For now, we've created a list of go to Japanese stationery brands, depending on what you're looking for. Japanese paper / notebooks Ontario Inc. et al. v. Non-Marine Underwriters, Lloyd's, London et al. (2000), 130 O.A.C. 373; 184 D.L.R.(4th) 687 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 70].

Nance v. British Columbia Electric Railway Company Ltd., [1951] 3 D.L.R. 705 (P.C.), refd to. [para. 97]. You can't really beat Life Stationery's heritage here. Life has been making japanese notebooks for decades; their most well known notebook outside of Japan is probably the Life Noble notebook, with its distinctive covers and subtly foiled LIFE logo. Avelino Fernandes (plaintiff/respondent) v. Penncorp Life Insurance Company/La Compagnie d'Assurance-Vie Penncorp (defendant/appellant)

PERMANENT WRITER SET

Pate v. Galway-Cavendish (Township) et al. (2013), 312 O.A.C. 244; 2013 ONCA 669, refd to. [para. 100]. And of course let's not forget legendary Tomoe River paper, known for its exceptional ink handling properties despite being amazingly thin. Washi Tape / Masking Tape Whiten v. Pilot Insurance Co. et al., [2002] 1 S.C.R. 595; 283 N.R. 1; 156 O.A.C. 201; 2002 SCC 18, refd to. [para. 67]. McQueen v. Echelon General Insurance Co. (2011), 285 O.A.C. 64; 107 O.R.(3d) 780; 2011 ONCA 649, refd to. [para. 63]. The Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of the punitive damages award and allowed the appeal of the aggravated damages award.

If you prefer your notebooks completely minimalist in design, we recommend Mnemosyne notebooks. They come in a variety of sizes each aimed at a different stage of the creative process. Midori's MD Paper line has superb paper (fountain pen friendly of course) with completely minimalist design. You can accessorise them with a variety of covers (leather, paper or plastic). That same paper is what you'll find in the cult Traveler's Notebook. When The Journal Shop first started, we had a real love affair with Japanese stationery. We were after all the first stationery shop in the UK to offer the cult Midori Traveler's Notebook and its accessories to Japanese stationery fans in the UK.

Why is Japanese stationery different? Whether it's minimalist and beautifully refined or adorably kawaii, Japanese stationery stands out from the crowd. In the near future we'll write a post about our favourite Japanese stationery shops so you can take a virtual Japanese stationery pilgrimage through them all. There are so many that you could easily spend the best part of a trip to Tokyo just looking at stationery shops. The obvious takeaway from that is that stationery seems to be something that is ingrained in the culture in Japan; it is appreciated. We are definitely noticing a move in that direction here in the UK. Fidler v. Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada (2006), 350 N.R. 40; 227 B.C.A.C. 39; 374 W.A.C. 39; 2006 SCC 30, refd to. [para. 62].