KOKUYO Campus Notebook: B5 Sizes, Rulings & Dots

Drawing of a KOKUYO Campus Semi-B5 notebook to scale: closed in a blue cover, 252 × 179 mm, and opened flat to show 6 mm dotted ruling with 35 lines a page — A Semi-B5 Campus, closed and opened to its 6 mm dotted ruling (1 mm = 0.8 px).

Product facts

Product: KOKUYO Campus Notebook, Semi-B5, 30 sheets (NO-3BN 6 mm rule; NO-3BTN 6 mm dotted; NO-3ATN 7 mm dotted)
Brand: KOKUYO
Brand origin: Japan
Made in: Japan^*
Material: Woodfree forest-certified paper (上質紙, 森林認証紙), laminated spine cloth
Released: 1975^*
Price range: $under $5 per notebook

Notes on these facts

Made by KOKUYO Co., Ltd.. Made in Japan: KOKUYO's own global online store gives Country of Origin: Japan for the NO-3BN 3-pack and 10-pack and for the NO-3BTN and NO-3ATN dotted books. KOKUYO's Japanese catalog pages don't list origin; other Campus lines and sizes may differ. Source. Price: example listing. Released: KOKUYO's Japanese chronicle: the Campus brand began with spiral notebooks in 1965; this perfect-bound Campus Note followed in 1975, and the current design is the fifth generation, from October 2011.
Price bands are typical US retail, checked October 2026. Conversions to US dollars are approximate, at October 2026 rates (US$1 = ¥158 = ₩1,330 = NT$32.5 = CN¥6.7 = SEK 9.9 = DKK 6.7 = ₺49.6 = C$1.41 = A$1.43; €1 = US$1.12; £1 = US$1.32; CHF 1 = US$1.21).

Key takeaways

The standard Campus is Semi-B5: 252 × 179 mm (about 9.9 × 7 in), with 30 sheets (60 pages).
6 mm ruling gives 35 lines per page; 7 mm ruling gives 30 lines, per KOKUYO's Japanese product pages.
KOKUYO's Japanese list price for the NO-3BN (6 mm, 30 sheets) is ¥210 (about US$1.30) before tax; in the US it sits in our lowest band ($, under $5 per notebook).
KOKUYO's Japanese chronicle says the Campus brand began with spiral notebooks in 1965; the perfect-bound Campus Note followed in 1975 and turned 50 in 2025.
KOKUYO's own global store lists Japan as the country of origin for the NO-3BN packs and the NO-3BTN and NO-3ATN dotted notebooks.

What is the KOKUYO Campus notebook?

The KOKUYO Campus is a thin, glue-bound school and office notebook from Japanese maker KOKUYO, sold in Semi-B5 with 30 sheets as its standard size. KOKUYO’s global store calls Campus Japan’s No. 1 notebook series, and KOKUYO’s Japanese pages note that the Campus Note is made to the JIS (Japanese Industrial Standards) notebook standard.

KOKUYO’s Japanese chronicle says the Campus name debuted in 1965 on spiral-bound notebooks with illustrated covers. The perfect-bound Campus Note followed in 1975, the current design is its fifth generation, launched in October 2011, and KOKUYO celebrated the 50th anniversary in 2025.

KOKUYO Campus specs

Spec	NO-3BN	NO-3BTN	NO-3ATN
Size	Semi-B5, 252 × 179 mm	Semi-B5, 252 × 179 mm	Semi-B5, 252 × 179 mm
Ruling	6 mm lines	6 mm dotted lines	7 mm dotted lines
Lines per page	35	35	30
Sheets	30 (60 pages)	30 (60 pages)	30 (60 pages)
Paper	Woodfree, forest certified	Woodfree, forest certified	Woodfree, forest certified
Binding	Perfect binding (glued)	Perfect binding (glued)	Perfect binding (glued)
Japanese list price (before tax)	¥210 (about US$1.30)	¥210 (about US$1.30)	¥210 (about US$1.30)
JAN	4901480070216	4901480233024	4901480233017
Made in	Japan (3- and 10-packs, KOKUYO Store)	Japan (KOKUYO Store)	Japan (KOKUYO Store)

Sizes, line counts, paper, prices and JAN codes come from KOKUYO’s Japanese product pages, which call the binding 無線とじ (musen-toji, glued binding without thread); KOKUYO’s global store translates it as “threadless”. The ruled books also have triangle marks at the center and both edges for drawing vertical lines, and a laminated spine cloth you can write on with a ballpoint.

To-scale drawing: two 179 × 252 mm KOKUYO Campus pages, one with 30 lines at 7 mm and one with 35 lines at 6 mm — Both rulings fill about 210 mm of the page: 30 × 7 mm and 35 × 6 mm.

Should you choose 6 mm or 7 mm ruling?

Choose 6 mm for compact handwriting and dense notes, and 7 mm if you write large or want more white space. The difference is 5 lines per page: 35 at 6 mm against 30 at 7 mm. KOKUYO’s Japanese-market pages call the 7 mm style “A-ruled”.

