What a nifty journal, stream of consciousness, random thought, or whatever notebook. The Midori Diary paper is a great performer with all ink types, a bit heavier than you might expect in a Japanese paper, and, although it is the same paper found in many of the Traveler's Notebooks, the size of the page adds to the perception of weight. If it is used with a wet fountain pen and ink combination, care should be taken to allow the pages to dry before turning or closing.

The pages of the lined MD Notebook are unobtrusively divided by a slightly bolder center rule. That could be useful depending upon the purpose of the writer, but it should not be distracting if the page is intended to be written and read as a whole.

The heavy paper cover is minimalist art. Its simplicity is also its beauty. I purchased the matching clear cover to help maintain its appearance. I recommend that others also purchase the cover if only because the notebook is just too nice to deface.

I will be ordering more of these notebooks as time goes on.

Love this notebook for lots of reasons. The design is so minimal and aesthetically pleasing with the spine being the way it is. The cover is very thick, durable paper, but I still put the clear cover on mine just to keep the paper clean. I love how the notebook opens up so that you can write on both sides of the paper easily. I'm using this for my daily journaling and I am just loving it so far. Great deal for such high quality paper. My fountain pens don't bleed through at all!

This has been my daily journal for three years now, after switching from Moleskine. Paper has a good feel, works well with EF Kaweco AL Sport and Diamine. Never had a single page fall out, though we've traveled Hell together. My favorite notebook, for sure.

I like this Midori MD A5 notebook. The cover and design are of the utmost simplicity. I've tried both types of covers: the paper and the clear vinyl, and both are nice. However, the pen loop on the vinyl cover is TINY. It can probably only hold a skinny pencil or ballpoint pen. I couldn't even fit my Pelikan M320 mini fountain pen in it, and that is one tiny pen! So don't expect to put your favorite fountain pen in the loop.

The paper is very fountain pen friendly. It's a very creamy ivory and inks look nice on it, and it's very smooth. I've compared it with Tomoe River as to shading and sheen. I used a Pelikan M400 with a stub nib, loaded with Robert Oster Fire & Ice ink, which provides the most shading and sheen of any ink I know. On the Tomoe River, I got all kinds of shading and tons of sheen. That ink shades red when it pools; beautiful. On the Midori MD, I got decent shading and some sheen. The Midori MD paper is a tiny bit more absorbent than Tomoe River, so I didn't get quite the same results. I can also feel a little more feedback from my fountain pen on the Midori MD paper, but it's a nice feedback.

I like the design, with the faint line going halfway across the page. I usually just write through it when journaling, but sometimes I use it as designed for special types of notes. It's handy, as is the bookmark. Overall, it's a very nice notebook; a little pricy, but nice to use. I will probably stick to my Tomoe River most of the time, but will return to write in this notebook sometimes. Nice to have options.

I very much like the subtle cream color of the paper and the equally subtle lined pages. It's a Japanese refined esthetic based on a beautiful but elegant simplicity that appeals to me.

If you are a fountain pen person, you know the quality of the paper you write on is very important, and sometimes each pen may write differently on the same paper. While that's true with Midori MD, I find it a good match for my pens.

Is it the absolute best paper? Probably not, because "best" is defined by each user and there are so many excellent papers out there, some of which are much more expensive than Midori MD. However, I find it an excellent paper for everyday writing with fountain pens, and a good balance between quality and price.