> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.unknowndivide.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Midori MD Notebook: The Japanese Notebook Worth Buying - URL: https://www.unknowndivide.com/midori-md-notebook/ - Published: 2022-10-26T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-08T07:00:36.000Z - Description: The Midori MD Notebook is a plain cream notebook with excellent paper and almost no decoration. Here is how to choose a size and ruling, and why writers keep coming back to it. - Author: unknowndivide staff - Tags: Style, Design *Unknowndivide may earn a commission from purchases made through links in this post.* Some notebooks try to impress you before you write a word. The Midori MD Notebook does the opposite. It arrives in a glassine wrapper, with cream paper, a ribbon marker and a cover that is simply more of the same paper, labeled MD PAPER. The design is so quiet that the pleasure has to come from the way a pen moves across the page. For a lot of writers, that is exactly the point. ## What the Midori MD Notebook is MD Notebook is the core notebook line from Midori, the Japanese stationery company whose official shop lists the range under [MD notebooks](https://www.midori-store.net/SHOP/8733/34372/list.html?ref=unknowndivide.com). The notebooks use Midori's MD paper, a cream stock chosen to show ink clearly without glare and to keep feathering and bleed-through under control with ordinary pens. The [Midori products page](https://www.midori-japan.co.jp/english/products/?ref=unknowndivide.com) presents the company's stationery as a whole, and the MD line is the clearest expression of that plain, functional approach. Sizes run from a pocketable A7 up through B6 slim and the popular A5, with larger options for people who sketch or plan at a desk. Within each size you can usually choose lined, grid or blank pages. A ribbon bookmark keeps your place, and the thread binding helps the notebook open flat enough to write across the gutter, which is more important than it sounds once you start filling pages edge to edge. ## Which size and ruling to choose A5 is the everyday default: large enough for journal entries, meeting notes or lyric drafts, small enough to carry in a bag. B6 slim sits between a pocket book and A5 if you want something thinner. A7 and the smaller formats suit lists and a bag that is already full. Lined pages are best for prose. Grid pages help with tables, squares of ideas and the kind of mixed writing and sketching that designers do. Blank pages are for drawing or for anyone who dislikes a printed line. Because the cover is paper, many people slip the notebook into a separate cover if it will live in a bag. Midori makes covers for the line, and a simple cardboard or leather wrap also works. The notebook itself stays inexpensive enough that finishing one and starting another feels natural rather than wasteful. ## How the paper handles pens MD paper is one of the reasons people become loyal to the brand. Fountain pens, gel pens and pencils all behave well on it, with less show-through than you get on many everyday pads. Broad, very wet nibs can still shadow on the reverse side, so it is worth testing your favourite pen on the back page. Pencil feels especially good on the slightly toothy cream surface, which is why the notebook shows up next to drawing kits as often as it does on writing desks. There is no elastic closure and no back pocket. If you need those, a system such as a [Traveler's Notebook](https://www.unknowndivide.com/travelers-company-notebook/) may suit you better. The MD Notebook is for people who want a stack of uniform volumes and as little hardware as possible. ## Who the MD Notebook suits - **Writers and students who go through notebooks quickly.** The design stays out of the way. - **Fountain pen users.** The paper is a large part of the appeal. - **Anyone who likes a matching set on a shelf.** Identical cream spines make a calm archive. Number the pages and leave an index at the front if you want to find ideas later. Date the first and last pages when you finish a book. Those small habits turn a plain notebook into a record of a year, the same way returning to a familiar album such as [Dawn](https://www.unknowndivide.com/drifting-in-silence-dawn/) or [Place In Time](https://www.unknowndivide.com/drifting-in-silence-place-in-time/) marks time without needing extra decoration. If you travel, an A5 in a thin cover is still easy to carry, and the glassine wrapper the notebook ships in can be saved as a light dust jacket for the first weeks of use. Once the cover starts to soften, that wear becomes part of the object rather than damage. A stained, filled MD Notebook usually looks better than an unused one. Buy more than one ruling if you split work and personal notes. Keeping those streams in separate books is simpler than colour-coding a single pad, and the identical covers will still look like a set on a shelf. For more desk tools and everyday objects, explore the [desk and EDC hub](https://www.unknowndivide.com/desk-and-edc/). ## Where to buy **Shop the Midori MD Notebook** [MD Notebooks at the Midori shop](https://www.midori-store.net/SHOP/8733/34372/list.html?ref=unknowndivide.com) [Midori MD Notebook A5 lined](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003CT47ZU?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com) [Midori MD Notebook A5 lined](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BT49LMTM?tag=unknowndivi02-20&ref=unknowndivide.com)