Upon seeing these correspondence notepads arrive in stock at Bookbinders several months ago, I had no hesitation in adding one to my shopping list for the next store visit. With my fondness for the Masuya paper in the Monokaki Notebook line well-known to readers here, it wasn’t a difficult decision to pick up another product containing that same paper stock.

Of course there is always the possibility of slight differences in the feel of a paper when presented in a different format, and I wasn’t completely certain about the 12mm line spacing in relation to my writing style either.

After finally visiting the store a few weeks ago (yes I could have bought them online — but what’s not to love about visiting an actual stationery store), as you can imagine — I needn’t have been concerned.

Look and feel

In summary, this is your standard B5 sized notepad designed for use in written correspondence.

Packaged in the commonly used cellophane clear wrap, that new stationery aroma hits you upon opening. I don’t think anyone would disagree that on first tactile impressions, the feel is one of a quality product.

Outside

Visually, the overall aesthetic is one of elegance with a touch of the old school conservative about it — for want of a better term. I quite like the maroon (or burgundy I suppose) cover with white trim, though perhaps the gold embossed bordering around the branding may not have been necessary. The maroon and gold combination does provide a certain “regalness”, and despite my personal preferences around these types of things, minor aspects relating to appearance aren’t overly bothersome to me one way or the other.

Overall? I think it looks great.

The back cover is made of the stiffest card stock you’ll find, and though you could say is perhaps overdone, is indicative of the overall quality in the notepad itself. Further branding, other details, and the made in Japan stamp appear across the top on the front cover overlap.

The pages themselves are glue bound at the top, with the cover opening up and away from the binding. There are no pre-folds or breaks for specifically folding back the cover (a la Rhodia notepads), however if you were a little pushed for space the cover will fold back easily. The only caveat here is the blotting sheet may come adrift if that is also folded back, effectively being attached as the first sheet of the notepad.

When used on my desk at home I generally prefer to leave the cover open above the page.

Inside

As I’ve mentioned above, the front of the notepad contains a stiffened sheet providing a blotting paper between the actual cover and first written page.

The Yuga Letter Pad contains the same Masuya paper as the Monokaki notebooks — the lightweight, cream-coloured lined pages, this time have a spacing of 12mm (the notebook being 9mm) in the familiar soft grey tone. The manufacturer’s basis for the cream coloured paper via Bookbinders:

It was developed in a cream colour to reduce eye strain when writing at night as the light does not reflect as brightly

I can attest to the nature of the paper under light, given most of my writing is done very early in the morning under a small LED white lamp, and with many other paper types there is occasionally some readjusting of position due to glare — not so the Yuga Letter Pad. It indeed provides a very soft return to any light source.

My concerns over the line spacing mentioned earlier in the post were ill-founded, with the 12mm distance looking a lot broader on a blank page than a written one. I recall having similar thoughts before laying ink down in the Monokaki Notebook as well.

Despite my best intentions, at times, a few pages into a letter my handwriting can become a little — shall we say — unwieldy, and I believe this measure of spacing facilitates a certain amount of readability for the recipient. As with many paper types, the lines themselves fade into the background once the page is filled with words.

A little more on this in Writing Performance below.

Specifications

Courtesy Bookbinders Online:

• Product: Yuga Letter Pad
• Size: B5 – 180mm x 257mm
• 50 Sheets
• Paper: Cream (lightweight)
• Type: 12mm spaced soft grey ruled lines
• Source: Masuya, Asakusa Japan.
• Price: AU $19.90

I’ve estimated previously the Masuya paper is around the 60 gsm mark, and have yet to find anything confirming this. Based on the known weights of other paper and Tomoe River at 52 gsm, as a ballpark figure that is certainly what it feels like, hopefully providing you with some idea of the lightweight nature of Masuya paper.

A little background on the origins of this paper, including how it was ”made for writers” can be found in the product details on the Bookbinders website.

Writing performance

After uncapping a fountain pen and writing those first few strokes, any concerns I had about whether the paper would be Monokaki notebook-like melted away immediately. It’s as good as it should be. As good as I expected. Why I had doubts in the first place I’m not sure – its Masuya paper after all.

In the end, my biggest challenge (if you could call it that) came in determining whether to overwrite each end of the pre-printed soft grey lines, given there is an invisible margin around the border where the line ruling stops more than 20mm from each end (okay, so I did measure it — 23mm if you must know). Each to their own here, however to close out this thought, I decided on about a 10mm left margin and will essentially write completely to the right hand end of the page.

Look, really, the paper is exactly as I found it in the notebook — much to my overwhelming joy! I’ve written about it before, it remains my favourite, so I will keep things brief.

There is a moderate amount of show-through with certain pens and inks; there is the perfect amount (that is, just enough) tooth for my liking, and remember – just about all of the descriptors you’d use for Tomoe River paper also apply here — as described after my first encounter with the paper in the Monokaki notebook:

Light weight paper, smooth without the slip, handles pretty much every ink and nib, a little show through yet no bleed or feathering.

Of course the difference here being the show through may or may not be an issue depending on whether you prefer to write on both sides of the paper. Although seen through the page, there are no printed lines on the reverse of each sheet, so it appears the manufacturer has a certain view on their preferred approach here.

