Flat

To my friend Michel.

I won't speak about pens today, but about notebooks and paper. Although I use notebooks to write these texts, this one comes as a reaction to some recent news. This is the story:

The so-called Oscars of the stationery world, officially named The Stationery Awards (::1::, ::2::), are announced in February each year. On this occasion, 2024, the Grand Price was for the Pentel Matte Hop ballpen, but what matters more to us is the Functional Award given to the Kokuyo “Flat Kimochii” notebook, on which the company had been working for about three years.

The functional virtue praised by the jury is that these notebooks lie flat on the table when open.

Kokuyo's Campus "Flat Kimochii".

But, is that new?

Mr. Nakamura, of Nakamura Insantsujo, had created a flat notebook around 2015. He did that in collaboration with a book binding business located in the neighborhood of this office in the Kita district in Tokyo.

A potential big order of those newly made notebooks drove Nakamura Insatsujo to produce a large number of them. But the order was canceled and the company was left with a big unsold stock.

Nakamura Insatsujo's "Granddad's Notebook".

Mr. Nakamura, then about to retire, gave some of those notebooks to his granddaughter. She, in turn, on January 1st of 2016 published a Twitter message praising them and complaining about the lack of exposure they had. The Tweet became viral and Nakamura Insatsujo received orders from retailers, making the notebook a best seller while acquiring the nickname of “Granddad's Notebook”.

On its side, Showa Noto, a company well known in Japan for its stationery products for school children, had developed a similar notebook. However, it was quickly discontinued as the binding glue was not durable enough.

Then, in that year of 2016, Showa and Nakamura reached an agreement of collaboration: now both companies produced these flat notebooks. In 2020 the "Granddad's Notebook" received an award of the Ministry of Education, and in 2021 the Stationery Award.

Showa's "Granddad's Notebook".

Kokuyo's development started in 2021 and the "Flat Kimochii" received the Stationery Award for its functionality in 2024.


My thanks to Poplicola-san.


NOTES:
Stationery Awards: https://www.fusosha.co.jp/special/bunbougu/
Stationery Awards 2024: https://bungu.store/collections/stationery-awards-2024
Chronology of the "Granddad's Notebook": https://nakaprin.jp/?page_id=1324
More information on the "Granddad's Notebook": https://dojwy.com/about-resilience/
Showa Noto's press release August 2016: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000009.000015458.html
Showa Noto's flat notebooks: https://www.showa-note.co.jp/products/search_result?freeword=&category=&series=5015&size=
Kokuyo's Campus "Flat Kimochii": https://www.kokuyo-st.co.jp/en/stationery/campus_flat/

WiPens Toledo – Pilot (Thai) Black

Bruno Taut
March 3rd, 2024
etiquetas: papelería, Kokuyo, Nakamura Insatsujo, Showa Noto