There is an FAA accepted test of paint film hardness that requires special calibrated pencils, available ONLY from Mitsubishi pencil company, in packages of 17 for $224. Each pencil comes with an individual certificate of calibration shows that it meet's it's specified hardness level. The test is ASTM D 3363, "Standard Test Method for Film Hardness by Pencil Test"
> Masaki had the idea to register a three-diamond trademark, along with the "Mitsubishi" name, which means 'three diamonds.' (It may surprise you to learn that this was ten years before the much better-known Mitsubishi Group of heavy industry companies registered its name and identical mark. Mitsubishi Pencil has no connection to the numerous other Mitsubishi companies in Japan; it is and has always been a manufacturer of writing and drawing supplies.)
Well, I learned something new today. I always thought the pencils were part of the group but apparently they're not.
Seeing the iconic three diamond mark along with the name always made me think the pencils were related to the cars.
Upon learning of a third Asahi branded thing, I once made the observation that Asahi must make everything. There's Asahi Pentax cameras, Asahi beer, and now this forgotten other thing. At which point someone kindly informed me that Asahi means rising sun, and seeing it in a company name is roughly equivalent to seeing "federal" or "national" in a US company name.
I have a bunch of these pencil brands Tombow, Mitsubishi. I usually buy them on ebay. Its an amazing experience to write with them... I usually use the H, HB to write, and its fascinating, how the premium ones H differs from an ordinary H. There is some paraphernalia that goes with it - sharpners, erasers.
I had lost the writing habit..coding invariably takes you to the keyboard. Gradually I'm writing more, and it slows down, and that helps. Its a very analog experience, and is a form of digital detox. I am also learning to draw, hence the splurging on pencils in the first place. While I'm not an artist (yet!) - its a whole another world with an amazing spectrum of varieties of pencils.
You know what is great about that blog post? The pictures. There is something so pleasing about those shallow depth of field macros of carefully laid out pencils and other stationary. (I found some of those items on Amazon, BTW.)
My most treasured tools when I used to draw were Pentel 0.3 sliding sleeve pencils, model PS523. The sleeve let me put a lot of pressure on a very fine lead without breaking. And of course the lead was wonderful to use, very smooth. B was the softest lead available in that diameter, so it was hard to get a really dark black, hence the need for pressure.
I've bought a number of mechanical pencils since the model was discontinued and have been only disappointed. Few enough have the sliding sleeve, and on the few that do, the sleeve does not move at all smoothly. There may never be another pencil like it.
For ink drawing I have a set of Sakura Pigma Micron pens in different widths, also a lovely tool, and for general writing, Uniball micros are my pen of choice.
I think it's more than coincidence that all these are Japanese.
I guess that the nature of their writing system has either driven both their artistic expressiveness and excellence of their writing accessories, or vice versa, but, regardless, their craftsmanship is outstanding and admirable.
I, too, was a Uniball micro man until I switched to pencils and have been a Pentel Twist-Erase III man for a long time, indeed, with 2B lead instead of America's #2 standard. So smooth, and such a great eraser!
[I also must make my usual recommendation for NHKOnline's videos, where they have many, many shows about traditional Japanese crafts. Our family's favorite is now called "Design Stories", where it used to be "Design Talks Plus". They interview famous Japanese designers of all kinds, including a couple of Manga and many graphic design folks, as well as some stationery shops and Washi paper producers, plus architects and potters. I've only seen a few less than excellent episodes, but they're all good in the least.]
I have preferred Japanese stationery for decades, and while its overall quality is still the highest, I think its zenith is past. There is still innovation in areas, but most product lines are not as extensive as 20 years ago and some production has moved overseas with a slight decline in quality.
Probably the decline is due to the shift to screen-based communication. Japanese companies could produce better (i.e. more expensive) products because their domestic market supported it. With the younger generation glued to their smartphones, there is much less use of traditional stationery products.
I have a few drawers full of discontinued items that I've collected from eBay sales of old stock.
I really like Japanese eraser-tipped office pencils. I was cleaning out a drawer the other day and was excited to find half a box of Mitsubishi 9850, a favorite of mine. They run about $8 a dozen, but I felt like I had stumbled on a treasure trove. Smooth writing, nice paint, well-centered leads, and a nice eraser on a ferrule that doesn't loosen up. A good woodcased pencil is a joy to write with.
In general, I find Japan to be unmatched when it comes to stationery. Pens, pencils, notebooks, etc... Everything is just better: the simple stuff, like what you can find in "konbini" and "100 yen shops", entire floors in department stores like "Hands", and all the way up to luxury. As you might expect, Japanese brands of stationery are popular worldwide.
So it is not surprising that Japan had a golden age of pencils, and that you can still buy the products today and that they are still the best.
They are very good at higher end paper, pencils and erasers. Their gel and roller pens are mostly unmatched.
OTOH, while they're top tier in fountain pens, Germans really equal with them. Lamy, Faber Castell, Diplomat, Kaweco and of course Montblanc make great pens. Pilot & Sailor are not behind them, though. Mitsubishi Pencil bought Lamy so things will get interesting.
Inks are the same. Germans and Japanese are head to head. OTOH, except Leuchttrum and Rhodia, I can't find many fountain pen first papers from Europe.
Funnily, when it comes to fountain pens, there's another interesting contender. China. While they copy most of the stuff, their domestic brands make great pens and ink.
Also, a company in my country started making a paper which rivals Yu-Sari and Tomoe River. I write letters with it, and it's great.