My personal approach has always been to write on both sides of notebook pages regardless of show through, however with correspondence I generally do not. On the subject of the Yuga Letter Pad, this approach takes care of any show-through aversion you may have — just not perhaps the cost per sheet. Exactly how relevant that might be is a decision for you to make (further on this below).

A quick word on the concerns about line spacing I mentioned above. At 12mm spacing and 18 lines per page, the calculation to compare it with the 6mm, 34 lines per page Daiso Report Pad is fairly simple. Particularly when I tell you with the smaller spacing I only use every second line — rendering things near identical on this point.

Now is also a good time to take this comparison a little further.

Use case and a small comparison

Versus the cheap Daiso Report Pad

So how does it compare with the $2.80 Daiso B5 Complete Report Pad I have previously been using for correspondence for some time now? Based on price, the difference here is a significant order of magnitude to say the least.

With Daiso’s Report Pad containing 100 sheets at a $2.80 price point ($0.028 per sheet), something like the Yuga is never going to come close at $19.90 for 50 sheets ($0.40 per sheet). Now having done exactly that, I will say comparing them in such a way probably misses the point a little.

On that score, for a far better explanation on the concept of value, may I refer you to Dr Jonathon Deans on the Pen Economics Blog, (though on quite a different scale, insert notepad for pen here):

It’s also not possible to talk about actual vs perceived value, as all value is perceived: there is no innate, objective, actual value for us to measure. In more technical terms, value can be understood as how much you would be willing to pay for a pen, and there’s no objective way of saying a certain number is how much you should be willing to pay for a pen

So, in relation to the subject notepad in this post, I know what I’m willing to pay, however would certainly never assume to know what you, or anyone else should be willing to pay.

So by comparison, is the Yuga Letter Pad a significantly better experience?

For me personally? Absolutely yes. I’d even go further to say I would not have been surprised had it arrived at a $24.90 price point as opposed to the $19.90 it sits at currently. In the same breath, I would of course not necessarily enjoy paying more, however simply make this observation (at the same time imagining in my mind the good folk at Bookbinders saying: oh Peter, we’d never do that…)

Can that be quantified and applied to another user’s perspective? Perhaps, however quite a number of personal preferences and other factors would require accounting for with such an endeavour.

Then of course there is the far simpler: just go ahead and treat yourself approach. Certainly one I’ve been known to follow quite successfully. Far easier to do with a $20.00 notepad than a $200.00 pen of course (though admittedly — even easier with a $2.80 notepad…).

Having written about the more than capable and far cheaper Daiso Report Pad in a previous post, I still admire its ability for letter writing with a fountain pen at such a low price point. Of course in a blind side by side “what’s best” comparison, you’d pick the more expensive Yuga Letter Pad in an instant, however as I’ve alluded to above, that’s not the entire story.

Yes, the Yuga Letter Pad is definitely worth the money in my humble opinion, however at the end of the day, future letter-writing me will probably use both… or something else.

After all, there will be plenty of correspondence written in the years to come, and no doubt I’ll test out plenty of other paper during that time as well. So to conclude things here and perhaps confound this entire section just a little: Masuya paper is my favourite paper — simple as that.

In use

As for the overall use case of note paper like this — you can probably take its title in the most literal sense. This will sit on my desk, be intermittently filled with words and sent to those good friends who receive letters from me from time to time. I don’t think I’m really going to provide any novel suggestions here — nor do you need any. It’s a letter writing pad, and is perfectly suited to precisely that task.

Whereas something like a Rhodia No. 16 notepad may suit equally well for general note taking, testing your new inks or more formal written correspondence, the Yuga Letter Pad appears to have a somewhat more defined role. Of course you could use it for anything you like. I mean let’s face it — pages torn from a spiral notebook will just as easily carry your words across the globe in an envelope.

My intention here is to simply point out (again considering price point), you would not likely pick up the Yuga for scribbling down some random notes and a phone number. It will, however be more than capable for whatever you do throw at it.

Signing off

Having now arrived at this point of the post, I must invariably give you some final thoughts. Interestingly, the further I progressed through the post, I became increasingly unsure of what those might be.

Uncertainty not through any reservation about the paper or letter pad itself — nor the price for that matter. Which in the end I think is precisely the point. With so many options at just about every price point available these days, there really is no single answer. A post such as this will only ever end with the same recommendation: I love this paper, go buy it! So many choices, yet seemingly no choice all at the same time — that is, you simply have to go and buy some yourself, otherwise you’ll be missing out.

That, of course, is not really the case at all is it?

The other little voice in my ear? The cost benefit analysis when compared with cheaper paper as I’ve discussed above. If you are a Tomoe River paper buyer, you won’t bat an eyelid. If Rhodia is a stretch — then the price may give you momentary pause.

Any further assumptions on my part here would be a fool’s errand.

If you do choose to buy some, wield a fountain pen with any great regularity, and correspond with others who do the same, send a few blank sheets with your next letter. I’m sure the recipient will thank you.

In closing, I will say the Yuga Letter Pad is a high quality, well designed and constructed correspondence notepad with wonderful paper (did I mention it’s my favourite?) for the fountain pen user. Although not a budget option, in my opinion belies its price point ever so slightly — and for me at least — that’s value.

For you? Good question…