If I can keep writing reviews like this, you're going to think I'm biased.
I feel guilty. I'm a reviewer, I should be ruthlessly picking products apart, complaining about everything and anything, hopping from foot to foot in fury over so much as a misplaced atom.
But some companies deliberately make my life hard, and set out to create a perfect product (just to annoy me, I believe). Kunisawa is among the worst of them all. They have managed to create paper that, no matter how hard I try, I cannot find fault with.
However, they also sent me some sticky notes, which are not made with the 'Tofu Smooth' paper that they use iin their notebooks.
Aha! A chance to nitpick! Fountain pens should feather and bleed on these! In fact, Kunisawa even warned me that they weren't created for use with fountain pens. So I used different fountain pens on one of the notes to remind me that I needed to write another ink review soon.
I feel that I have failed. No matter how broad a nib, or how wet an ink I used, the paper held up perfectly. So not only does it take fountain pen ink, Kunisawa didn't even try to make it do so. It's such good quality paper that it is just naturally great for use with fountain pens. It even shows sheen in all its glory. No feathering, and only one speck of bleedthrough!
Since these sticky notes weren't designed specifically for use with fountain pens, I next tested fineliners, a ballpoint (with which I wrote 'fineliner - don't ask me why as I don't know), highligher, coloured pencil and graphite pencil. They all performed perfectly, except for the blue pencil which was a bit faint because the paper didn't pick up much pigment, but that's quite minor. You're unlikely to be sketching in a memo pad!
Now, to be fair on my ordinary run 'o the mill supermarket sticky notes, they also take fountain pen ink very well. But I do prefer the look and feel of the Kunisawa paper, and the overall aesthetic is better. The dark grey paired with rose-gold coloured edges and logo bring a touch of luxury. Printe inside is their motto 'I do not seek, I find', and when you first open them, a piece of paper falls out explaining the origins of the three-legged crow logo, the same as the notebook.
I almost forgot one very important point - are the sticky notes sticky? Happily yes, they are. I've stuck, un-stuck and re-stuck them to my fridge multiple times and the adhesive is still going strong.
If you want even your smallest stationery items to look sophisticated, Kunisawa sticky notes are a great choice!
Disclaimer: Kunisawa provided this product for review purposes. All opinions expressed in this article are my own.