I use Quo Vadis Habana blank notebooks with (mostly) Lamy fountain pens and Sailor inks. They have Clairefontaine paper that just works wonderfully -- it both dries quickly and doesn't bleed through. If you haven't tried them, you're in for a treat; enjoy!
(I believe Quo Vadis to be a Canadian company that mostly makes planners and such, and their notebooks are getting harder to find. Even the good folks at Goulet Pens have given up trying to keep them in stock. When I come across some, I stock up.)
My first PhD advisor was German, and he introduced me to LAMY pens. Everyone in our lab was given a hardcover notebook and a LAMY pen, and there were plenty of ink cartridges that we could use. I don’t use fountain pens these days, preferring pencil instead, but I remember how nice those pens were.
While I’m on the topic of German stationery, I regularly use my Staedtler eraser and pencil sharpener.
I keep a stable of inked pens. The set is half Japanese, half German all the time. I find Lamy superior for leak resistance and ruggedness, and they're repairable if you manage to damage them also, their tipping is one of the best and fastest polishing/adapting ones if not the best. Japanese ones tend to stay at my desk at home, since they're more delicate writing instruments (except Pilot Metropolitan.That's a tank), but I enjoy them all the same, regardless of their price points and materials.
BTW, if you have not tried Montblanc's Royal Blue give it a chance. That one is "different". Also Scrikss's blue black ink is nice.
The notebook using this paper is called Meteksan Prestige [0]. I don't know if they're exported or not.
Notebook looks good, much less expensive than Rhodia or Yu-Sari for 300 sheets of A5, assuming paper quality is as advertised. Priced in dollars although I’m not sure if they actually ship to to the us.
Yeah I never came across those Japanese products given the available German brands, of which there's also Staedtler, Faber-Castell, Stabilo, and Rotring, in addition to those already mentioned.
If anything, I had thought Japan were known to produce fine markers/felt-tip pens.
I love my Platinum fountain pens far more than the Lamys or other European fountain pens. No matter how many times I try I always go back to the Platinum PTL-5000A, which has been discontinued (thankfully I got a backup).
It's a matter of taste, and that's OK. Platinum is a great brand, but it doesn't resonate with me much. Sailor's ProGear and Pilot is where my heart is when it comes to Japanese pens.
On the other hand, I find entry level German pens great for everyday carry. They're very rugged, and easy to replace, if you can damage them.
I'm happy that you found your grail pen, because having one is a great feeling.
I exclusively use Japanese writing implements, and hand-wrote all of my notes when I was in college. (Saved carrying a laptop around, and some professors were sticklers about not having laptops out during lectures.)
* Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen and Namiki ink
* Pilot G2 is my "minimum" pen, though I vastly prefer roller ball pens.
* Uniball Air Micro
* Pilot Precise V2
* When I need a pencil, I use the Uni Kuru Toga, a mechanical pencil that slowly rotates the lead to keep it sharp. Before that, I used the Pilot pencils that use the G2 body.
* Recently, I ordered a Metacil "infinity pencil" out of curiosity. It's an aluminum pencil with a very dense tip that writes like an ordinary pencil, but is supposed to last a very long time.
Pilot Precise V2 got me through grad school and when I started journaling recently, a set of those was the first thing I went and picked up. Great pens.
I love the Leuchturm 1917 A4 Master Notebook with a dotted grid but the smaller B5 dotted grid notebook from Japan, the Maruman 104 Mnemosyne, is also perfect and easier to travel with.
The problem with most modern pencils that I've found is that the leads are ever-so-slightly off-center, so a sharpened pencil will often have a piece of wood very near the tip. From the pictures (I've never used one myself) in this article, these pencils are made to an excellent standard and the sharpened pencils look amazing.
I'm far from a wood pencil connoisseur; I generally prefer mechanical pencils (specifically Pentel Sharp; the P205 is a beast), but in buying pencils for my kids I've found this to be a consistently annoying issue.
I like wood pencils, I buy Faber-Castell 2B, also HB. I use a small razor twist sharpener, not a crank sharpener. Haven't really noticed much of a problem with off-center lead. Haven't tried any Japanese pencils.
I have used the "Mitsu-Bishi" 9800s (the green painted pencil with gold lettering in this article) for years: all sharpen to perfection. I like HBs, but love the 2Bs, which write as smooth as butter. This is the low tier pencil offering at about 50 cents (US) each. I will never try high-end Unis; I can't afford to habituate myself to luxury with the volume I write.
I finally ran out of my 'retro' blackwings and picked up a box of their revival. They are expensive ($2.50 a pencil in packs of 12) but the quality so far has been very consistent. Not sure I'd give them to my kids as likely as they would be to lose or destroy them, but you might consider them for yourself.
For mechanicals I have a Rotring 600 and a Staedtler Mars Technico that is a billion years old.
Expensive pencils are one of those things that totally worth it. I use Faber-Castell pencil, eraser and sharpener, and while they are maybe double or triple the price of a cheap one, they last way longer than that because they do their job.
I have sharpened a cheap pencil more than 3 cm at once because either the lead or the wood keep breaking.
About 7-8 years ago, I fell in love with Japanese stationery, starting with a simple brand—Muji. I’m never going back. For pens, I’m with Lamy and Kaweco for now, but I’m eager to try a bunch of Japanese brands.
Recently, I caved in and bought a few Midori MD notebooks.[1] Try them, mainly if you write with a fountain pen. The tactile feedback and the subtle scratchy sound become the music that fills the silent room past midnight. It gives you the warm, cozy feeling of never being alone with your thoughts.
