Dressco Onion Skin Letter Paper Box (50 Sheets)

The Dressco Onion Skin Letter Paper Box from Japanese paper merchant TAKEO holds 50 sheets of KateJo onion skin letter paper and a ruled guide sheet in a slim box, in white or a smoky pale blue. Onion skin paper is a very thin, lightweight writing paper with a softly crinkled surface and a translucent look, named for its resemblance to the papery outer skin of an onion.

The A5 sheets (21 × 14.8 cm) are blank. Slip the guide sheet underneath and its lines show through, so you can write straight lines without them being printed on the letter. With 50 sheets, the box suits anyone who writes letters regularly or keeps up a long correspondence. TAKEO notes that the paper works with all kinds of pens, including fountain pens. Because it is translucent, writing shows through from the back, so you may prefer to use one side of each sheet. Envelopes are not included.

The sheets are not only for letters. Blank and A5-sized, they also make good loose-leaf paper for notes, journaling, copying out favorite passages or practicing handwriting, with the guide sheet underneath whenever you want straight lines.

TAKEO describes the paper as quite thin and translucent, with a crumpled texture that resembles real onion skin, and says this texture gives a distinctive feel as you write. The white is a clean, classic letter paper; the pale blue is a soft, smoky light blue that TAKEO added in autumn 2023.

Onion skin paper was once a familiar office and correspondence paper: typists used it for carbon copies, and its light weight suited airmail letters. In Japan, production came to an end in 2010 as the machines that made it aged. Fountain pen users in particular missed it, so TAKEO searched for a paper mill able to make it again, and after repeated trials the company revived it in 2020 as KateJo onion skin, TAKEO's own original paper.

If you would also like envelopes, the Dressco Onion Skin Paper Letter Set pairs 20 sheets of the same KateJo paper with six envelopes and a ruled guide sheet. It comes in four versions: Polka Laid, Jean Felt and Moffle with white sheets, and Pale Blue with pale blue sheets. You can also pair these sheets with envelopes from our cards and letters collection, or see more onion skin paper stationery.

Details

• Contents: 50 letter sheets, 1 ruled guide sheet (envelopes not included)
• Letter sheet size: A5, 8.27" × 5.83" (21 cm × 14.8 cm)
• Box size: 6.10" × 0.67" × 8.66" (15.5 cm × 1.7 cm × 22 cm)
• Weight: 4.9 oz (140 g)
• Sheet type: Blank (place the guide sheet underneath for lines)
• Paper: KateJo onion skin, white or pale blue
• Origin: Japan
• Brand: Dressco by Takeo
• Note: The paper is translucent, so writing shows through from the back.

The Story of Dressco and TAKEO

Dressco is the original stationery brand of TAKEO Co., Ltd., a specialist paper merchant founded in 1899 in Kyobashi, Tokyo, and based in Kanda since the following year. The brand grew from a wish to bring richly textured and colored papers closer to everyday life, under the concept "Dress yourself with Dressco." Dressco marks its 20th anniversary in 2026.

TAKEO has long supplied fine papers to graphic designers, printers and publishers. At its Mihoncho main store in Kanda, visitors can buy around 2,700 kinds of paper one sheet at a time and compare them by hand. Dressco products are designed and made in Japan, and each one is inspected by hand.