Maruman Mnemosyne Dot Grid Notebook- A5, 8.27" x 6.34", 80 Sheets / 160 Pages, 5mm Dotted Journal, Perforated Pages & Wire-Bound to Lay Flat, Black, Made in Japan

TLDR: These are absolutely top of the line notebooks, particularly with fountain pens. In dollars per centimeter of line, the 194 (B5) size is a 14%-20% better value than the 199 (A4) size at current prices ($14.85 for the 199 and $10.04 for the 194). Maurman notebooks are first class. To date they are my favorite of all I have tried. Other top-tier brands I have tried are Rhodia A4 size and Clairfontaine A4 size, which are also excellent, but for a variety of reasons I prefer the Mnemosyne. Fountain pens write like a dream on this coated paper, as do gel pens. The thickness and feel of the paper is amazing. The subdued dotted lines are really nice. The cover is fantastic and the rear cardboard of the 199 or rear plastic of the 194 is substantial. The micro-perforations tear off super smoothly. Also, when you remove the entire page from the notebook before removing the micro-perf scrap, the little nibs stay attached to the page and you don't end up with nibs all over the place. Lastly, the off-white color is classy and archival looking (if you want bright white paper, look elsewhere). Everything about these notebooks is premium. I do wish that they contained more pages. The 199 has 70 sheets (140 sides) and the 194 has 80 sheets (160 sides). Personally, I think that 100 pages would be a better number. But for some reason, all premium notebooks tend to have between 50 and 80 pages. I guess it is a European / Japanese thing. I am currently really geeking-out on fountain pens and paper and have compiled a ridiculous amount of information comparing the different notebooks I like the best. One of the things I have calculated is value for the money. I am not thrilled about how much these quality notebooks cost, so I wanted to know how I could maximize my value. With this in mind, I calculated the number of line-centimeters the 199 and 194 have. Doing the math reveals that based on the current prices of these notebooks, the smaller 194 gives you 14% more value than the larger 199. Of course, this doesn't consider the aesthetics of the size differences. With the 194 you are writing on a smaller piece of paper, will have more "carriage returns" than the 199, and your hand will encounter the side edge and binding edge more often. The 194 is more compact and easier to carry, though. Also, the 194 has plastic on the rear cover instead of cardboard. So, I can't say which format you will prefer, just that in terms of pure value per written word the 194 comes out on top. "BUT WAIT," you may say, (well, at least I did), "isn't it likely that with the smaller paper and having to carriage-return more often, there might be some inefficiency involved in coming to edges that may weigh in favor of larger pages where your writing flow isn't broken as often?" To me, this seemed like a likely thing. It seemed somehow intuitive that the more often you had to break to go to the next line, that there would be efficiency losses. So I set out to test this theory, to see if the 194 was truly more cost effective. Well, it turns out, for me at least, my theory was exactly wrong. Not only wrong, but OPPOSITE wrong. When I wrote long lengths of text on both the A4 paper and B5 paper, trying to maintain my exact same writing style, size and spacing, I ended up getting MORE text into the same overall length of line in the smaller notebook. I was shocked. What happened is, as much as I tried to make my writing the same size and spacing in each notebook, my brain didn't let me do it. Somehow, when I was writing on a larger page my writing expanded. And when I wrote on the smaller page it constricted. Looking at the pages side by side it was obvious. Crazy. I honestly thought I was writing the same. So, as it turns out, for ME, the 194 is not 14% more efficient than the 199, but actually 21.6% more efficient (i.e. cost effective). Of course, your mileage may vary. But for me the 194 is a better value. All of that said, I still vacillate between the 194 and the 199. I like the smaller size of the 194 for carrying, and the fact that it has 80 instead of 70 pages. I think I also prefer the plastic back of the 194 over the cardboard of the 199. But if I am being honest I have to admit that I like writing in the 199 more. It just so much more spacious. My ideal notebook would be the 199 with 100 pages. At the same price as the current one, of course.

Absolutely phenomenal notebook. The pages are silky smooth and a pleasant white that’s easy on the eyes. I use a fountain pen with mine, and there’s no bleed through or ghosting. Plus, the pages dry quickly enough that smearing isn’t a major concern, which is better than other notebooks I’ve used. My only “complaint” is that I’d prefer a 6mm line spacing or a 6mm dot grid. The 7mm is larger than I normally write, so it feels like I’m wasting page space by using such large line spacing.

This is an excellent notebook. I am about 3/4 of the way through this notebook so far, so I feel like I can say some things about it. The cover is very durable and holds its shape well. The paper has worked great with every pen I have used on it, from felt tips to fountain pens. I write on both sides and very little shows through with most pens, although there is some visible marking on the back page with certain inks. I love the off-white color of the paper; it's nice to look at and not stark white. The binding is excellent and has held up to a lot of use; I constantly flip back through my notes and the pages have remained easy to turn and smooth. Pages are perforated and easy to tear out if needed. I like the line spacing and the lightness of the lines themselves. I throw this in my computer bag and it has not wrapped, the edges are still nice looking as well. Honestly I can't fault this at all; I will be repurchasing it, if not stocking up.

The paper quality is incredible. The pages are thick and smooth. My pens glide across the notebook without any resistance. Usually, paper this glossy is a nightmare for smearing, even with my fast-drying ink, but there hasn’t been a single smudge! I’m not sure how they pulled it off, but this paper is excellent. I’m already ordering more!

I wanted a fountain pen-friendly notepad for use with my various regular bottled inks and shimmer inks. Photos show the following: front A5 label is so easy to peel off (and I stick it on the inside of back cover for info), very sturdy (and not bendy) medium-weight plastic covers, writing samples with various inks, photo of bleed-through on back side of paper from the writing samples, and one of my fountain pens for a size comparison. I like that the notebook has some "weight" to it and is not horribly floppy. The lighting did not do justice to the shimmer inks, as in the right lighting, the shimmer inks show up well on this weight of paper. I'm glad I purchased it, as I found the larger, 8 mm line spacing to better suit my size of handwriting. I find that the notebooks with dots and squares are pretty neat, and I have many of them, but for straight-out note taking, this 8 mm. lined notebook suits my needs best. Also like that the color of the pages are not stark white, but rather a pleasing off-white color. I will buy this one again. A perfect size to throw into my purse that will not take up too much room.

Everything about this notebook is great except I wish the paper was a hair thicker/heavier and bright white as opposed to off white. Otherwise the paper feels nice and smooth (not textured like a sketchbook), you can write with it portrait or landscape with slightly larger than a4 space (but for all practical purposes it’s a4), and the covers are decent. The ring is the right size and the pages turn smoothly. Would love brighter paper though. Aesthetically I like it better brighter. It’s not exactly cheap either for the amount of pages you get. Landscape blank pages are great for long calculus problems though!

My new go to notebook, with a little more real estate than the a5. The paper is excellent and I really like the square holes where paper meets wire. I noticed that, as opposed to round holes, the covers and paper do not wobble around as much. A minor niggle but when added to the smooth writing experience, B5 availability, and lower price of my other favorite, I feel this is my best option.

Exactly what I was looking for, a sturdy cover for A5/smaller memopads. Maruman's A5 memo pads/the refills are a good price too, especially since the paper is good quality, it doesn't feel thin and scratchy like paper from the most common brands in the US. However, I wish the memo pads would come in 4-5mm rule, 8mm is too wide for me. I may look into A5 memopads from other companies if theirs are 4-5mm ruled. If someone from Maruman is reading the English reviews, I hope they'll release a real leather A5 memopad cover in the future, even if it's only limited edition. I'd be willing to pay a lot for it.