I’ve become an ardent follower of the videos from JetPens,[2] and their website is my regular. I’m investing more in Japanese stationery and have begun to write more, lot more.
There's nothing more sad than finding your fave writing implement has been discontinued. No matter what it uses to leave marks on the surface, when they don't want to make it, you're SOL.
I have a particular weight of Pilot pen which is just super. The stocks in Australia are out there in corners of dying news agents, all the replacements have been "bigged up" with soft rubber grips and stuff.
There have been days a yellow body BIC was all I wanted. But in truth they leaked badly. Never travel with an old school pen in a shirt you can't afford to replace.
Who assesses the 4B/3B/2B/B/H/2H... scale? Is this on the Mohs scale? Does it end in 2000H which is a diamond scribe?
A quality fountain pen (or other refillable) with the potential to keep working for generations gets you out of that dependency. Though that's not the same as the raw simplicity of a wooden pencil.
We need more histories like this. History taught in school often seems so abstract and distant. Without the million little stories about the people that do things the political histories are little meaningless.
I really feel like this with regard to monarchs. Most of them seem like homicidal inbred mentally ill people. Why are we studying and deifying them? Henry VIII? One of the absolute worst human beings to ever exist. Put him in the bin with Pol Pot.
Most of real history was a simple peasant working hard and making quiet decisions while avoiding being trampled by a king.
I've tried all kinds of pens, and my favorite by a wide margin are the TUL ones. It glides smoothly over the paper, doesn't groove it, no blotchy lines, no dried up ink in the pen problems.
I use a pencil in the car because it always works.
Pencil writing doesn't scan very well, so I don't use it for notes. TUL writing scans delightfully.
I love Japanese stationery. I prefer my Mitsubishi Hi-Uni pencils to even my Blackwings, which are also great pencils. I also love Kokuyo Campus notebooks, which I first started using 15 years ago when I was a research intern at Fujitsu Labs in Kawasaki, Japan. Every time I travel to Japan, I stock up on stationery.
On a related note, I wish there were software companies that put as much attention to their software as companies like Mitsubishi and Kokuyo put into their stationery. There was some well-crafted software in the past; I have fond memories of ClarisWorks, and I also enjoyed using The Omni Group’s software, particularly OmniOutliner and OmniGraffle. I also love the classic Mac OS and Jobs-era Mac OS X. Unfortunately, most software these days do not “spark joy” for me. In fact, I often have to deal with software that gets in my way, that nags me instead of gets out of my way.
It’s unfortunate that the economics of software makes it difficult to create Omni Group’s-style companies. “Enshittification” seems to be the end result of successful large software companies. Also, it’s hard for smaller proprietary software companies to compete against free, whether it’s free-as-in-beer or FOSS. I love FOSS, but it’s hard for developers to make a living writing FOSS unless they have strategies for monetizing the software, which sometimes leads to compromises that threaten to “enshittify” the software.
I’d love to find a solution to this problem. I’d love to see more craftsmanship in software, but the economic incentives make pursuing such craftsmanship hard.
> I wish there were software companies that put as much attention to their software as companies like Mitsubishi and Kokuyo put into their stationery.
Mitsubishi refined its process by selling the same basic product for half a century. The software equivalent would be closer to the 'cat' command than Omni. We could go with curl or vi, or Notepad if we give more credit to Mitsubishi pencils on keeping up with modern materials.
You'll note that Mitsubishi Pencils isn't producing a highly crafted extremely precise and delightful to use 3D mouse. They stuck to pens and pencils and the day pencil demand will die the company will also die.
Omni Group, Panic, and Cultured Code produced and still maintain great software. But I also feel that Mac software stopped sparking joy around the mid 2010s.
I know this post is about old-school wooden pencils, but, as a dedicated pencil pusher, I've got to tip my hat to my favorite pencil for the past, at least, 12 years: the Pentel Twist-Erase III mechanical pencils, in 0.5 and 0.7 (they also have a 0.9, but I don't use those).
The key to these outstanding pencils is the perfectly fat eraser that is over an inch long. Its formulation is excellent (neither too hard nor too soft) so it erases superbly and lasts quite a time, and it has refills in packs of three that can sometimes be found in Office DepotMax.
I must also suggest a lead softness/hardness of 2B, instead of the normal "Number 2 pencil lead" that is standard for test taking here in America. It glides onto the paper more smoothly and yet erases easily and mostly completely.
It’s interesting seeing all the innovative writing products in Japan - feels like a totally different culture. I have to say though, in the age of phones and laptops, it’s hard to make time to write things physically. It also just seems more painful (like for the hands). Still, I appreciate the design and thought that goes into Japanese pencils and pens.
I tried a plastic body light one a long time back but haven’t returned to it. I think in part because I found the roller ball point pens to be smoother writing and less ‘scratchy’. But maybe I am not using it properly or didn’t get the right model.
I have found the Pilot Kakuno (about ¥1000, so inexpensive) - just IMO, - pilot ink is very easy flowing, the nibs are great for my writing style, pull off cap not screw, so much easier and readier to use, easy to clean.
I work in the UK health service which is not a good place for stationery lovers.
> It also just seems more painful (like for the hands).
If you're anything like me, that's the experience of writing with cheap pens and pencils, but finding the right grip for you can make writing a totally different experience. I don't write huge amounts on paper any more these days, so maybe my hand would start cramping up if I wrote voluminously, but I can easily take hours worth of notes without any trouble when using nice pens.
