A Pen & Ink Journal Redo · There’s Defective Tomoe River Paper in 2025 Notebooks & Planners

[@SamisSweetLife]

The more I have been using my 2025 TRP planners, the more I am finding the issues myself. It's disappointing for how expensive all these planners are. I wonder what/how Sanzen and the planner companies are going to do to ensure better quality in 2026.

[@julia-here]

Absolutely- as I go on in my main planner, I’m feeling the same (and at a loss as far as what to do); verrryyyy curious if this will even be addressed. It’s been crickets so far :/

[@SamisSweetLife]

@@julia-here Yes! I was not impressed with the Hobonichi statement when people started bringing it up about the 5yr journals. I did a video at the time and that was well before other companies & planners we also showing problems. It all gives me pause for sure.

[@mollymollie6048]

I’m so glad you had a notebook you like, and grab up all those Cosmo Air Light notebooks you can while they’re still around! Find a paper/vinyl/cardstock that you do like and cover up the front of the notebook (I agree with you, not my favorite, but easily fixed.) The paper looks beautiful. I’ll have to pick some up while it’s still around. I’m doing so far so good with my TRP in my 2025 A6 and A5 Sterling Ink Common Planners. It is the 52gsm not the 47 of the Hobonichi (according to Sterling Ink.) It feels better than my 2024 Hobonichi Cousin and ghosts a little bit less. However, as batches have been inconsistent through the planners and I’ve just started in mine (with full pen tests in the back…zero issues) but the pages I have used have been great with fountain pens and my usual Energels .04 and .05, Mildliners, Zigg Dot Markers (surprisingly the richer and juicier metallic ones do better than the pastels,) Pentel and Tombow Fudesenoke brush/sign pens, Uni Signo 1.0 metallics (the ones that still work, grrr. I’ve had them for 6 months and half of them have dried up, same with my Gelly Rolls.) Paper Mate Flairs are fine. No drying time problems, no bleed through (I haven’t done ink swatches in it, just writing, but I wasn’t going to use either for that anyway.) No issues with Faber Castell or Uni fine liners. Didn’t try a Sharpie…cause…it’s a Sharpie! (But, apparently, Iroful notebooks will not let Sharpies bleed through…some kind of dark magic, but very cool cause I love that paper!!!) Anyway, unlike a lot of YT Planner channels, I’m not freaking out about how my 8 different planners just don’t work for me (this is not a shot at you…you had bad paper, these people are just being too Goldilocks and need to take a deep breath and calm themselves, I won’t name names, lol.) Your set up looks beautiful, and I’m also a BuJo person at heart and doing it as each month comes along isn’t overwhelming and doesn’t limit the pages. If you need two notebooks for one year…not a big deal, imo…I almost bought the split year version of the A5 in order to have all the room I wanted…but I have 7 or 8 other notebooks, so I’m good and didn’t spend the extra $20 or so. This new journal is beautiful and has given me a lot of ideas of how to set up mine. I’m going to use the Iroful A5 I have and just have fun with it as it will be my first ink journal!! (I just really got into fountain pens and ink late last year…and I’m developing a ridiculous collection as it is…although I’ve gotten mostly Jinhao’s with a Kaweco Sport and Pilot Prera…as well as a bunch of #5 and #6 italic stub nibs to switch out and play around with. I do have a goal of getting an Edison pen for my birthday…and I’m trying to decide between the cool Comet ☄️ or the really cool new Elysian!!! I’ve warned my husband already to set that money aside! Oh! I noticed your dotted pen shows and I’ll definitely be at one of them, maybe 2, so if I see you, I’ll say Hi! Looking forward to all your swatching and enjoyment of your ink journal!

[@julia-here]

Wow! So much great info here. Yeah, I'm pretty much staying with all of my other journals/planners and just going to stick it out (my main planner has TRP in it; is showing issues, but this one is specifically for fountain pen and ink stuff so I absolutely needed it to function for that purpose); thanks for the advice on the cover as well - really appreciated! Do not envy you for the Comet vs. Elysian decision - yikes!! haha. Hoping to see you out on the pen show circuit this year! Thanks for the kind words :)

[@PlanYourOneLife]

I haven't had a problem with my TRP notebooks or the Hobonichi brand so far. I used my Cosmo Air Light nb last year for ink swatches. Since I had a lot of blank pages left in it, I began my 2025 ink swatching in it..Pics to come on IG. 😊 That paper is a dream, but I wish that the pages weren't blank. I would prefer a wide grid like the 10mm sheet that comes with it.

[@julia-here]

You got a good batch it sounds like; I’m glad!! 🙏🏽 excited to see your 2025 ink swatch notebook for sure anddd yeah, blank would be a little tough for me too I think. 💕

[@taccora]

I'm a quality paper hoarder so I was fortunate enough to buy a few of the first round of Sterling Ink's undated B6 planners and then an extra 2024 N1 planner so I haven't (and won't) experience the 2025 tomoe river paper. My 2024 planner will be my reading journal for this year and if I feel like I NEED a planner for work that isn't digital, I'll use one of the undated ones I have in stash. Going forward, I think I'll go through the notebooks I've been stashing for the last few years that have the long sense discontinued tomorrow river paper and once that's exhausted (It'll likely take me years, lol), I'll probably go back to a ring system since I have quite a few (10+) packs of A4 Cosmo Air Snow, a few packs of OG TRP, and some Midori paper. I also have a couple of packs of Corona and b7 paper that I really like to use with my fountain pens.

