Itoya Japanese Notebook, A5 (5.8" x 8.3"), Grid, 160 pages, Gray

This review is for the Itoya B5 lined notebook.There's a lot to like in this notebook. It's B5 (compositions notebook) size makes it very portable and easy to handle. It is very well made, with glued cover and SEWN pages, allowing you to fold notebook over providing a nearly flat surface to write on, but because the pages are sewn, they do not come out with use as they might in other notebooks which simply glue their pages together.The paper quality is excellent with very smooth surface allowing pen or pencil to glide along the surface with minimal effort, reducing hand/joint stress. The paper color is cream, reducing eye glare. Every page has a ruler at the bottom to facilitate graph or table creation, if one needs that. The lines are finely drawn and not obtrusive, with 7mm spacing and 32 lines per page. Each page also has small markers every 5 lines to help in counting the lines if that is needed.There is minimal bleed-through with gel pens. I have not used them with a fountain pen.The only negative is its cost, but you get what you pay for, and for me the quality and design of this product is worth the price.For me, its the nearly-perfect notebook.To make the product even better, I would recommended adding perforations to the paper so that each page could be removed and placed in a binder if desired.

Paper is excellent quality for use with fountain pens. Simple styling, fits nicely inside a planner cover.

I like that it is compact, easy to carry, and thin. However, it isn't compatible with my fountain pen. There's significant amount of ghosting and I feel it would be such a waste to only use one side. I haven't tried it with gel pens.

Impressed with the quality and the paper is so smooth. It fit into my leather 5x7 journal cover perfectly.

Love these little notebooks ! Easy to carry in my suit pocket and classy to use ! Very high quality paper!

Made in Japan. You will notice the higher quality paper right away. Amazing.

I loved the color of the cover, black and gray..but when I opened it up, it folded right in half. I thought the pages were going to fall out. I don't try that they won't by how cheap the binding feels, in creaked as I ran my finger along it after I opened it. Secondly, I bought the a6 cover by the same brand, and it doesn't even Fit the a6. It's so loose the book slides around in the cover and leaves big air gaps. Instead I put the Midori a6 into the cover, and it fits like a Glove, as seen in the last photo. It's also 7 dollars cheaper. I'll stick with the Midori and keep the cover, sad.

This B6 notebook has a smooth paper that is able to take fountain pen ink, gel ink pens, sharpie and highlighters and dry relatively quickly. I recommend testing your own favoritesI use a B6 planner and needed a notebook without a lot of bulk and this is perfect.