In the age of digital data storage and keyboards, these writing tools do not get the attention and celebration they deserve.
There are tools so unique that really changes how you think and how you write. Some of these tools are so timeless and they are irreplaceable.
When you acquire one of these tools, and appreciate all the craftsmanship and engineering went into these things, and notice how all blends and becomes invisible, you realize that that simple thing is not that simple in the end.
I'm very grateful that the great papers, pens and all these supplies are still made, albeit in smaller varieties and numbers since the demand is lower than before. But, nothing replaces a silent thinking session on a good paper with good set of writing utensils. No notifications, no indirections, nothing. Just directly projecting your thoughts to a medium which has no batteries, encryption, etc.
Agreed. I recently started bookbinding as a hobby, and it's given me such an appreciation for well-constructed books. There are some amazingly talented people still honing this craft and even publishing research about new ways of doing things!
Not related to your main point, but I am happy to see we are in somewhat of a resurgence of innovation in keyboards. There are some innovative new designs, entirely novel approaches to key inputs, and personalisation and craftsmanship has never been more impressive or achievable.
I agree. Getting a split keyboard with tenting so my wrists can be in a neutral position made my low-grade RSI vanish completely, and the trend toward increased programmability with macros and layers has been a wonderful thing for my productivity. The Cherry patents expiring mean switches have been getting better and better too. And while I myself am happy with the UHK I bought, it's also great to see that it's now easier than ever to design and build your own keyboard in whatever shape you want: there are YouTube tutorials and PCB companies for it that practically hold your hand from start to finish. Right now is the golden age of keyboards.
one literally can raise the same points about a running text-editor and a keyboard with 'Silent Mode/Do Not Disturb' activated, except the timeless argument as we don't have even 200 years of electronic computers... have you ever tried to be productive by sharing letters in a mailling list when brainstorming ideas? /s
and don't come up with research comparing the 2 with biases like participants not even knowing how to touch-type or that variable not even being mentioned
OK. I'll come with another research, the one I'm doing on myself for more than 30 years.
See, I'm both typing and writing for more than 30 years, and I started doing both almost the same time, so there's no inherent bias there. Here's what I found.
- I can type around 75 WPM in a good day, yet writing on paper always brings out clearer ideas.
- I write my blog posts in iA writer, fullscreen and in DnD mode, yet drilling some ideas on paper is still necessary for reflection.
- I have encrypted diary on my personal computer, yet I always prefer to carry a good notebook with a good pen, and find that I can write more sincerely and drill into myself better during reflection sessions.
- I can design programs in my head, brainstorm with mind maps, or draw architecture diagrams with relatively high speeds, yet designing on paper always results in better architectures, less bugs, and better performance.
- I can skirmish in real time like an old IRC person (because I am), or fire salvos of posts with different amount of flame included (because I lived through newsgroups), yet I prefer elaborating ideas on paper or in silence before writing them, because seeing what I want to say, and scribbling them with a good pen always brings different perspectives.
What I found by working on myself is ironically parallel to the research you denounce. Writing is different than typing and is a deeper experience with more connection to self. Having a small notebook around boosts my productivity 5x, while reducing planning overhead and mental load incurred by it to almost zero, and this is while I have a tool which I plan my next three weeks with great detail.
So, maybe you should try writing, and while you're at it, you can even find a pen friend which spends a couple of hours to write you a nice and sincere letter, and you'll do the same and understand why some of us like writing and everything related to that.
i remember burning a pile, like 15 cm thick, of paper notes once. i still have another one but i didn't parsed to the computer yet
you don't know how sacred to me is my scratch (temporary) file on Emacs or my org documents or Gimp files with stuff like studies of games platform level design (quite easy to screenshot views and highlight stuff i want to comment) or digital collages material
for me there isn't anything closer than having a coffee after weeks/months without having one, Android running Emacs on Termux in my pocket and going for a walk with or without a science podcast playing... ironically the last thing i did on paper was the tinker of specific apps layers layouts on my keyboard (now i use an online keyboard editor alongside a text document)
There is an FAA accepted test of paint film hardness that requires special calibrated pencils, available ONLY from Mitsubishi pencil company, in packages of 17 for $224. Each pencil comes with an individual certificate of calibration shows that it meet's it's specified hardness level. The test is ASTM D 3363, "Standard Test Method for Film Hardness by Pencil Test"
https://www.gardco.com/Products/Hardness-Testers/Scratch-Har...
> Masaki had the idea to register a three-diamond trademark, along with the "Mitsubishi" name, which means 'three diamonds.' (It may surprise you to learn that this was ten years before the much better-known Mitsubishi Group of heavy industry companies registered its name and identical mark. Mitsubishi Pencil has no connection to the numerous other Mitsubishi companies in Japan; it is and has always been a manufacturer of writing and drawing supplies.)
Well, I learned something new today. I always thought the pencils were part of the group but apparently they're not.
Seeing the iconic three diamond mark along with the name always made me think the pencils were related to the cars.
Upon learning of a third Asahi branded thing, I once made the observation that Asahi must make everything. There's Asahi Pentax cameras, Asahi beer, and now this forgotten other thing. At which point someone kindly informed me that Asahi means rising sun, and seeing it in a company name is roughly equivalent to seeing "federal" or "national" in a US company name.
Reminds me of Ferrari sparkling wine, for a few years they were the only Ferrari’s on the podium.
I have a bunch of these pencil brands Tombow, Mitsubishi. I usually buy them on ebay. Its an amazing experience to write with them... I usually use the H, HB to write, and its fascinating, how the premium ones H differs from an ordinary H. There is some paraphernalia that goes with it - sharpners, erasers.
