Tomoe River paper will have a new manufacturer by November 28 after Sanzen Paper Manufacturing acquired business rights from Tomoegawa for JPY300 million (US$2.64 million).
Sanzen announced the deal covering naming rights and inventories in a statement on Thursday, with additional financial details disclosed by its parent company Chuetsu Pulp and Paper.
Tomoe River’s Facebook page also posted a handwritten thank you note as a farewell. Tomoegawa said it has stopped sales and manufacturing of the well-known paper ahead of operations transfer to the new owner.
Pen Noob has reached out to representatives from Tomoegawa and Sanzen Paper for comment, but they have yet to respond as of publishing.
This development comes months after the paper company discontinued two series under the Tomoe River line following profitability and machine issues. In May, a Tomoegawa representative told Pen Noob that they were still considering producing the paper on a different machine.
How this manufacturer change affects products relying on the said paper, like planner brand Hobonichi, remains to be seen.
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Photo from the Tomoe River announcement.
Special thanks to Dominic Ambat for helping with the company statements.
Update 1 as of 6pm GMT+8: Deal’s financial details from Chuetsu Pulp and Paper added. Headline has been changed to reflect this change.
