The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)

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&#x27;s it&#x27;s specified hardness level. The test is ASTM D 3363, &quot;Standard Test Method for Film Hardness by Pencil Test&quot;<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.gardco.com&#x2F;Products&#x2F;Hardness-Testers&#x2F;Scratch-Hardness&#x2F;UNi-JPIA-Pencil-for-Hardness-Testing&#x2F;c&#x2F;p-62837?variant=11709" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.gardco.com&#x2F;Products&#x2F;Hardness-Testers&#x2F;Scratch-Har...</a>

&gt; Masaki had the idea to register a three-diamond trademark, along with the &quot;Mitsubishi&quot; name, which means &#x27;three diamonds.&#x27; (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.)<p>Well, I learned something new today. I always thought the pencils were part of the group but apparently they&#x27;re not.<p>Seeing the iconic three diamond mark along with the name always made me think the pencils were related to the cars.

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.<p>I had lost the writing habit..coding invariably takes you to the keyboard. Gradually I&#x27;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&#x27;m not an artist (yet!) - its a whole another world with an amazing spectrum of varieties of pencils.

I appreciate this isn&#x27;t about Japanese pencils, but if anyone is ever visting the LAke District in the UK, I highly recommend going to the Derwent Pencil Museum. It&#x27;s absolutely fascinating how pencils came to be, the number of steps to make them etc.<p>I really appreciate old school manufacturing and pencils were the top tech around the turn of the century!

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.<p>I&#x27;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.<p>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.<p>I think it&#x27;s more than coincidence that all these are Japanese.

I know this post is about old-school wooden pencils, but, as a dedicated pencil pusher, I&#x27;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&#x27;t use those).<p>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.<p>I must also suggest a lead softness&#x2F;hardness of 2B, instead of the normal &quot;Number 2 pencil lead&quot; that is standard for test taking here in America. It glides onto the paper more smoothly and yet erases easily and mostly completely.

In addition, I very much enjoyed going through the rabbit hole of Japanese <i>mechanical</i> pencils, here is a short overview of some of the interesting (engineering) features: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;paperwhisper.com&#x2F;blogs&#x2F;blog&#x2F;write-smarter-the-hidden-tech-in-japanese-mechanical-pencils" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;paperwhisper.com&#x2F;blogs&#x2F;blog&#x2F;write-smarter-the-hidden...</a>

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 &quot;konbini&quot; and &quot;100 yen shops&quot;, entire floors in department stores like &quot;Hands&quot;, and all the way up to luxury. As you might expect, Japanese brands of stationery are popular worldwide.<p>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.

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&#x27;t loosen up. A good woodcased pencil is a joy to write with.

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.<p>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.<p>I have a few drawers full of discontinued items that I&#x27;ve collected from eBay sales of old stock.

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.<p>Leadholder - The Drafting Pencil Museum: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20170617140127&#x2F;http:&#x2F;&#x2F;leadholder.com&#x2F;index.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20170617140127&#x2F;http:&#x2F;&#x2F;leadholder...</a><p>Example: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20160629142925&#x2F;http:&#x2F;&#x2F;leadholder.com&#x2F;lh-draft-cda-fixpencil.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;web.archive.org&#x2F;web&#x2F;20160629142925&#x2F;http:&#x2F;&#x2F;leadholder...</a>

The problem with most modern pencils that I&#x27;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&#x27;ve never used one myself) in this article, these pencils are made to an excellent standard and the sharpened pencils look amazing.<p>I&#x27;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&#x27;ve found this to be a consistently annoying issue.

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.

Fascinating article. Seeing the &quot;uni&quot; and wondering if that was in fact the beginning of what we know as uni-ball was neat.<p>And since the authors&#x27; shop is local to me I&#x27;m going to have to go see what they&#x27;ve got!

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.<p>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.<p>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.<p>1. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;brajeshwar.com&#x2F;2024&#x2F;midori&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;brajeshwar.com&#x2F;2024&#x2F;midori&#x2F;</a><p>2. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.jetpens.com" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.jetpens.com</a>

There&#x27;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&#x27;t want to make it, you&#x27;re SOL.<p>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 &quot;bigged up&quot; with soft rubber grips and stuff.<p>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&#x27;t afford to replace.<p>Who assesses the 4B&#x2F;3B&#x2F;2B&#x2F;B&#x2F;H&#x2F;2H... scale? Is this on the Mohs scale? Does it end in 2000H which is a diamond scribe?

On mechanical pencils, Adam Savage recently did a test of a bunch of mechanical pencils, particularly for shop use. I ended up getting a Pentel GraphGear 1000 in 0.3mm ($10), with retractable tip, which I keep in my notebook which I use for drawings&#x2F;notes of projects I do around the house. Previously I was using a Pentel TwistErase III ($15 for 3), but I&#x27;m always paranoid about bending the point, the eraser is very nice though.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;hiNScN5ZR3c?si=7C_CZBk2OE9cA4Bg" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtu.be&#x2F;hiNScN5ZR3c?si=7C_CZBk2OE9cA4Bg</a>

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.<p>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.<p>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.<p>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 love pencils. I collect them, nearly every gift shop will have a £|$|€1 customised pencil. I buy one everywhere I go. I also get people to buy me a pencil if they want to get me a gift as they&#x27;re cheap. I have 2 collections, places I&#x27;ve been and gift from places family&#x2F;friends have been.<p>I will leave them to my children when I die, they can use them or throw them out...

I have a thing for writing instruments but truly love and miss using pencils ( the absence-fondness chain ... )<p>Very nice photos and deep dive. My kinda post

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&#x27;ve tried all kinds of pens, and my favorite by a wide margin are the TUL ones. It glides smoothly over the paper, doesn&#x27;t groove it, no blotchy lines, no dried up ink in the pen problems.<p>I use a pencil in the car because it always works.<p>Pencil writing doesn&#x27;t scan very well, so I don&#x27;t use it for notes. TUL writing scans delightfully.

I&#x27;m curious for ppl who grew up in the US: did you have to use pencils or fountain pens with ink in class (this was the norm for me)? At some point we all switched to ball point pens which was a lot more convenient but not as much fun.

See also:<p>In a world full of touchscreens, why do Japanese people love stationery? (blog post)<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hatsukoi.co.uk&#x2F;blog&#x2F;113-in-a-world-full-of-touchscreens-why-do-japanese-people-love-stationery.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;hatsukoi.co.uk&#x2F;blog&#x2F;113-in-a-world-full-of-touchscre...</a>

Uni makes some very good pens as well. 0.5mm ones

Reminds me of this [relevant xkcd](<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;xkcd.com&#x2F;1095&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;xkcd.com&#x2F;1095&#x2F;</a>)

Those HOMOs are superior.

In the age of digital data storage and keyboards, these writing tools do not get the attention and celebration they deserve.<p>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.<p>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.<p>I&#x27;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.<p>Very personal, and much more productive.

Tombow HOMO<p>that’s definitely, a name choice