Midori

From letterpress origin to international cult brand

Midori traces its origins to the founding of the Midori-sha company in Tokyo in 1950, in the lean postwar years when paper was rationed and personal correspondence was rebuilding the country’s social fabric. The early product line was almost entirely letter-writing goods: stationery sets, envelopes, calligraphy paper, and seasonal greeting cards in the formal Japanese letter-writing style.

The company grew steadily through the second half of the 20th century into a respected Tokyo stationery manufacturer, but it was the 2006 launch of the Traveler’s Notebook — a thin, refillable leather cover holding a single slim insert — that turned Midori into an international cult brand. The Traveler’s line is now spun off as its own sub-brand (Traveler’s Company), but it shares staff, factories, and design DNA with the main Midori line. In 2015 Midori was acquired by Designphil, the Tokyo group that now coordinates the broader portfolio.

MD Paper — the quietest revolution in modern notebooks

Around 2008 Midori introduced its in-house paper line, MD Paper (the initials stand for “Midori Diary”). It was developed in response to a complaint from fountain pen users: most off-the- shelf notebooks were too thin or too coated to handle wet ink, and the available premium notebooks were imported and expensive.

MD Paper is a smooth, very lightly cream-tinted pure-pulp paper specifically formulated for fountain pen ink — high enough absorbency to prevent feathering, low enough to keep show-through and bleed-through minimal. It comes in a notebook line with a distinctive minimal cover: a glassine paper sleeve, a paper band with the spec printed in a single line, and absolutely no logo on the cover itself. The aesthetic launched a thousand desk photos on the early internet.

MD Paper notebooks have since become an unofficial standard among fountain pen enthusiasts worldwide. The line is still entirely made in Japan.

The accessories nobody else makes

The lesser-known half of Midori’s catalog is its accessories department, which produces a steady stream of small, oddly specific tools that solve very particular stationery problems. Examples include a small clip-on pen rest for the spiral edge of a notebook, an etched brass bookmark sized for the Traveler’s insert dimensions, a paper guillotine for trimming washi tape, and a series of glue-tab books for permanent collage notebooks.

None of these are essential, all of them feel intentionally designed, and many of them have no equivalent from any other manufacturer. They are also reliably the smallest, lightest stationery gifts you can give that read as serious — perfect for desk-friends and journaling enthusiasts.

What to buy first

If you’re new to Midori, three picks cover most use cases:

• MD Notebook A5 or A6 — the entry point. Plain, ruled, or grid; soft cover or hard cover. The A6 size fits in a jacket pocket; the A5 size handles fountain pens generously.
• Traveler’s Notebook starter set — leather cover, one paper insert, an elastic, a clip, and a card pocket. Available in original (regular) and passport sizes. The leather develops a beautiful patina with daily handling.
• Brass tool or stamp — the catch-all category for desk accessories. Brass ruler, brass paper clip box, wooden-handled rubber stamp. Inexpensive and lasts a lifetime.

All ship from our Tokyo hub in protective sleeves and bubble wrap. Paper goods arrive flat in cardboard-stiffened mailers.

Caring for paper and leather goods

Store notebooks flat or upright in moderate humidity — paper goods warp with prolonged exposure to humidity above ~60%. The MD Paper line is uncoated, so pencil and pen marks can transfer slightly between facing pages over long compression; if you store notebooks on a packed shelf, a sheet of glassine between covers helps.

Traveler’s Notebook leather covers will scratch and patina quickly — this is intentional and is the whole point. Apply a light coat of neutral leather conditioner once or twice a year to keep the leather supple. Do not use saddle soap on the camel or blue tan colors, as the dye is partly surface-applied and may lift.