The Best Japanese Binders

The Maruman 5 Chart is one of our favorite Japanese binders. It has an impressively simple yet effective opening mechanism that won’t pinch your fingers and keeps your papers secure. Just unhook the white tab at the bottom of the rings to make the rings swing apart.

That’s not the binder’s only useful feature, though. The front cover is cleverly designed with small cutouts along the right edge. You can grab the colored tab of the divider through the cutout to flip to the right section.

The binders are available in A4, B5, and A5 sizes. Each binder comes with Maruman’s Easy to Write Loose Leaf Paper and can hold anywhere between sixty and seventy sheets of paper.

The majority of this guide will focus on standardized Japanese binders, which have rings that follow specific guidelines on how far apart they are. Because of this, the loose leaf papers and accessories they’re compatible with are interchangeable. For example, Maruman binders can use Kokuyo loose leaf paper and vice versa.

Be sure to check out the “Recommended Refills/Parts” link in the description of a binder, or the “Compatible Products” link on a loose leaf paper’s page. We test all of our binders and loose leaf papers to see what products they can be used with.

Binders that use proprietary loose leaf papers or don’t use hole-punched sheets at all will be discussed in a specific section below.

The biggest difference between Japanese binders and other binders is the number of rings used. Unlike American three-ring binders or European two-ring binders, most Japanese binders can have as many as thirty rings to fit Japanese loose leaf paper.

Because the number of rings and holes are so different, Japanese binders can’t be used with three-hole punched paper, and American binders can’t fit Japanese loose leaf paper. However, most two-ring binders can use Japanese loose leaf paper, and a Japanese binder can fit two-hole punched paper as long as it’s the right size.

Western binders use metal rings with spring mechanisms that can be difficult to open. Closing the rings usually means squeezing them shut, which can be painful if a finger gets caught in the prongs.

On the other hand, almost all Japanese binders use small plastic rings with special mechanisms that can be opened with ease. Many of them don’t require you to touch the rings in order to close them, so you don’t have to worry about pinched fingers.

Most Japanese binders have covers made of firm yet flexible plastic, which make them lighter than their Western counterparts. Though a few ounces in weight may not seem like much, students who carry notebooks, textbooks, and binders in a backpack will definitely appreciate it.

Covers made of thicker materials like synthetic leather or PVC often look and feel more professional, and they’re good options for office workers.

The most common Japanese binder size is B5. It has plenty of space for notes without being unmanageably large. At 7.2 inches wide by 10.2 inches tall, it’s similar in size to Western loose leaf paper (which measures 8 inches by 10.5 inches) and is smaller in both dimensions than 8.5 inch by 11 inch letter paper.

Some Japanese binders are also available in A4 and A5 sizes, which are larger and smaller than B5, respectively.

Learn more about common paper sizes in our guide.

Like our top choice Maruman 5 Chart, the Kokuyo Campus Index Binder has features that make it incredibly easy to open and use. Slide down the tab at the bottom of the rings to separate them. It also has a cover cutout so you can flip to an index tab without having to flip open the binder. Choose from binders that can hold up to sixty-five or 100 sheets of paper.

While other Kokuyo Campus binders come with smooth Sarasara Loose Leaf Paper, the Index includes ten sheets of Shikkari paper, which has a soft and thick texture.

Students who want to keep all of their notes in one place should use the Kokuyo Campus Slide Binder. This high-capacity binder can hold up to one hundred sheets of paper! Like the other binders we recommend, the Campus slide takes almost no effort to open. Pull on the tab at the bottom of the rings to smoothly slide them open.

The Campus Slide comes in A4 and B5 sizes (the A5 size can hold sixty-five sheets of paper). Some of the binders come with index tabs, sheet protectors, and Sarasara Loose Leaf Paper.

A typical Japanese B5 binder has twenty-six rings, but the King Jim Tefrenu only has eight: four at the top and four at the bottom. It’s much easier to write in the center of the binder because your hand won’t have to compete with uncomfortable rings. To open the binder, squeeze the top and bottom rings of each four-ring group.

The Tefrenu comes with five index tabs, ten sheets of paper, and a clear pocket with a flap closure.

The Kokuyo Campus Smart Ring combines the best features of a notebook and a binder. The compact open-ring binding keeps it as slim as a spiral-bound notebook while still allowing you to add and remove pages. You can even fold the binding back on itself so it takes up less space on your desk.

