Paper is one of those thing that many people don’t find very exciting. In the world of fountain pens, pens and inks usually make the headlines and get all of the press. It takes a lot for a new paper to get people excited. Recently though, a paper that many people hadn’t heard of before started getting a lot of attention. That paper? Cosmo Air Light from Yamamoto Paper.
Yamamoto recently released a paper sample pack that includes a variety of their papers, including Cosmo Air Light. Many people picked this sampler up at pen shows and pen shops and tried out the papers. The one that really stood out to everyone was Cosmo Air Light. Let’s take a look at it and see why.
Here’s an A4 package of Cosmo Air Light.
First Impressions
The first thing that you should know about Cosmo Air Light is that, as far as I know, it is currently only available as individual sheets. A lot of people have been asking for someone to create a notebook with this paper, so I wouldn’t be surprised if one came out soon. As it is, though, if you order some Cosmo Air Light you’ll get a pack of 50 A4 sheets, similar to what you’d expect if you ordered a pack of Tomoe River paper. The only labeling on the plastic package is a sticker that is mostly in Japanese.
Here is the paper description on the package.
This is the sample package of paper I got at the SF Pen Show.
The Details
Here’s a closer look at some of the details for Cosmo Air Light:
- Sheets: 50
- Paper Weight: 75gsm
- Binding: Loose Leaf
- Page Style: Blank
- Size: A4
Ink-handling characteristics (A table with the following properties can be found at the bottom of this post)
- Sheen: High
- Shading: Very High
- Bleeding: Very Low
- Ghosting: Average
- Feathering: Very Low
- Dry Time: Very High
Actual Use
As I have already mentioned, the first thing you’ll probably notice about this paper is the texture. It has a specific tactile feel to it and that translates into the writing experience as well. You’re probably used to most papers, especially Japanese papers, being silky smooth to write on. Cosmo Air Light offers up a bit of resistance, but not in the form of feedback like you get from Midori MD. It has a bit of smooth drag, kind of like writing on a dry-erase board. It’s a very similar writing experience to a Yoseka notebook or Mnemosyne. I know that not everyone is going to like it, but I’m sure that it won’t bother most people.
You can see from these writing samples how much contrast the ink has.
Here are the tests for both the 75gsm and 92gsm varieties, which have nearly identical performance.
Cosmo Air Light – Front: Notice the shading and contrast this paper has.
Cosmo Air Light – Back: No bleedthrough and some ghosting.
The 92gsm is very similar to the 75gsm
Still similar to the 75gsm
Compared To Tomoe River
A lot of people have been saying that this paper could be the next Tomoe River (TR). Some have even suggested that this could replace TR as the fountain-pen-community-paper-of-choice if the new manufacturing process changes TR for the worse. I personally don’t think that they are similar. Sure, they both have great sheen, shading, long dry times and handle ink very well, but there are lots of papers like that on the market today. Most of those papers are only available in notebooks, so maybe the similarity is that both Cosmo Air Light and Tomoe River are available in A4 sheets? Still, the writing experience and overall look of ink once it dries make these two very different papers in my opinion. TR is very smooth to write on while Cosmo Air Light offers some resistance. Cosmo Air Light gives ink a high-contrast look while TR does not. Still, I would not be sad to see more widespread use of Cosmo Air Light and think that it and Tomoe River can happily coexist.
You can see the ink on Cosmo Air Light (left) has more pop than on Tomoe River (right).
Conclusion
It should be very telling that out of all of the papers in the Yamamoto paper sampler, Cosmo Air Light is the one that everyone gravitated to. It is a fantastic and unique paper that is different from what many people may have experienced before. While the texture and dry times may not appeal to everyone, there is no doubt that it does an exceptional job handling ink and makes any fountain pen ink look wonderful. While it is currently difficult to obtain due to global shipping restrictions, I think you’ll find it worth the wait. If you can’t wait, I do have it available to sample in my paper sample packs.
If you’d like a bit more information about how I test papers and notebooks, I wrote an article about my paper rating system.
Interested in trying this paper before buying a pack? Head over to my shop and pick up a paper sample pack.
Yamamoto Cosmo Air Light
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Sheen (higher is better)
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Shading (higher is better)
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Bleeding (higher is better)
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Ghosting (higher is better)
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Feathering (higher is better)
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Dry Time (higher is better)
Fountain Pen Love Overall Rating
Pros: Amazing shading, handles ink very well, makes ink pop
Cons: Texture may not appeal to everyone, not available in notebooks, currently difficult to obtain
Value Rating: 3.71 Stars, Cost per A5 sheet: $0.14
Who this paper is for: People who want their inks to look the best that they can look
Upgrade to this paper from: Maruman Mnemosyne
Upgrade from this paper to: Graphilo
Comments 14
Thank you for this post and the really informative photos. You have just cost me some money 🙂
Author
You’re welcome! Trust me, it will be money well spent.
All of a sudden I need some more writing paper! This looks great, although I can almost guarantee it’ll be difficult to get hold of in the UK. Tomoe River isn’t easy to come by.
Author
Well, if it makes you feel any better, I think this paper is currently hard to find everywhere. At least you have something to look forward to!
An Etsy shop based on Japan (Danika58) has started selling notebooks using this paper.
Author
Ooh, that’s very tempting. I’d love a notebook full of it! Thanks for the heads up.
I had never heard of this paper until I read this post. Now I need some!
Author
I hope you can find some. It’s fantastic!
Do you find that this paper is thin enough to use a line guide sheet behind it? Thanks!
Using fountain pens longer than most 52 years and counting. I have purchase two of these in a Dotted A5 size from (Danika58) on Etsy. Quality and construction of this notebook is above par. The inks I have used from Akkerman to Waterman have feathered on this paper. Some more than others making my EF nibs look as if I were writing with medium or broad nibs. Perhaps I received them from a bad batch as both react the same way. My inks are not old or contaminated in anyway and the EF nibs range from Jowo, Bock, Pelikan and Asian proprietary nibs. So, I am uncertain as to the cause of this.
Author
That’s really interesting, Daniel. I haven’t experienced any feathering on Cosmo Air Light. While it is rare for a batch of paper to be bad, it’s not unheard of. Maybe you were unlucky and got a couple of notebooks made with faulty paper? I sure hope not, but I can’t think of any other reason that all of your pens and inks would feather. Sorry to hear it.
I just tried the Cosmo Air light paper in a Yamamoto sampler! I LOVE how ink looks on the paper! The only drawback worth noting is that the paper seems exceptionally sensitive to hand oils, so I feel a bit like I have to handle it with white cotton gloves.
Author
It really does make ink look amazing. Hand oils can be tough on some of these coated papers, which can definitely make writing on them stressful!
I had exactly the same issue with inks from Diamine, Kobe and Herbin. The feathering was rather bad, and seemed to be random – whole pages would be fine, but then there would be an area of bad feathering even with an EF nib.