Hobonichi Cousin Pen Test: Which Pens Are The Best?

[@Chaos_and_Creativity]

My brother is bringing me back my very first Hobinichi from Japan today, actually! He went for two weeks, and since I couldn't afford to pay double what people want on apps or the shipping to get it here... I thought I would ask him to bring me one and he did!! I can't wait, so this video was perfectly timed in my feed! As always, thank you, Annie!

[@happyone444able]

My favorite pen is the Carbon black fountain pen. I’ve had mine for almost ten years, it cost about 8 bucks back then. It is a very fine nib (I prefer fine, as in 0.38 in most gel pens) and it doesn’t skip or anything. Highlight over it LIKE A DREAM because I use carbon black ink in the refillable ink thingy. I absolutely love this pen. It’s always near me. Love your channel Annie!😊

[@null6955]

i wish i saw this video before i bought a bunch of gel pens for my hobonichi and found out the hard way. thanks for the great content anyway!

[@berryvillain5115]

Im so glad I found this! I am a long time planner but first time to Hobonichi.... I didnt even think about the paper/pen situation! Thanks so much!

[@WahjoeGunawan]

Agree Uni jetstream is the best without smudge... thanks for sharing.

[@carmengarza1232]

I have been in planners with Tomoe River Paper (TRP) for a while. Sarasa Study and Sarasa Dry are my "go to". For a bit of color, I was SHOCKED at how wonderful this papre takes acrylic pens (Archer & Olive, Primrosia, etc.).

[@wendymolony1152]

Thank you for this - super helpful! I would have loved to see which ones bled through but this was great :)

[@YuliDnevnik]

Once I saw the uniball one p pen, I had to click on this video 😆 this ink is a godsend and works so well on tomoe river paper Although i never experienced any smudging on my kinbor weekly 🤔 it's best to use a 0.38mm

[@RebeccaHuffThatOrganicMom]

I kept waiting to see the back of the page to know which ones did not bleed thru otherwise great selection of pens to choose from

[@abbaschild2499]

Loved this comparison, Annie! Fellow pen fanatic, here. I'll be in Hobonichi or Stalogy for 2024 - A6, probably, for size and portabiity.I was trying to test-drive a Weeks, but it may not work out as a main planner. I agree with most of your "best" choices (only because of some I haven't tried yet). In fact, I either use Muji or Zebra Sarasa Vintage Clip--great in the Fall colors. So sorry about your camera glitch - I would loved to have seen the back of the page, showing any ghosting or bleed-thru. As far a smudging, I gave up and got me some blotter paper, which I cut down to the planner size - it works with fountain pens and the "juicier" gels. As always, great post! TFS.

[@null6955]

what sarasa pen are you using? i bought the vintage gel pen collection for my hobonichi and it smudges like crazy!

[@kathiwilson4082]

Annie, you have given me wonderful ideas for 2024. Going to use a Staolgy with Moterm A5. Just received the Mitsubishi Pencil Uni-Ball One P UMNSP38.30 Gel Ballpoint Pen, 0.01 inches (0.38 mm), Coffee. Love the wide barrel, really fine point works great for my large writing. Feels great in my hand. Also love, love,love the Dr. Grip - .5 fine point ball point pen. Started using it in college for lecture notes and still use it today. Thank you for the comparisons and all the info you provided us. 😊

[@vicki5878]

This is great information. If I'm in a hurry, I'll carefully blot the paper to pick up the excess ink.

[@keirawelling]

Nice video, Annie. I wish you showed the back of the page. I love Papermate Flairs, but they bleed through badly. TFS! ❤

[@Jasiwardas]

Yes! I came here wondering if I had missed it in the video.. the back would have been one of the most important points for me! Especially since the Tomoe River paper is good, but thin - and pens like the Fudenosuke which drop a lot of ink might not bleed through but make too much of a shadow to be a favorite for this paper then... I would have been so curious about the papermate for example... too bad she didn't show.... 🥺

[@thekatplans]

Zebra bLen is my fav ballpoint! It's buttery like the jetstream but has less of a needle tip so it feels even smoother to me, can also come in multipen varieties! The Pilot juice in .38 is a good gel pen for the tomoe river paper, but my favorite gel pen is the uniball one .38 - feels more like a .5 but is so smooth and very little smearing.

[@enchantedmrc02]

hi! I saw somewhere that ballpoint ink doesn't hold up well in terms of archival quality and their old hobonichi journals have a lot of bleedthrough where they can now barely read their entries. i was wondering if you have experienced anything similar? i really prefer ballpoint pens over gel pens so I'm looking into zebre bLen but I wanted to look for more feedback from others before deciding

[@thekatplans]

@@enchantedmrc02 i'm new to the tomoe river paper world so my first hobonichi is from 2022, but i just flipped through it and it looks just like it did when i wrote in it, minus i just saw a frixon pen test and it is super faded, but i remember not liking it so i think it was only a little darker when i tested it. i have ancient journals of non TRP that have held up just fine with ballpoint - i also prefer to use .5 or higher which has more visibility than .38 - i can check back in a year to see if thats changed!

[@GlamGadz]

I’ve found that Micron 05 and 03 are great on TRP. Also, my new favorite are Sharpie 0.4 felt tip pens work great as well.

[@jenniferriddell1787]

I use the sarasa mark on, love that pen. The refills are pretty cheap too.

[@Bettystroup]

I was just asking my planner friends , witch pens write good, and here YOU did It. Now witch pens write on stickers, pictures, velum sticky notes, Witch high Liners go over these pens, or as a rule high liner first than mark over. I also like LePen write good tome river paper. THANK YOU

[@Chaos_and_Creativity]

Most permanent markers will write on top of stickers, mildliners and tombows are a lot of peoples go to highlighters and markers.

[@LinzyLouG]

omg this was super helpful. I'm new this year to the hobonichi and I am LIVING for this video! Can I ask, did any of these like the tombow bleed through the paper? I'm kinda assuming they didn't but am so scared of that. Ty so much for the video! Love your content!

[@berneserainbow1407]

As you said, Annie, some of these pens might turn out to work well, if you let your writing dry. I can say that the Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens (soft and hard tip) do very well, if you let the ink dry. Agreed that some pens with smaller tips might feel rather scratchy. E.g. I wasn't a fan of the Zebra Sarasa Mark On 0.4 with this paper either. However I loved to use my fountain pens with it.

[@danajones8593]

This was great. I think of all three pens, only 3 would be considered archival: uni jet stream, pigma micron and the pilot arcroball 😊

[@moyaharris3552]

surprised you didn't use the uni Pin fine line. I love it for my everyday pen. Black, gray, (dark and light) and siena. :)

[@moyaharris3552]

0.5 the 0.3 feels scratchy

[@JustJennyHere]

Great video 🎉.

[@miqsh70]

Try Sarasa Dry, and in general pens designed for left handed people (search in jetpens), it doesn't smudge at all. BTW do you have a fountain pen test as well?

[@JosephDickson]

Micron 05 dries almost instantly unless drawing over the same spot. Wet and slow fountain pen inks need extra time to dry compared to my experience with Rhodia, Apica etc.

[@davidwiseman-uf3vv]

The pilot v5 is a rollerball not a gel pen.

[@bunnymoonvii]

this is a month late, but it's roughly "fu-de-NO-ske" The "u" is effectivly silent.