My Favorite Bullet Journal Notebook: Kokuyo Soft-Ring

Bullet journalling has been a big part of my life for the past five years. It’s been a huge source of creativity and inspiration.

From the beginning I’ve been on a quest for the perfect notebook. I’ve tried tons of notebooks, but the problem is, I use a lot of different pens, especially brush pens. With most notebooks I’ve tried, heavy inks bleeds through the other side. It totally takes away from the experience of journalling.

Kokuyo offers these soft-ring notebooks that I’ve just fallen in love with. Minimal bleed-through, a smooth, medium weight paper, a hard, protective cover and the soft, jelly rings make Kokuyo Soft Ring my go-to notebook. Not to mention they are affordable too, at around USD$8.99 on Amazon. Let’s go through these and see if it’s something you’d like too.

Minimal Bleed-Through

Most notebooks I’ve used have bleed-through that is very distracting when your start writing on the other side of the paper. When I started bullet journaling, this wasn’t much of a problem, because I started off very basic. I only used one pen. But as I started getting more creative ideas, I wanted to try all sorts of pen on it, and that’s when I became frustrated with the bleed throughs. Compare this dot-grid notebook from Moleskine with Kokuyo’s using different pens:

Compared to Moleskine’s dot grid notebook, Kokuyo’s paper absorbed the inks a little better. You can see how Moleskine looks botchy with the heavier inks like the brush pens. Also, with the Staedtler Pigment liner, the ink feathers out in the Moleskine paper, making your lines fuzzy and soft:

Kokuyo uses paper that has less bleed-through, absorbs ink better and leaves pigment-liners sharp and clean. This is exactly what I am looking for and why I love this notebook!

Smooth Paper

According to its description from Amazon, the paper in this notebook is silky-smooth, pH neutral, archival, and FSC certified. I actually prefer paper that has a bit more texture, but I’ve really grown to love Kokuyo’s paper. I believe the smoothness is responsible for the slower absorption rate, allowing inks to dry before it bleeds through the other side, but that’s just a hunch. I’ve grown accustomed to this paper, but I’m sure there will be some who will have a hard time adjusting to it. It comes in a variety of prints; dot-grid, lines and graph. Whatever print you choose, it’s subtly printed so that it never gets in the way of your notes, sketches or doodles.

Hard Protective Cover

This is the least of its selling points, but I love this feature. I have bent a lot of notebooks out of shape, as I like to chuck everything into my bag and carry it around wherever I go. This cover has my 4 year old Kokuyo notebook looking fresh still. They do have cardboard covers for those who want the option.

Soft Ring Binder

The soft rings of this notebook sets it apart from all the rest. It allows pages to lay flat even when you fold it back on itself, and the rings doesn’t warp or distort over time like wire ring notebooks.

Conclusion

I am admittedly, a stationery junkie. I still buy different notebooks that captures my fancy, but because of Kokuyo Soft Ring notebooks’ features, I always find myself going back to it. Check out their Amazon page to see the different sizes, prints and covers that they have. Prices are in the mid range, and honestly, there’s no comparison when put up against a name brand like Moleskine. The notebook I used for comparison is USD$17.95, as opposed to Kokuyo’s USD$8.99… that’s almost double the price! I do love my Moleskine notebooks, but for my everyday journaling and doodling, I always go back to Kokuyo.

Which notebooks do you love to use? Comment down below and share your favorites, I’d love to know what you think is the best notebook too!