[@eleanorjlh]

I don't think it's necessarily fair to compare ghosting/bleeding on TRP vs CAL given that the latter is 50% heavier than the former and it's significantly more opaque -- but that said, that doesn't excuse the TRP for how bad its performance is compared to what we know 52gsm paper can do when it's consistent. I'm glad you've been able to come up with a 2025 solution that you're happy with, and I can't wait to see how gorgeous all the inks look on the Cosmo Air paper.

[@julia-here]

Thanks!! 🥰 very excited for this new notebook. And yeah, Not fair comparison-wise at all (which is why I mentioned it CAL is heavier) but I still wanted to show the difference for those who don’t know anything about different paper types and why someone would choose one over another.. and I’m with you- there is zeroooo excuse for this type of performance. People pay too much money for these notebooks and planners for this type of result.

[@charina_custodio]

Please try the Iroful notebook! if you're looking for. a good ink journal. It's amazing and better than TRP!

[@julia-here]

I ended up going with Cosmo Air Light for my ink journal this year (it’s my faveeee) but I do have an Iroful on the way as well to play with, thank you! 🙏🏽

[@eleanorjlh]

@@julia-here I'll be interested to hear your review of Iroful when it arrives! I've been using it recently as my backup and I find it's quite similar to CAL (not as good but the best we're gonna get, maybe?)

[@rachelsmith4654]

Love your ink/pen journal 2.0! And those pen/ink matches are stunning!! ❤❤❤

[@julia-here]

Thank you so much! 🙏🏽🥰 - really excited about how the new one turned out.

[@journalwithfran]

The ink matching library is BEAUTIFUL. I don't think it's nerdy at all to print stickers of your pens - it's quite genius actually. Still so disappointing what's happening with TRP paper. The fact that it's inconsistent just makes it tough to decide what to move to

[@julia-here]

Thanks so much! 🥰- and yes, right there with you; it’s so odd to even try to figure out what to do. For my main planner (which is TRP), I’m just gonna try to stick it out. :/

[@ayesleighstark]

I ran into the same inconsistency in both my Hobo cousin and my A5 Sterling Ink daily planner. Super disappointing. Some pages are ok, others bleed and feather terribly. I compared it to some OG TRP paper I have and it’s a staggering difference 😢

[@julia-here]

Oh man.. yeah, my previous ink journal was the OG TRP and the difference is crazy. So sorry both your planners were affected 😔

[@MissMarilynDarling]

So when I did my inititial Hobonichi weeks mega I did a test in the back and it wasnt great but it wasnt terrible ... then I did a pen test in the back of the Hobonichi Cousin A5 and I thought OMG this is the worst I dont know how I will ever recover from this betrayel .... but I told myself that I'm going to use this bloody book that the company who sold it to me prolly wouldnt take it back or send me a new one. I did write hobonichi and sent them pictures of the test that I did with all my pens that I had at my desk at the time... I havnt heard back from them ... BUT I have been using it with a pensive pens serendipity with a jowo broad nib and I am doing the colorvent calendar I dont know if the inks are super well behaved but I havnt had any problems ... Yet I havnt tried any other pens in it yet and I'm a flexy person I love to flex so we will see how other pens do with this later in the year... I did buy a GLP CREATIONS THE AUTHOR 68gsm tomoe river just in case... but I think with the hobonichi a5 and the weeks mega I think I will be ok... We will see ; /

[@julia-here]

Ughhh, so frustrating! I’ve done a little bit of flex writing in my main planner (it’s a Faded Chronicle TN with TRP) and it’s been ok so far.. it’s just so weird what works and what looks terrible. I know Hobonichi was doing some sort of return program for a little bit but that’s just wild that they haven’t responded to you at all. That’s good news though that your broads seem to be working ok for you. It just sucks all around though not having confidence in a paper that’s used in so many things :/

[@VanLooSofie]

What is the best pen for shimmer inks?

[@julia-here]

My go to answer for this is TWSBI Ecos but most modern pens can take on shimmer just fine (I would just suggest using medium and broader nibs to start)

[@sentient.ball.of.stardust]

Just a heads up that your ink journal link takes me to aura estelle instead of odyssey notebooks.

[@julia-here]

Thanks!! Gonna change that out nowwww :))

[@brittanyalattabi7062]

I have had to make a few changes but I am dealing with it! For example, Platinum Carbon Black is a REAL no go, it bleeds like crazy, but the Platinum Chou Kuro is an EXCELLENT replacement. I’m having to pen and ink test everything, but I’m finding things that work. It’s definitely annoying though!

[@julia-here]

That’s great information! Same here for my main planner; some inks are behaving, others are not. The ghosting is a little more distracting than usual - but yeah, it seems like we are just gonna have to push through and hope something changes for the next go around.

[@brittanyalattabi7062]

@ I think if they (Hobonichi, whoever) just opt for the slightly thicker paper next year it should help. I heard that Hobonichi went with a fewer-GSM paper this year and I think it shows 🙈