The Standard Smart Ring comes in B5 and A5 sizes, both of which hold about twenty-five sheets. It’s also available in a larger version that can hold sixty sheets. Both include ten sheets of Kokuyo Campus Sarasara Loose Leaf Paper. The Smart Ring Biz comes with an opaque cover. It hides sensitive notes and accommodates page flags that stick out from the edge of the paper. The included paper is Kokuyo Campus Biz Loose Leaf.

Whether you’re a student tackling AP classes or an office worker self-studying in your free time, it’s important to organize everything you’ve learned. That’s where the Maruman Session comes in. This binder was specifically designed to make your next class or research project as frustration free as possible.

It’s divided into five sections with two index tabs each, which allows you to sort information within the same subject. For example, try keeping your study notes up to the midterm in the section’s first half, then notes for the rest of the class in the second half. You could also divide up a subject based on topics you understand clearly versus things that you want to look into further.

The Kokuyo 2 Hole Binder might seem rather simple, but don’t be fooled by its limited number of rings. It’s actually packed with a variety of useful features! The most interesting might be that it’s not limited to A4 loose leaf papers. You can add B5 and A5 papers with twenty-six and twenty holes, respectively. That’s because all of these paper sizes have two large holes that are eight centimeters from each other, so they fit perfectly on the rings. Of course, the binder fits European-style two-hole punched paper as well.

Additionally, the 2 Hole has flattened rings that allows the sheets to fit on either side, so paper won’t come flying out when you open the rings. The cover creases let you hold the binder in one hand and flip through the pages with the other, too.

The adorable Maruman Into-One is a delightfully versatile binder. It’s sized to fit mini B7 sheets of paper, which are smaller than three inch by five inch index cards. Use the Into-One to study vocabulary, write down recipes, or make scrapbook collages!

Twenty sheets of Easy to Write Loose Leaf Paper are included, and different refills and accessories are available.

Maruman has many other mini binders to choose from, including the stylish Giuris with its synthetic leather cover and the Session Mini, which matches the full-sized Session.

Kleid Fleek Binders are A5 binders suitable for professionals and office workers. They come in a variety of neutral colors. We especially like the gold or silver corner caps and foiled details on the front, which give the binders tasteful accents.

Each binder comes with ten sheets of high-quality OK Fools Paper in either cream or white.

The Kokuyo Novita Alpha isn’t your typical binder. This A4 size filing system uses a Clear Book as the binder’s cover and Files as the document holders. Instead of a bulky ring mechanism, the files slide into the grooves on the inside of the Clear Book’s spine. The cover expands to fit a maximum of six file holders, with a maximum capacity of 600 sheets!

The Novita Alpha works especially well with documents and handouts that must be organized and stay pristine. The pocket holders come in different colors so you can color-code the contents, and accessories like zipped pockets are also available.

The luxurious Raymay Davinci Dolcemente ES System Binder is a completely customizable planner system. You can choose exactly what kind of undated planner or note-taking pages you want to include, then add accessories like dividers and zipper pouches to keep everything organized.

The Davinci Dolcemente ES System is available in two sizes. You can create your own refills for the A5 size using a six-hole punch. The Bible/Personal size is the perfect size to fit in a shoulder bag or briefcase.

Lihit Lab offers a variety of refillable binder notebooks and notepads with rings that pull apart so you can add, remove, and reorganize the sheets inside. They’re basically like the Kokuyo Campus Smart Ring lineup (our recommendation for students), but they require Lihit Lab’s loose leaf papers and accessories. You can also create your own refills with 1/3 Inch Hole Punches.

Create your own refills for A5, B5, and A4 Japanese binders with Carl Gauge Hole Punches. They come with punchers and gauges to hold the paper. Use the gauge to hold up to five sheets at a time, then line up the puncher with the gauge to punch the correct amount of holes.

We appreciate that the A4 / B5 Gauge can also be used for letter-sized paper, a necessity for students and office workers who want to organize hand-outs and documents in their A4 binders.

Those who prefer two-hole binders can create refills for them using a Kokuyo Rakuake 2 Hole Punch. This heavy-duty punch can be used on twenty-five sheets of paper at a time, and it can punch A4 and B5 papers vertically and horizontally, plus A5 papers horizontally.

If you only have a three-ring binder, don’t worry; you can still use high-quality Japanese loose leaf paper. The Kokuyo Campus lineup offers loose leaf paper that’s three-hole punched. It’s made of the same paper as many other Campus products, including iconic Campus Notebooks.