I had lost the writing habit..coding invariably takes you to the keyboard. Gradually I'm writing more, and it slows down, and that helps. Its a very analog experience, and is a form of digital detox. I am also learning to draw, hence the splurging on pencils in the first place. While I'm not an artist (yet!) - its a whole another world with an amazing spectrum of varieties of pencils.
You know what is great about that blog post? The pictures. There is something so pleasing about those shallow depth of field macros of carefully laid out pencils and other stationary. (I found some of those items on Amazon, BTW.)
I found this web side for those in Australia
https://pencilly.com.au/product/pencil-bundle-ultimate-gift-...
My most treasured tools when I used to draw were Pentel 0.3 sliding sleeve pencils, model PS523. The sleeve let me put a lot of pressure on a very fine lead without breaking. And of course the lead was wonderful to use, very smooth. B was the softest lead available in that diameter, so it was hard to get a really dark black, hence the need for pressure.
I've bought a number of mechanical pencils since the model was discontinued and have been only disappointed. Few enough have the sliding sleeve, and on the few that do, the sleeve does not move at all smoothly. There may never be another pencil like it.
For ink drawing I have a set of Sakura Pigma Micron pens in different widths, also a lovely tool, and for general writing, Uniball micros are my pen of choice.
I think it's more than coincidence that all these are Japanese.
I guess that the nature of their writing system has either driven both their artistic expressiveness and excellence of their writing accessories, or vice versa, but, regardless, their craftsmanship is outstanding and admirable.
I, too, was a Uniball micro man until I switched to pencils and have been a Pentel Twist-Erase III man for a long time, indeed, with 2B lead instead of America's #2 standard. So smooth, and such a great eraser!
[I also must make my usual recommendation for NHKOnline's videos, where they have many, many shows about traditional Japanese crafts. Our family's favorite is now called "Design Stories", where it used to be "Design Talks Plus". They interview famous Japanese designers of all kinds, including a couple of Manga and many graphic design folks, as well as some stationery shops and Washi paper producers, plus architects and potters. I've only seen a few less than excellent episodes, but they're all good in the least.]
I have preferred Japanese stationery for decades, and while its overall quality is still the highest, I think its zenith is past. There is still innovation in areas, but most product lines are not as extensive as 20 years ago and some production has moved overseas with a slight decline in quality.
Probably the decline is due to the shift to screen-based communication. Japanese companies could produce better (i.e. more expensive) products because their domestic market supported it. With the younger generation glued to their smartphones, there is much less use of traditional stationery products.
I have a few drawers full of discontinued items that I've collected from eBay sales of old stock.
I really like Japanese eraser-tipped office pencils. I was cleaning out a drawer the other day and was excited to find half a box of Mitsubishi 9850, a favorite of mine. They run about $8 a dozen, but I felt like I had stumbled on a treasure trove. Smooth writing, nice paint, well-centered leads, and a nice eraser on a ferrule that doesn't loosen up. A good woodcased pencil is a joy to write with.
This article reminded me of another great website which sadly has been offline for several years now. Thankfully it seems to be pretty well archived.
Leadholder - The Drafting Pencil Museum: https://web.archive.org/web/20170617140127/http://leadholder...
Example: https://web.archive.org/web/20160629142925/http://leadholder...
In general, I find Japan to be unmatched when it comes to stationery. Pens, pencils, notebooks, etc... Everything is just better: the simple stuff, like what you can find in "konbini" and "100 yen shops", entire floors in department stores like "Hands", and all the way up to luxury. As you might expect, Japanese brands of stationery are popular worldwide.
So it is not surprising that Japan had a golden age of pencils, and that you can still buy the products today and that they are still the best.
They are very good at higher end paper, pencils and erasers. Their gel and roller pens are mostly unmatched.
OTOH, while they're top tier in fountain pens, Germans really equal with them. Lamy, Faber Castell, Diplomat, Kaweco and of course Montblanc make great pens. Pilot & Sailor are not behind them, though. Mitsubishi Pencil bought Lamy so things will get interesting.
Inks are the same. Germans and Japanese are head to head. OTOH, except Leuchttrum and Rhodia, I can't find many fountain pen first papers from Europe.
Funnily, when it comes to fountain pens, there's another interesting contender. China. While they copy most of the stuff, their domestic brands make great pens and ink.
Also, a company in my country started making a paper which rivals Yu-Sari and Tomoe River. I write letters with it, and it's great.
One of the reasons China does well with fountain pens is they nationalized the Parker pen factory at the beginning of the cultural revolution.
I use Quo Vadis Habana blank notebooks with (mostly) Lamy fountain pens and Sailor inks. They have Clairefontaine paper that just works wonderfully -- it both dries quickly and doesn't bleed through. If you haven't tried them, you're in for a treat; enjoy!
(I believe Quo Vadis to be a Canadian company that mostly makes planners and such, and their notebooks are getting harder to find. Even the good folks at Goulet Pens have given up trying to keep them in stock. When I come across some, I stock up.)
I'm from Germany and personally prefer Japanese fountain pens, but also value our local brands.
I took for granted that I could go into any small stationary store and buy a LAMY or Pelikan any time I wanted as a child.
"Also, a company in my country started making a paper which rivals Yu-Sari and Tomoe River. I write letters with it, and it's great."
Is that available internationally?
