[HN Gopher] The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)
___________________________________________________________________
The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils (2022)
Author : apokryptein
Score : 363 points
Date : 2025-03-03 16:51 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (notes.stlartsupply.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (notes.stlartsupply.com)
| tocs3 wrote:
| 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.
| Mistletoe wrote:
| 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.
| krisoft wrote:
| Kinda hard to understand the whole deal about the Church of
| England without Henry VIII though. I don't think anyone is
| deifying him. At least not in modern discourse. But that is
| not the only reason to study someone.
| bayindirh wrote:
| 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.
| luqtas wrote:
| 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
| WalterBright wrote:
| Taking notes with a keyboard does not work for me.
| bayindirh wrote:
| 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?
| luqtas wrote:
| 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)
| bayindirh wrote:
| When I finish a notebook, I scan it, file it and recycle
| the paper.
|
| I can understand the value of a good digital data
| storage. At the end of the day, I keep public and private
| personal knowledge bases for myself. However, I don't
| like to spread my information over many applications, and
| currently shrinking everything into a couple of tools.
| See, decades of computer use creates a lot of clutter.
|
| On the other hand, I don't like to keep notes under the
| sun on a screen which needs a shade, and powered by a
| battery which might die any second. We're also different
| in noise regard. While I like to read and listen a lot, I
| much prefer silent walks since it allows what's beneath
| to surface.
|
| This will be a bit personal, but you seem like a bit
| tense. Maybe you should slow down a bit, and listen what
| your inner voice says to you. I have a hunch that there's
| something you should see and give a good listen.
| gosub100 wrote:
| It's not the same. Hand writing allows infinitely more
| possibilities for annotations and illustration.
| ehnto wrote:
| 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.
| Analemma_ wrote:
| 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.
| bayindirh wrote:
| Yes, even if you don't go full custom, now you can get
| pretty good keyboards with light key action and good
| switches.
|
| I have a couple of mechanical keyboards, but my workhorse
| keyboard is a Logitech MX Keys Mini, which has scissor
| switches, and while it's not crisp as a good mechanical,
| it's a great keyboard which you can type all day without
| any problems. Considering it has lighting, hall and ambient
| sensors, you can charge it every couple of months and type
| all day long.
|
| I also don't fancy multi-layer layouts, but I use text
| expanders for boilerplate, and that's good enough for me,
| for now.
| KPGv2 wrote:
| 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!
| hed wrote:
| 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!
| bayindirh wrote:
| 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. :)
| GuB-42 wrote:
| 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.
| bayindirh wrote:
| 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.
| nadir_ishiguro wrote:
| 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?
| bayindirh wrote:
| 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-...
| sevensor wrote:
| 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.
| linguae wrote:
| 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.
| tannhaeuser wrote:
| 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.
| internet101010 wrote:
| 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).
| bayindirh wrote:
| 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.
| WillAdams wrote:
| One of the reasons China does well with fountain pens is they
| nationalized the Parker pen factory at the beginning of the
| cultural revolution.
| pklausler wrote:
| 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.)
| ernesth wrote:
| Quo Vadis is french and in fact now belongs to the
| Clairefontaine group, just like Rhodia.
| pklausler wrote:
| Thanks!
| gennarro wrote:
| Can you share the name of this excellent new paper that you
| are using for your letters? Thanks!
| bayindirh wrote:
| The paper doesn't have an official name, but the notepad
| using it is called "Meteksan Prestige Notepad" [0].
|
| I don't know if it's exported or not. I have a stack of
| them. :)
|
| [0]: https://www.sarikalem.com/en/meteksan-prestij-
| bloknot-17x24-...
| redwall_hp wrote:
| 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.
| CocaKoala wrote:
| 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.
| JadeNB wrote:
| > * 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?
| Maken wrote:
| I am the same. I have used V5, V7 an VBall Pilots. I even
| checked their webpage to check if the V2s were some kind of
| premium line I didn't know, but found nothing.
|
| What it's even more puzzling is the children comment that
| totally remembers them.