For comparison, US college ruling is 9/32 in (7.1 mm), almost the same as KOKUYO’s 7 mm. See our Five Star 5 Subject guide for US ruling sizes.

What are the dots on Campus dotted notebooks?

Dotted Campus pages keep their horizontal lines and add evenly spaced dots along them. KOKUYO’s Japanese product page lists five uses: lining up the start of each line, marking the corners of shapes and table borders, drawing straight lines with a short ruler, pasting in handouts neatly, and lining up text when you write vertically, as is common in Japanese. The inside cover explains how to use them.

That makes a dotted Campus useful for math, charts and quick diagrams, without switching to a full grid notebook.

How does the Campus compare to a US notebook?

A Semi-B5 Campus is a little smaller than letter size and much thinner than a US subject notebook.

	KOKUYO Campus Semi-B5	Five Star 5 Subject	Mead Composition
Page size	179 × 252 mm (7 × 9.9 in)	8.5 × 11 in	7.5 × 9.75 in
Sheets	30	200	100
Binding	Glued	Spiral	Sewn, tape spine
Price band	$	$$	$

The Campus is close in size to a Mead composition book but carries far fewer sheets, so you get through one quickly. If you want to reuse the same pages instead, the Rocketbook Core Executive is a smaller option at 6 × 8.8 in. For a Japanese notebook with tear-out pages, the Maruman Mnemosyne N195A is an A5 twin-ring book with 80 perforated sheets.

Which Campus model should you buy?

Buy the NO-3BN for plain 6 mm lines, the NO-3BTN if you want the same lines with dots, and the NO-3ATN for 7 mm dotted lines. All three are the same Semi-B5, 30-sheet, glued book; only the ruling changes.

Model code	Ruling	Lines per page	Best for
NO-3BN	6 mm lines	35	Compact handwriting, dense class notes
NO-3BTN	6 mm dotted lines	35	Small handwriting plus tables and diagrams
NO-3ATN	7 mm dotted lines	30	Larger handwriting, more white space

KOKUYO’s store adds a pack size to the end of the code, so NO-3BNX3 is a 3-pack and NO-3BNX10 is a 10-pack of the NO-3BN. Buying a pack makes sense because a 30-sheet book fills up fast. For a stitched 30-sheet book that lies flat, see the MUJI recycled paper notebook.

How much does a KOKUYO Campus cost?

A Campus notebook is a $ notebook in our bands. KOKUYO’s Japanese site lists the NO-3BN, NO-3BTN and NO-3ATN at ¥210 (about US$1.30) each before tax. Packs of the 6 mm book are ¥630 (about US$4) for three (NO-3BNX3), ¥1,050 (about US$6.60) for five (NO-3BNX5) and ¥2,100 (about US$13) for ten (NO-3BNX10). KOKUYO’s US store sells 3-packs and 10-packs; divided per notebook, they fall under $5.

Where are KOKUYO Campus notebooks made?

KOKUYO’s own global online store lists Japan as the country of origin for the NO-3BN 3- and 10-packs and for the dotted NO-3BTN and NO-3ATN. KOKUYO’s Japanese catalog pages don’t list origin, and we found it stated only for these models, so check the label on other sizes and Campus lines.

Frequently asked questions

What size is a KOKUYO Campus notebook?

The standard Campus is Semi-B5, which KOKUYO gives as 252 × 179 mm, or about 9.9 × 7 inches. That is slightly smaller than US letter paper at 8.5 × 11 inches.

What is the difference between 6 mm and 7 mm Campus ruling?

The 6 mm version fits 35 lines on a page and the 7 mm version fits 30 lines. Choose 6 mm for small or compact handwriting and 7 mm for larger handwriting or more space between lines.

What are the dots on KOKUYO Campus dotted notebooks for?

KOKUYO says the dots on its dot-ruled lines help you line up the start of each line, mark the corners of shapes and table borders, draw straight lines with a short ruler, paste in handouts neatly and line up text when writing vertically. The page still has normal horizontal lines.

How many pages is a KOKUYO Campus notebook?

The standard Semi-B5 Campus has 30 sheets, which is 60 pages. KOKUYO also sells it in packs of 3, 5 and 10, and in 40- to 100-sheet versions.

What do Campus model codes like NO-3BN mean?

They are KOKUYO's item numbers. For example, NO-3BN is the Semi-B5 6 mm ruled 30-sheet book, NO-3BTN is the 6 mm dotted version and NO-3ATN is the 7 mm dotted version; an X and a number at the end mark a multi-pack.

How long has KOKUYO made the Campus notebook?

KOKUYO's Japanese chronicle says the Campus brand launched in 1965 with spiral-bound notebooks. The perfect-bound Campus Note sold today dates from 1975, its current fifth-generation design from October 2011, and KOKUYO marked its 50th anniversary in 2025.

Where are KOKUYO Campus notebooks made?

In Japan, for the models where the maker says so: KOKUYO's global online store gives Japan for the NO-3BN 3- and 10-packs and the NO-3BTN and NO-3ATN dotted books. Origin isn't given for other sizes and lines in our sources, so read the label.

Sources (12)

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