My first PhD advisor was German, and he introduced me to LAMY pens. Everyone in our lab was given a hardcover notebook and a LAMY pen, and there were plenty of ink cartridges that we could use. I don’t use fountain pens these days, preferring pencil instead, but I remember how nice those pens were.
While I’m on the topic of German stationery, I regularly use my Staedtler eraser and pencil sharpener.
I keep a stable of inked pens. The set is half Japanese, half German all the time. I find Lamy superior for leak resistance and ruggedness, and they're repairable if you manage to damage them also, their tipping is one of the best and fastest polishing/adapting ones if not the best. Japanese ones tend to stay at my desk at home, since they're more delicate writing instruments (except Pilot Metropolitan.That's a tank), but I enjoy them all the same, regardless of their price points and materials.
BTW, if you have not tried Montblanc's Royal Blue give it a chance. That one is "different". Also Scrikss's blue black ink is nice.
The notebook using this paper is called Meteksan Prestige [0]. I don't know if they're exported or not.
[0]: https://www.sarikalem.com/en/meteksan-prestij-bloknot-17x24-...
Notebook looks good, much less expensive than Rhodia or Yu-Sari for 300 sheets of A5, assuming paper quality is as advertised. Priced in dollars although I’m not sure if they actually ship to to the us.
Yeah I never came across those Japanese products given the available German brands, of which there's also Staedtler, Faber-Castell, Stabilo, and Rotring, in addition to those already mentioned.
If anything, I had thought Japan were known to produce fine markers/felt-tip pens.
I love my Platinum fountain pens far more than the Lamys or other European fountain pens. No matter how many times I try I always go back to the Platinum PTL-5000A, which has been discontinued (thankfully I got a backup).
It's a matter of taste, and that's OK. Platinum is a great brand, but it doesn't resonate with me much. Sailor's ProGear and Pilot is where my heart is when it comes to Japanese pens.
On the other hand, I find entry level German pens great for everyday carry. They're very rugged, and easy to replace, if you can damage them.
I'm happy that you found your grail pen, because having one is a great feeling.
I exclusively use Japanese writing implements, and hand-wrote all of my notes when I was in college. (Saved carrying a laptop around, and some professors were sticklers about not having laptops out during lectures.)
* Pilot Metropolitan fountain pen and Namiki ink
* Pilot G2 is my "minimum" pen, though I vastly prefer roller ball pens.
* Uniball Air Micro
* Pilot Precise V2
* When I need a pencil, I use the Uni Kuru Toga, a mechanical pencil that slowly rotates the lead to keep it sharp. Before that, I used the Pilot pencils that use the G2 body.
* Recently, I ordered a Metacil "infinity pencil" out of curiosity. It's an aluminum pencil with a very dense tip that writes like an ordinary pencil, but is supposed to last a very long time.
> Pilot G2 is my "minimum" pen, though I vastly prefer roller ball pens
Do you have any roller ball pens you recommend? I love my G2, but it does have the tendency to "leak" from time to time..
> * Pilot Precise V2
I've only ever heard of V5 (0.5 mm) and V7 (0.7 mm), and Googling doesn't turn up a V2. Is there one, or was this a typo?
Pilot Precise V2 got me through grad school and when I started journaling recently, a set of those was the first thing I went and picked up. Great pens.
I love the Leuchturm 1917 A4 Master Notebook with a dotted grid but the smaller B5 dotted grid notebook from Japan, the Maruman 104 Mnemosyne, is also perfect and easier to travel with.
Amazing
The problem with most modern pencils that I've found is that the leads are ever-so-slightly off-center, so a sharpened pencil will often have a piece of wood very near the tip. From the pictures (I've never used one myself) in this article, these pencils are made to an excellent standard and the sharpened pencils look amazing.
I'm far from a wood pencil connoisseur; I generally prefer mechanical pencils (specifically Pentel Sharp; the P205 is a beast), but in buying pencils for my kids I've found this to be a consistently annoying issue.
I like wood pencils, I buy Faber-Castell 2B, also HB. I use a small razor twist sharpener, not a crank sharpener. Haven't really noticed much of a problem with off-center lead. Haven't tried any Japanese pencils.
I have used the "Mitsu-Bishi" 9800s (the green painted pencil with gold lettering in this article) for years: all sharpen to perfection. I like HBs, but love the 2Bs, which write as smooth as butter. This is the low tier pencil offering at about 50 cents (US) each. I will never try high-end Unis; I can't afford to habituate myself to luxury with the volume I write.
I finally ran out of my 'retro' blackwings and picked up a box of their revival. They are expensive ($2.50 a pencil in packs of 12) but the quality so far has been very consistent. Not sure I'd give them to my kids as likely as they would be to lose or destroy them, but you might consider them for yourself.
For mechanicals I have a Rotring 600 and a Staedtler Mars Technico that is a billion years old.
Expensive pencils are one of those things that totally worth it. I use Faber-Castell pencil, eraser and sharpener, and while they are maybe double or triple the price of a cheap one, they last way longer than that because they do their job.
I have sharpened a cheap pencil more than 3 cm at once because either the lead or the wood keep breaking.
About 7-8 years ago, I fell in love with Japanese stationery, starting with a simple brand—Muji. I’m never going back. For pens, I’m with Lamy and Kaweco for now, but I’m eager to try a bunch of Japanese brands.
Recently, I caved in and bought a few Midori MD notebooks.[1] Try them, mainly if you write with a fountain pen. The tactile feedback and the subtle scratchy sound become the music that fills the silent room past midnight. It gives you the warm, cozy feeling of never being alone with your thoughts.
