Misuzudo Block Memo Cube

What is important is the page by page layering of the stack; Misuzudo Block Memo Cube, JPY 630

The open blooming of the cherry blossom flowers in spring is very beautiful.

However, that beauty, limited to several days, is extremely transient. Since the flowers were so beautiful, to see the scene of them falling somehow makes me feel sentimental.

In this block memo is that feeling of refreshing beauty that I could feel from those cherry blossoms.

If this is placed on a desk it is possible to enjoy the atmosphere of spring, irrespective of the season.

The name “Misuzudo” is extremely famous for its hand-made bookbinding by craftsmen. Recently, in addition to books, they are turning a hand to making notebooks and such like stationery, that utilises these bookbinding skills. These seem to have that hand-made warmth that is not found in mass-produced items made on machines.

This skill is also fully shown in the memo block featured this time.

Viewed from the side, a colour graduation is produced that is nothing less than splendid.

This beauty is produced by layering 390 sheets of less than 1mm thick paper.

The two types of colour variation are fresh green and cherry pink. When trying out arranging these two types, my dull desk top instantly started to look brighter.

Intrigued by just what colours of paper produced this graduation I counted them to see.

Well; the number of colours was just four.

That just a mere four colours could express beauty to this degree caught my interest as something quite incredible.

Well then, to look at how they go about making this, basically from a deep colour, each time a page is turned over, the colour of the paper gets lighter; however, this composition is quite complicated.

According to an attempt to examine this starting from the top, there are:

24 pages in the darkest colour
2 pages in the second darkest colour
4 pages in the darkest colour
3 pages in the second darkest colour
3 pages in the darkest colour
4 pages in the second darkest colour...

Which is actually to say that, the more you look the more you find that you have no idea what is going on.

Anyway, the one thing that even I now understand is that it doesn’t seemed to be stacked by a simple formula.

But, one thing I did find out, is that, by collecting together several sheets of paper to use and among them effectively interweaving a lighter shade of paper, a subtle graduation is produced.

What’s more, because this work of stacking the paper is done by hand, I am left stunned.

The paper used is called “Tanto Paper” and it is allegedly often used in the part of a book called the fly-leaf.

Having said that it’s used in a book fly-leaf, this was the first time that I had heard that word but, turn open the cover of a book and it is the first blank page that appears.

Often this is the page that an author will sign.

Looking at the fresh green paper I was thinking that I had seen this colour before somewhere when, well, if it isn’t almost exactly the same colour as the fly-leaf in my own book.

Personally, this was a bit of a happy discovery.

Look at the surface of the paper and it is rough; so much so that it is clearly apparent even to the naked eye.

Due to this roughness, I, of my own accord, thought that surely the enjoyment of pleasurable writing couldn’t be much hoped for, but that wasn’t the case.

In an attempt at writing with a fountain pen, certainly the unevenness could be felt through the nib of the pen, however, the writing didn’t feel bumpy; rather it is more like the nib of the pen moves forward gliding over the top of the bumps.

What is more, it absorbed the ink swiftly, easily and with a pleasant feeling.

As the bookbinding method is called unsewn binding, synthetic
glue is placed on the spine and one by one the pages are filed in and stuck down.

Clearly, the binding is so solid because it is made by the labour of bookbinding craftsmen.

Put this block memo on top of your desk and try opening the pages just as you would open a book and a beautiful fan shape appears; it unfolds open to show an expanse that’s just like a flower has bloomed.

Because the binding is firmly secured, even opening it a full 180 degrees like this, none of the pages were pulled out.

It is a block memo so, of course, you can pull out the pages sheet by sheet. Perfect for a short memo and, due to the thickness of the paper, just right for a message card and so forth. Also, if you lay a sheet under a cup it can be used as a coaster and so on.

Again, due to the solid bookbinding, as the pages are turned over it can be used like a small notebook.

　　

A block memo stacked, page by page, by the hands of the craftsman.
While enjoying this skilled craftsmanship I intend to carefully use each page.

At the same time, I was reminded again that, one by one, even small things ? when they are accumulated - can produce something big.