A Longtime Writing Companion: Japan’s Tsubame Notebook

Tsubame notebooks come in A5 and B5 sizes and offer various numbers of pages, costing from ¥160 to ¥500.

The second-generation director of Tsubame, Watanabe Seiji.

Machine operator Iguchi Hiroshi checks that everything is moving along smoothly.

Sheets move through the printing machine.

A stack of notebook paper ready for binding.

At ¥8,000 including its elegant carrying case, the Takaoka copperware notebook is expensive but artistic.

A small sampling of the special-edition notebooks Tsubame has made.

The initials of Tsubame’s founder Watanabe Hatsusaburō are part of the product numbers stamped on the spine of notebooks.