The High Grade is the most high-end, most fancy notebook in Kokuyo’s Campus line, which is makes affordable notebooks for students. The High Grade uses semi-glossy MIO paper, which is a good deal more fountain pen friendly than the rest of the Campus series.
The High Grade is most popularly sold in A5 and B5 sizes but it can be found in A4 as well. The paper uses a 6 mm or 7 mm rule in normal lined pages. The 6 mm height will be too small for people with larger handwriting so be careful what you buy or you’ll be skipping a lot of lines.
This is a soft notebook with a very bendable cover made of light cardstock. This cover is nicely designed but can be a durability issue as it has very little vertical strength, which means the notebook can easily crease in the middle. This isn’t necessarily a problem as there is a silver cloth tape binding — along the spine of the notebook — which seems tough enough (and is very cool looking).
Concluding Thoughts
At 80 sheets for about $6 with high-end paper that is fountain pen ready, this is a very good notebook. Thoughts on the MIO paper will vary — it’s good but are from the best for sale today — but Campus notebooks have a dedicated fan base and are widely available for great prices.
The High Grade is a bit of an oddball, in that it’s the highest end product in a line designed for affordability, putting it at about 1.5-2x the price of other Campus notebooks in the A5 size. That said, the price is still affordable, at well under $10.
As for the MIO paper, we like it for note-taking and school-type uses but it’s too absorbent for serious fountain pen users. It you are a gel, hybrid, rollerball, or even a dedicated ballpoint pen user it’s a fine paper, but there will be some bleed through with wide pens (mostly 1.0 mm ones, not 0.7 mm ones).
Kokuyo Campus High Grade Notebook Information
| Street Price | Check Price |
| Manufacturer | Kokuyo |
| Models | A5, 6 mm Rule, Blue Accents; A5, 7 mm Rule, Red Accents; Semi B5, 6 mm Rule, Blue Accents; Semi B5, 7 mm Rule, Red Accents |
| Cover Type | Softcover |
| Cover Material | Cardstock |
| Cover Color | Ivory |
| Paper Color | White |
| Paper Decoration | Lined |
| Line Spacing | 6 mm, 7 mm |
| Lines per Page | 24 |
| Number of Pages | 80 |
| Weight (g/sq/m) | 60 |
| Perforated Edge? | No |
| Refillable? | No |
| Paper Size | A4, A5, B5 |
| Paper Size | 25.2 cm, 21.0 cm x 14.8 cm, 17.9 cm, 8.3 inches, 9.9 inches x 7.0 inches, 5.8 inches |
| Paper Depth | 0.4 cm cm |
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