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
The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)
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Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)
#52I 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...
Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)
#53I 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 a…
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.
Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)
#54In 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…
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 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.)
Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)
#55[deleted]
Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)
#56About 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.
Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)
#57There'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?
Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)
#58In 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…
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.
Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)
#59About 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…
That notebook looks like it opens all the way flat. That's something which has been difficult to find in my experience.
Re: The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)
#60> 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 manufactur…
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.