Comments on: MUJI equivalent notebooks in the US

Question: MUJI equivalent notebooks in the US

Artw — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:03:55 -0800

Stationery question: Where in America can I buy a spiral bound notebook with a dot-grid (similar to those sold in Muji)?

Back in the UK I used to be addicted to these notebooks from Muji, in particular because of the grid, which consisted of a dot at each intersection but no lines. Since moving to the US I've been looking for something similar, but only found notebooks with a lined grid.

The Muji store in NY does not appear to stock them. I can get people to send them over, or I can buy them from the online store, but would prefer to find a similar notebook here to avoid the fuss and expense.

By: Artw

Artw — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:05:56 -0800

As a secondary question: If I buy these online would there be any advantage to buying them from the Japanese store (assuming that, as a non-Japanese speaker, I can find some way to navigate the site)?

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:23:12 -0800

The Museum of Modern Art carries Muji products in their stores in Manhattan, as well as online. It doesn't appear that they carry the exact notebook you are looking for -- but the zip pouch notebooks look similar. I suggest calling the main MoMA Store (212-767-1050), as well as the Soho outpost (646-613-136) and asking if they carry the notebooks -- or, where they suggest you look.

By: ericb

ericb — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 16:27:05 -0800

Oops -- full telephone number for MoMA, Soho -- (646) 613-1367

By: litlnemo

litlnemo — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 18:02:55 -0800

Hmm, you mentioned New York, but your profile says you're in Seattle. You should check the Kinokuniya bookstore in Uwajimaya Village in the International District -- I don't know if they carry Muji, but they have a ton of cool Japanese notebooks and such, and I think they may have ones with a dot grid.

By: caek

caek — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 20:59:24 -0800

Behance dot grid spiral bound notebook, $14.

By: radioamy

radioamy — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 12:27:08 -0800

Look at stationary stores in your local Japantown.

By: ericb

ericb — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 14:39:04 -0800

Look at stationary stores in your local Japantown

Just make sure they're still in the same place when you go to visit them. ;)

By: kamelhoecker

kamelhoecker — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 17:50:57 -0800

here's a DIY solution...

Save the file below as "grid.ps". You can open it with Preview on the mac, Illustrator or use ps2pdf on Linux. Then print as many pages as you want. (btw, looks great on a laser printer. probably not so great on an inkjet.)

%!PS

% the above line must be the first line

% Title: dot grid paper

% x y radius arc1 arc2

/mydot { gsave 0 0 moveto 0.5 0 lineto stroke grestore } def



0.5 setlinewidth

0 0 moveto



% 0:black 1:white

% (no grey with a b/w laser, only ugly checker patterns...)

% 0.8 setgray



100 {

  100 {    

    9 0 translate  %% move across

      mydot

    } repeat

    -900 9 translate  %% move up 

} repeat



showpage

By: dws

dws — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 23:25:27 -0800

The dot notebook I have is from a Japanese stationary store (Mai Do, in Palo Alto). The legend on the back reads "Distributed and produced by Kyokuto stationary co.,ltd. made in China"

By: litlnemo

litlnemo — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 02:28:58 -0800

kamelhoecker, that is an awesomely geeky solution. Bravo!

By: Artw

Artw — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 12:18:31 -0800

I'm marking it as Best Answer. Not so much because i'll ever do it as for the awesome geekiness.

Actually if you can cime up with a simple solution for cutting the sheets down to pocketbook size and binding them I may even give it a shot.

By: Artw

Artw — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 12:21:34 -0800

BTW, thanks all for the help. I'll defiantely be checking Uwajimaya and may give MoMa a call, though I suspect what they have online is their entire range. The Behance notebook would be exactly what i'm looking for if it were a bit smaller.

Oh, and I'm hearing that a REAL Muji store may be opening in NY soon, so maybe they will have somr kind of online presence.

By: Artw

Artw — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 13:39:40 -0800

Kinokuniya had the goods - made by Kyokuto I believe.

By: litlnemo

litlnemo — Tue, 01 May 2007 05:25:43 -0800

Oh, excellent. I might have to go buy one myself. I love Kinokuniya; there's so much great stuff there (and in Uwajimaya).