Maruman Mnemosyne Notebooks

Sometimes you see paper so luxurious that it invites you to write something, even if you have nothing to write. That was my first experience with Maruman's "Mnemosyne" notebook.

Maruman was founded in 1920 in Tokyo, and started by selling sketchbooks to Japanese middle schools. The company had to shut down in 1944 due to World War 2, but after the war ended, Iguchi Hideo brought together his employees and restarted Maruman.

Over the years, the company has become a household name in Japan, renowned for their quality notebooks and sketchbooks.

I must admit personal bias here though - when we were poor students in Japan we would aspire to one day be able to buy Maruman notebooks.

The Maruman Mnemosyne line

I will cut straight to the chase. This line of notebooks has hands down one of the best paper on the planet.

I cannot explain in words how good it feels to write in this notebook, so I can only invite you to buy one for 9 dollars and try it for yourself.

The cover of the notebook is a simple black - subtle, crisp, and projects a certain seriousness.

The Mnemosyne is designed in such a way that it sits flat against the table even when you are writing in the middle of the notebook. No curved notebooks here.

The paper is smooth and soft, but does not make your pen slide easily. It is also thick enough to use fountain pens on without worrying about the ink leaking or smudging.

All pages are perforated so you can easily tear pages to scan them, or file them (does anyone still do that?!)

The Mnemosyne line comes in multiple combinations of paper sizes, lines, and binding. While this boils down to personal preferences, I recommend the spiral bound, A5, grid or plain versions.

Where can I buy it?

• Amazon USA
• Amazon Japan (Ships internationally + A lot more variety)
  Note: Amazon auto-translates product titles and descriptions from Japanese to English, and a lot of nuance is lost in the process.