A Trip to Nakayashi's Bookbinding Factory
A highlight of our trip to Japan this February was the tour of Nakabayashi’s bookbinding factory in Izumo. Nakabayashi’s Logical Prime notebook has been a favorite at the shop since its arrival in 2018. We loved its smooth paper–printed with precise, subtle lines–that showed off any ink we tried. It somehow felt luxurious and approachable at the same time; it was a notebook that invited writing. When we were planning a custom Paper Mouse notebook in 2024, we were delighted to find that the Logical Prime was an option.
As we planned our trip, we received an amazing invitation from Ms. Lily Tsubouchi, CEO of Nakabayashi's US distributor, whom we've worked with for years: would The Paper Mouse team like to visit one of Nakabayashi’s factories? Not just any factory, but the one where our Fly Me to the Moon notebooks were made. Of course we would! We couldn’t wait!
In Shimane Prefecture’s Izumo city, we were welcomed by Mr. Noriaki Takaki, a manager in the overseas sales department. He showed us in and offered us tea as he introduced the company. Nakabayashi was a leading bookbinder in Japan, now operating in many other fields as well, with roots tracing back over a hundred years to its founder, Yasuemon Nakabayashi. There were many Nakabayashi factories across the country, Mr. Takaki said, including two others in Shimane Prefecture. One of them was where the much-loved Hobonichi Weeks planners were made.
We donned protective gear and entered the factory.
The first sight was these huge rolls of paper, from which each notebook's pages were cut.
Large rollers were used to print the ruling onto the pages, using a process called flexography. The pink section was a giant, flexible printing plate adhered onto a metal cylinder. A second cylinder rolled ink onto the printing plate before it touched the paper. The effect was similar to the rubber stamps used to decorate our journals, amplified and sped up many times.
There were machines cutting the printed rolls of paper into sheets and collecting them into signatures. Industrial sewing machines stitched the pages together. Monitored by factory staff, heavy machines folded the stitched signatures neatly in half.
In this area, neon green binding was adhered onto some notebooks, then the notebooks were trimmed down to size. Our Logical Primes were likely bound in this very machine!
We wound our way across the factory floor amidst the low rumble of daily work. Some of the equipment looked like it had sat there for decades, as if the chipped green frames had grown out of the green floors. Others were modern creatures, all steel and glass and mechanical arms. Old and new blended together in a process of continuous improvement. Although there were only a few staff on duty during our visit, there were human touches all over the machines: a list of settings taped here, a safety reminder there, or a handmade jig for some small adjustment. The factory itself was unassuming, reflecting the simplicity and reliability of the products it produced.
There was one final surprise near the end of the tour. Mr. Takaki introduced us to Mr. Ichoda, the artisan who created the foil stamp for our Fly Me to the Moon notebook’s cover design. We were so glad for the opportunity to pass on our gratitude and praise his meticulous work.
We left Nakabayashi's Izumo factory with a new a sense of appreciation for the notebooks we loved so much, and the process behind their creation. We thanked Mr. Takaki, wishing him well and looking forward to the many exciting possibilities for our next projects together.
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