RO-BIKI Kingyo Goldfish Notebook – Dot Grid

The RO-BIKI Kingyo Goldfish Notebook is a pocket-sized Japanese dot grid notebook from Yamamoto Paper's RO-BIKI NOTE Museum Series, finished with a waxed ro-biki cover that carries Utagawa Kuniyoshi's goldfish woodblock print Hyaku Monogatari (One Hundred Ghost Stories), from his Kingyo Zukushi series of around 1842. The original print is held by the Tokyo National Museum.

Hyaku monogatari was a summer amusement in Edo. A group lit a hundred candles, took turns telling a ghost story, and put out one flame after each tale, waiting to see what would arrive when the last light went out. Kuniyoshi hands the game to his goldfish, and the thing that arrives is a cat. A paw comes over the rim of the bowl, the tongue hangs loose, and the fish and tadpoles break in every direction. Goldfish were kept as pets throughout the late Edo period, so the joke needed no explaining.

Ro-biki (蝋引き) names the finish. Wax is worked into kraft paper, leaving a lightly textured surface with gentle water resistance, closer to a treated cloth than a laminate. It marks and it creases, and the print gains depth as the wax burnishes under your hands, so a cover carried for a year looks nothing like one just off the shelf.

Inside are 60 pages of Soliste, a 65 gsm woodfree paper made in Kagoshima and chosen by Yamamoto Paper for fountain pen use. Ink lays down cleanly with minimal feathering and bleed-through, and the uncoated surface brings out depth in colored inks. The 5 mm dot grid gives structure without ruling the page. At 88 × 125 mm the notebook is passport sized, which is the point: coat pocket, bag, café table, travel notes and a daily journal you actually carry.

Explore our Japanese notebook collection, crafted for exceptional writing and creative sketching.

Details

• Size: 3.5" × 4.9" (8.8 × 12.5 cm)
• Pages: 60
• Sheet Type: Dot Grid
• Paper Type: Soliste
• Paper Weight: 65 gsm
• Weight: 1.1 oz (30 g)
• Brand: Yamamoto Paper

Yamamoto Paper: Preserving the Joy of Paper for the Future

Based in Sakai, Osaka, Yamamoto Paper was founded in 1972 as a paper specialist. Drawing on decades of experience connecting paper manufacturers with end users, they now design and produce their own original stationery. At the heart of their work is a belief in “sharing the joy and warmth of paper with confidence for generations to come.”

Rather than simply selling beautiful paper, Yamamoto Paper values delivering the full character of each sheet: its writing feel, texture, and the way it changes over time. They are also known as “custodians” of paper culture, reviving legendary papers that have gone out of production and passing them on to the next generation.

What makes Yamamoto Paper especially beloved is their balance of craftsmanship and playfulness. Their Paper Tasting series, for example, lets you sample different types of paper as if you were tasting wine, turning the exploration of paper into a delightful experience. It’s this combination of uncompromising quality and creative spirit that has earned them loyal fans among stationery lovers and fountain pen enthusiasts around the world.