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The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)

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Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)

#21

Post by CocaKoala »

redwall_hp wrote: post #9
GuB-42 wrote: post #5

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…

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…

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.

Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)

#22

Post by linguae »

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.

Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)

#23

Post by linguae »

nadir_ishiguro wrote: post #10
bayindirh wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 hea…

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.

Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)

#24

Post by JadeNB »

redwall_hp wrote: post #9
GuB-42 wrote: post #5

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…

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…

> * 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?

Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)

#26

Post by wrp »

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.

Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)

#27

Post by JadeNB »

blackeyeblitzar wrote: post #16

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.

> 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.

Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)

#28

Post by fallinghawks »

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.

Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)

#29

Post by otherme123 »

sleepybrett wrote: post #14
andrewla wrote: post #13

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…

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.

Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)

#30

Post by fransje26 »

redwall_hp wrote: post #9
GuB-42 wrote: post #5

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…

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…

> 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..

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