I’ve become an ardent follower of the videos from JetPens,[2] and their website is my regular. I’m investing more in Japanese stationery and have begun to write more, lot more.
1. https://brajeshwar.com/2024/midori/
2. https://www.jetpens.com
That notebook looks like it opens all the way flat. That's something which has been difficult to find in my experience.
There's nothing more sad than finding your fave writing implement has been discontinued. No matter what it uses to leave marks on the surface, when they don't want to make it, you're SOL.
I have a particular weight of Pilot pen which is just super. The stocks in Australia are out there in corners of dying news agents, all the replacements have been "bigged up" with soft rubber grips and stuff.
There have been days a yellow body BIC was all I wanted. But in truth they leaked badly. Never travel with an old school pen in a shirt you can't afford to replace.
Who assesses the 4B/3B/2B/B/H/2H... scale? Is this on the Mohs scale? Does it end in 2000H which is a diamond scribe?
A quality fountain pen (or other refillable) with the potential to keep working for generations gets you out of that dependency. Though that's not the same as the raw simplicity of a wooden pencil.
Fascinating article. Seeing the "uni" and wondering if that was in fact the beginning of what we know as uni-ball was neat.
And since the authors' shop is local to me I'm going to have to go see what they've got!
If they also sell mechanical pencils, get a Zebra Drafix and Pentel PG-5, and maybe a Pentel Smash (aka Q1000) and/or Pentel 120 A3-DX.
You'll not be disappointed. :)
We need more histories like this. History taught in school often seems so abstract and distant. Without the million little stories about the people that do things the political histories are little meaningless.
I really feel like this with regard to monarchs. Most of them seem like homicidal inbred mentally ill people. Why are we studying and deifying them? Henry VIII? One of the absolute worst human beings to ever exist. Put him in the bin with Pol Pot.
Most of real history was a simple peasant working hard and making quiet decisions while avoiding being trampled by a king.
I have a thing for writing instruments but truly love and miss using pencils ( the absence-fondness chain ... )
Very nice photos and deep dive. My kinda post
also pairs well with the post about mitsubishi here https://estilofilos.blogspot.com/2016/03/one-logo-three-comp...
I've tried all kinds of pens, and my favorite by a wide margin are the TUL ones. It glides smoothly over the paper, doesn't groove it, no blotchy lines, no dried up ink in the pen problems.
I use a pencil in the car because it always works.
Pencil writing doesn't scan very well, so I don't use it for notes. TUL writing scans delightfully.
I love Japanese stationery. I prefer my Mitsubishi Hi-Uni pencils to even my Blackwings, which are also great pencils. I also love Kokuyo Campus notebooks, which I first started using 15 years ago when I was a research intern at Fujitsu Labs in Kawasaki, Japan. Every time I travel to Japan, I stock up on stationery.
On a related note, I wish there were software companies that put as much attention to their software as companies like Mitsubishi and Kokuyo put into their stationery. There was some well-crafted software in the past; I have fond memories of ClarisWorks, and I also enjoyed using The Omni Group’s software, particularly OmniOutliner and OmniGraffle. I also love the classic Mac OS and Jobs-era Mac OS X. Unfortunately, most software these days do not “spark joy” for me. In fact, I often have to deal with software that gets in my way, that nags me instead of gets out of my way.
It’s unfortunate that the economics of software makes it difficult to create Omni Group’s-style companies. “Enshittification” seems to be the end result of successful large software companies. Also, it’s hard for smaller proprietary software companies to compete against free, whether it’s free-as-in-beer or FOSS. I love FOSS, but it’s hard for developers to make a living writing FOSS unless they have strategies for monetizing the software, which sometimes leads to compromises that threaten to “enshittify” the software.
I’d love to find a solution to this problem. I’d love to see more craftsmanship in software, but the economic incentives make pursuing such craftsmanship hard.
> I wish there were software companies that put as much attention to their software as companies like Mitsubishi and Kokuyo put into their stationery.
Mitsubishi refined its process by selling the same basic product for half a century. The software equivalent would be closer to the 'cat' command than Omni. We could go with curl or vi, or Notepad if we give more credit to Mitsubishi pencils on keeping up with modern materials.
You'll note that Mitsubishi Pencils isn't producing a highly crafted extremely precise and delightful to use 3D mouse. They stuck to pens and pencils and the day pencil demand will die the company will also die.
Omni Group, Panic, and Cultured Code produced and still maintain great software. But I also feel that Mac software stopped sparking joy around the mid 2010s.
See also:
In a world full of touchscreens, why do Japanese people love stationery? (blog post)
https://hatsukoi.co.uk/blog/113-in-a-world-full-of-touchscre...
I know this post is about old-school wooden pencils, but, as a dedicated pencil pusher, I've got to tip my hat to my favorite pencil for the past, at least, 12 years: the Pentel Twist-Erase III mechanical pencils, in 0.5 and 0.7 (they also have a 0.9, but I don't use those).
The key to these outstanding pencils is the perfectly fat eraser that is over an inch long. Its formulation is excellent (neither too hard nor too soft) so it erases superbly and lasts quite a time, and it has refills in packs of three that can sometimes be found in Office DepotMax.
I must also suggest a lead softness/hardness of 2B, instead of the normal "Number 2 pencil lead" that is standard for test taking here in America. It glides onto the paper more smoothly and yet erases easily and mostly completely.
Reminds me of this [relevant xkcd](https://xkcd.com/1095/)
Those HOMOs are superior.
