Kokuyo Campus Notebook Review

The Kokuyo Campus notebook is a no-frills, fountain pen friendly notebook. Many people also consider it to be a great notebook for anyone who doesn’t want to spend a lot on nice paper. I found some for sale the last time I was in San Francisco’s Japantown and picked one up to try it out myself. Read on to hear my thoughts on the Kokuyo Campus notebook.

First Impressions

Due to the size (A5) and thickness (75 sheets), my first impression of the notebook was that it was a little flimsy. The cover material isn’t very stiff, so the notebook doesn’t have a lot of “substance” to it. It does seem to be well-made. The paper feels nice and the lines look thin and unobtrusive.

The Kokuyo Campus notebook comes in many different colors

The Details

Let’s take a closer look at the notebook and go over a few of the more important details.

• Pages: 75 pages, 150 sheets (including contents page)
• Paper Weight: 70gsm
• Binding: Glue
• Page Style: Lined – 7mm
• Size: A5, B5

Ink-handling characteristics (A table with the following properties can be found at the bottom of this post)

• Sheen: Low
• Shading: High
• Bleeding: High
• Ghosting: Medium
• Feathering: Low
• Dry Time: Medium

Kokuyo Campus Paper Test: Front

Kokuyo Campus Paper Test: Back

Other features

• Contents page/index
• Top/bottom margins
• Page/Date lines at top of each page
• Available in multiple sizes and colors

The first page of the notebook can be used as an index or table of contents.

The upper left/right corner of each page has space for a page number and date.

Actual Use

In actual use, the notebook is solid. I can’t say that it gives an amazing writing experience, but it’s not a bad writing experience either. The paper, while smooth, is not luxurious. There are plenty of other notebooks I’d buy again before this one, but the price is what sets it apart. It truly is a budget notebook, even more so than the Black n’ Red or Clairefontaine Basic notebooks. About the only way you’ll find fountain pen friendly paper at a lower cost per sheet is to buy it loose leaf.

While it might not be very exciting to write on, the Campus notebook does perform well with fountain pens. It shows some sheen and has decent shading. I did experience more bleedthrough than I would prefer. Is it an unacceptable amount? That’s for you to decide.

Ghosting is a bit higher than I would prefer, but not high enough to make using both sides of a page impossible. I didn’t observe any feathering under normal use, but did notice some that was caused by the oils on my skin. You’ll want to be careful with this paper and avoid touching it too much while writing.

Here you can see how the ink shades and lack of feathering.

Conclusion

The Kokuyo Campus notebook would make a great notebook for a student or anyone who wants fountain pen friendly paper for taking notes or writing information. It handles fountain pen ink well and will show some shading and sheen. While I’d recommend you take precautions and protect the paper from skin oils in order to avoid feathering, the notebooks should offer a nice writing experience.

They are also great value and one of the few notebooks I’ve seen that I would truly consider to be a “budget” option. While I paid around $5 for my notebook ($0.07/sheet), they can be purchased individually online at Jetpens for $5.75 ($0.08/sheet) or, if you look around, can be purchased in multipacks on Amazon for under $0.06/sheet.

If you’d like a bit more information about how I test papers and notebooks, I wrote an article about my paper rating system.