carbon ink to sketch. I do have the Midori MD notebook and will try watercolors on it. I’ve also ordered more Crossfield so I hope I’ll be able to find a replacement. Thank you for your recommendation.
Author
It is sad, isn’t it? I’m not sure if any paper will take watercolor quite like TR, but hopefully you can find something that works well for you.
I totally agree. It is the “silk” of Paper. Especially for people like me who’s prone to paper cuts. When you write on it and flip the pages, its therapeutic.
Author
It has such a nice feel when flipping through a notebook. It will be missed!
I’m delighted to share that I’ve recently come across a fantastic FP-friendly paper, thanks to the helpful tips you provided from your blogs. The ending of TRP was bad news for me as we already had dread for FP friendly paper. After thoroughly testing numerous options, I stumbled upon the Bindal Fineprints A4 size. My office had bought them for the printers. At just around 500 bucks ($6) for a pack of 500 sheets, it’s a true bargain.
One of the standout features of this paper is its remarkable resistance to ink bleeding and feathering. Sheen and shading is a no go for these but it gets the job done. Even when using my beloved Parker Frontier with a Medium nib, the paper handles it splendidly. I couldn’t be happier with the results! I truly appreciate your guidance, as it has led me to this excellent find.
Author
Thanks for the info, Archit. I’ll have to see if I can find some Bindal Fineprints paper to try out. While it may not be a replacement for TRP, it sounds like it’s worth a try.