It’s interesting seeing all the innovative writing products in Japan - feels like a totally different culture. I have to say though, in the age of phones and laptops, it’s hard to make time to write things physically. It also just seems more painful (like for the hands). Still, I appreciate the design and thought that goes into Japanese pencils and pens.
Have you tried a good-quality, light-weight fountain pen?
I tried a plastic body light one a long time back but haven’t returned to it. I think in part because I found the roller ball point pens to be smoother writing and less ‘scratchy’. But maybe I am not using it properly or didn’t get the right model.
I have found the Pilot Kakuno (about ¥1000, so inexpensive) - just IMO, - pilot ink is very easy flowing, the nibs are great for my writing style, pull off cap not screw, so much easier and readier to use, easy to clean. I work in the UK health service which is not a good place for stationery lovers.
A well-tuned fountain pen should write with only the weight of the pen, and then it can take time to learn to relax the hand and shoulder.
I can type for longer without pain than I can write with a ballpoint or a pencil, but a fountain pen exceeds them both.
> It also just seems more painful (like for the hands).
If you're anything like me, that's the experience of writing with cheap pens and pencils, but finding the right grip for you can make writing a totally different experience. I don't write huge amounts on paper any more these days, so maybe my hand would start cramping up if I wrote voluminously, but I can easily take hours worth of notes without any trouble when using nice pens.
In the age of digital data storage and keyboards, these writing tools do not get the attention and celebration they deserve.
There are tools so unique that really changes how you think and how you write. Some of these tools are so timeless and they are irreplaceable.
When you acquire one of these tools, and appreciate all the craftsmanship and engineering went into these things, and notice how all blends and becomes invisible, you realize that that simple thing is not that simple in the end.
I'm very grateful that the great papers, pens and all these supplies are still made, albeit in smaller varieties and numbers since the demand is lower than before. But, nothing replaces a silent thinking session on a good paper with good set of writing utensils. No notifications, no indirections, nothing. Just directly projecting your thoughts to a medium which has no batteries, encryption, etc.
Very personal, and much more productive.
Agreed. I recently started bookbinding as a hobby, and it's given me such an appreciation for well-constructed books. There are some amazingly talented people still honing this craft and even publishing research about new ways of doing things!
Not related to your main point, but I am happy to see we are in somewhat of a resurgence of innovation in keyboards. There are some innovative new designs, entirely novel approaches to key inputs, and personalisation and craftsmanship has never been more impressive or achievable.
I agree. Getting a split keyboard with tenting so my wrists can be in a neutral position made my low-grade RSI vanish completely, and the trend toward increased programmability with macros and layers has been a wonderful thing for my productivity. The Cherry patents expiring mean switches have been getting better and better too. And while I myself am happy with the UHK I bought, it's also great to see that it's now easier than ever to design and build your own keyboard in whatever shape you want: there are YouTube tutorials and PCB companies for it that practically hold your hand from start to finish. Right now is the golden age of keyboards.
one literally can raise the same points about a running text-editor and a keyboard with 'Silent Mode/Do Not Disturb' activated, except the timeless argument as we don't have even 200 years of electronic computers... have you ever tried to be productive by sharing letters in a mailling list when brainstorming ideas? /s
and don't come up with research comparing the 2 with biases like participants not even knowing how to touch-type or that variable not even being mentioned
OK. I'll come with another research, the one I'm doing on myself for more than 30 years.
See, I'm both typing and writing for more than 30 years, and I started doing both almost the same time, so there's no inherent bias there. Here's what I found.
- I can type around 75 WPM in a good day, yet writing on paper always brings out clearer ideas.
- I write my blog posts in iA writer, fullscreen and in DnD mode, yet drilling some ideas on paper is still necessary for reflection.
- I have encrypted diary on my personal computer, yet I always prefer to carry a good notebook with a good pen, and find that I can write more sincerely and drill into myself better during reflection sessions.
- I can design programs in my head, brainstorm with mind maps, or draw architecture diagrams with relatively high speeds, yet designing on paper always results in better architectures, less bugs, and better performance.
- I can skirmish in real time like an old IRC person (because I am), or fire salvos of posts with different amount of flame included (because I lived through newsgroups), yet I prefer elaborating ideas on paper or in silence before writing them, because seeing what I want to say, and scribbling them with a good pen always brings different perspectives.
What I found by working on myself is ironically parallel to the research you denounce. Writing is different than typing and is a deeper experience with more connection to self. Having a small notebook around boosts my productivity 5x, while reducing planning overhead and mental load incurred by it to almost zero, and this is while I have a tool which I plan my next three weeks with great detail.
So, maybe you should try writing, and while you're at it, you can even find a pen friend which spends a couple of hours to write you a nice and sincere letter, and you'll do the same and understand why some of us like writing and everything related to that.
Who knows?
i remember burning a pile, like 15 cm thick, of paper notes once. i still have another one but i didn't parsed to the computer yet
you don't know how sacred to me is my scratch (temporary) file on Emacs or my org documents or Gimp files with stuff like studies of games platform level design (quite easy to screenshot views and highlight stuff i want to comment) or digital collages material
for me there isn't anything closer than having a coffee after weeks/months without having one, Android running Emacs on Termux in my pocket and going for a walk with or without a science podcast playing... ironically the last thing i did on paper was the tinker of specific apps layers layouts on my keyboard (now i use an online keyboard editor alongside a text document)
Taking notes with a keyboard does not work for me.
It's not the same. Hand writing allows infinitely more possibilities for annotations and illustration.
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Tombow HOMO
that’s definitely, a name choice