I'm going to let you in on a little secret: the KOKUYO Campus Twin Ring Notebook, Business Type, Dot B 6mm Ruled, Semi-B5, 50 Sheets, 37 Lines, Navy Cover, Japan Import.

I discovered this notebook when I went to Japan back in 2017, and I've been trying to find it online since. Not that it's been an obsession or that I've dedicated much time to it, but every once in a while, around this time of year (Notebook Buying Season), I'll check.

Normally, I find KOKUYO notebooks that are close but not quite right. They have dots instead of lines, for example. Or they're too big, or too small. Or the cover is pink.

This year, though, I found the notebook on Amazon. It's the one I linked above. It is, quite simply, the best notebook I've ever used. Something about the paper, primarily. It's just smooth to write on, but it grabs on to the ink. Killer combo. Don't see that too often these days. Apparently, it has to do with the "sizing" -- the paper is sized, or treated with chemicals during manufacturing, to prevent ink absorption while maintaining quick dry times. You can tell.

There are other little things, too. The lightly printed "Date" entry in the upper right hand corner, with the three little dots. The little dots on each one of each page's lines. The little Twin Rings on which the pages glide as they turn. The perfect perforation -- if you love a page, you can tear it out and keep it somewhere special; if you hate a page, you can rip it out and throw it in a wastebasket, like frustrated writers have done since the dawn of writing.

If I had one complaint about the KOKUYO Campus Twin Ring Notebook, Business Type, Dot B 6mm Ruled, Semi-B5, 50 Sheets, 37 Lines, Navy Cover, Japan Import, it would be that it's too good. I feel bad writing in it.

At least, that was the issue when I wasn't sure I'd ever get another one. Now I have five. Now, I mean I don't want to be wasteful, per se, it's still a luxurious notebook to write in, but I don't have to be quite as precious. So now, honestly, I have no complaints.

Which leaves one question: what do you use to write in the perfect notebook?

Personally, I love a good old PILOT G2 Premium Refillable & Retractable Rolling Ball Gel Pens, 0.7mm Fine Point.

It appears I'm not alone. Amazon tells me the Blue G-2 07 is "America's #1 Selling Pen" and "Proven #1 Longest Writing Gel Pen." So I'm not spilling alpha here.

It's in the third point that Amazon makes, in combination with the notebook alpha I shared, where the true magic lies: "Super Smooth & Quick Drying."

When you combine the Super Smooth and Quick Drying pen with the super smooth and perfectly "sized" paper, I ... well, you've just got to try it for yourself.