Moleskine Japanese Sketchbook is the favourite one of plenty of moleskiners all over the world. Long sheet of thick sketch paper folded like “accordion”, bound in classical moleskine cover - for many people it seems to be the most peculiar and exotic among all various Moleskine notebooks. Japanese Sketchbook is used in many different ways, for instance, it is absolutely essential to join the creative project “International Moleskine Exchange” - more and more participants from the whole world go in with it.

The man who started this game is Marty Harris - he is the administrator of the group www.flickr.com/groups/moly_x/ at Flickr. This moment the group consists of 529 participants united into over 40 teams. Artists and simply moleskine-lovers join into teams, and each of 5-6 participants starts drawing in his or her Japanese Sketchbook. In a few days the sketchbook should be sent by mail to the next participant, which should continue the subject. The game goes on in circle, until every participant has made his pictures in all the sketchbooks of other participants. That is the way to communicate for moleskine-lovers from the whole world. Some teams are extremely manifold - there are participants from China, France, England, Spain, Germany, Russia, Mexico and the United States.

Many interesting groups already exist, and some of them are actually in the process of exchange. Each happy owner of the Japanese Sketchbook may join the existing team or create new one. You just need to create user profile at Flickr.com, join the group www.flickr.com/groups/moly_x/ and invite new participants to your team, or you can try to join an existing group which is still not in the process of exchange. To organise new team you may write to Marty Harris - and he will create new blog with appropriate number (there are already over 30 ones). Look here  to find out how to do this.

By the way, that is not necessary to join Flickr - you can invite your friends and keep the blog in LiveJournal, Deviantart.com or anywhere you like. But that is always easier to find like-minded persons when they are all in one room - that room is Marty Harris’ group.

Although that is so exciting to work with and speak to the participants from other countries, you can start with easier variant - organise a team of friends from your country or even your town, this will let you avoid mailing troubles and exchange your Moleskines personally.

The participants say that such game is not only the way of creativity and communicating, but also perfect training in distant international collaboration: you need to accomodate yourself to work in team with strangers from other countries, keep common blog in English, grasp international mailing.

Interested? If so, visit our Flickr community and look for more persons interested! Moleskiners are creative people, 100% someone will answer you :)

We wish you good luck in you creative beginnings!