I’ve seen a couple of websites which sell rather unique and mundane items (Themed notebooks, stationary, toys, gizmos, etc) from Japan and in the description of the notebooks/stationary, it repeatedly mentions how the paper is ‘far superior quality than that you find in the United States’.
So does that mean Japan sells superior-quality notebook paper than the United States?!
Also, how much recycled paper is used for other products in Japan? Is it as much/more than the United States? I know virgin wood pulp has some qualities that make it superior than recycled paper; could the difference in quality be because they don’t recycle as much paper as we do? Just a WAG here.
The Japanese have a tradition of making high-quality paper or washi. I’m not sure how important paper quality is for your regular use, but Japanese fancy note paper/art paper could conceivavbly be of far better quality.
Based on my observation, yes, Japanese notebooks are consistently high quality. It applies to other office supplies as well - the erasers and pencils are far superior to the kind you buy in an American drugstore. Of course, the Japanese ones are correspondingly more expensive. So it just means that Japanese consumers tend to prefer higher quality items, and are willing to pay a higher price for them.
Recycled paper is common, and still very high quality. I just checked our supply closet and all the notebooks were 55% recyled. The one on my desk is 100% recycled - it’s slightly beige in color but very dense and smooth.
Ironically, I often get my relatives in the US to send me American notebooks. I’ve gotten used to the large computation books (you know the kind - brown cover, 1/4-inch grid rules, a bit wider than letter size) and I can’t find a good alternative in Japan.
By the way, the traditional Japanese paper (washi) is textured and absorbent. It’s not used for notebooks.