| fransje26 wrote:
| > 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..
| fallinditch wrote:
| 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.
| capnahab wrote:
| Amazing
| ics wrote:
| 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...
| gwern wrote:
| One interesting thing about your archive is that I notice the
| site got hacked and used to distribute spam.
|
| The line " A special shout to our limo service San Diego for
| that one! " is a spammer insertion in
| https://web.archive.org/web/20170430095756/http://www.leadho...
| which makes no sense, and indeed, if you jump back over the gap
| of a few months to
| https://web.archive.org/web/20170121041802/http://www.leadho...
| , it was the much more logical in context " For collectors it
| doesn't take long to fill out your collection of them with..."
| preface.
|
| I wonder if it went offline because they couldn't deal with the
| security and maintenance?
| andrewla wrote:
| 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.
| sleepybrett wrote:
| 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.
| otherme123 wrote:
| 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.
| FatChauncy wrote:
| I found a cheap plastic Faber-Castell sharpener in the
| drawer yesterday. No idea where it came from, but it was
| razor sharp and the perfect angle for my double-ended
| Mitsubishi 772 red/blue. I'll definitely be ordering more
| of those, and will check out their other offerings too.
| wantless wrote:
| 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.
| SoftTalker wrote:
| 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.
| FatChauncy wrote:
| 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.
| blackeyeblitzar wrote:
| 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.
| JadeNB wrote:
| > 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.
| WillAdams wrote:
| Have you tried a good-quality, light-weight fountain pen?
| blackeyeblitzar wrote:
| 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.
| capnahab wrote:
| I have found the Pilot Kakuno (about Y=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.
| dbtc wrote:
| 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.
| fallinditch wrote:
| 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...
| linguae wrote:
| 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.
| makeitdouble wrote:
| > 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.
| nextos wrote:
| 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.
| julienchastang wrote:
| 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.)
| jay_kyburz wrote:
| I found this web side for those in Australia
|
| https://pencilly.com.au/product/pencil-bundle-ultimate-gift-...
| julienchastang wrote:
| [I missed the HN edit window so I am replying to my own
| comment.] Note that you can get the stationary items from
| stlartsupply.com. No need to go to Amazon.
| wrp wrote:
| 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.
| fallinghawks wrote:
| 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.
| MrMcCall wrote:
| 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.]
| WithinReason wrote:
| Here is an article from the same blog about mechanical pencils:
|
| https://paperwhisper.com/blogs/blog/write-smarter-the-hidden...
|
| Seem like the Uni Kuru Toga Dive is the peak mechanical pencil.
| fallinghawks wrote:
| Ooh, thanks for finding that. I'll definitely want to try out
| the Orenz models and the Uni as well.
| wrp wrote:
| I'm also a heavy user of sliding-sleeve mechanical pencils.
| I prefer metal-bodied ones from the 1970s-80s, but among
| what is currently available new, I think Orenz are the
| best.
|
| I have several of all the models, and I prefer the basic
| model, as it is slim and sturdy. You can get them in 0.2,
| 0.3, 0.5, and 0.7 mm. I think the 0.2 is not worth it, as
| it is rather fragile. If you want a really fine line, it's
| easier to just use a harder lead in a 0.3. The 0.7 is
| rather pointless, because 0.7 mm lead is so sturdy. The 0.3
| is great, as it allows you to press harder and write longer
| between clicks. I've found them very reliable. I also use
| the 0.5 for colored leads, which are generally more brittle
| than graphite leads.
|
| The Uni Kuru Toga gets mixed reviews. It has an auto-
| advance mechanism that works when you press and lift the
| tip. The amount of advance is geared for writing with very
| short strokes, as you do when writing Japanese. It can be
| awkward for writing cursive. Also, the mechanism rotates
| the lead, so it's hard to orient on the edge of the tip.
| MrMcCall wrote:
| 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.
| yapyap wrote:
| Tombow HOMO
|
| that's definitely, a name choice
| buildsjets wrote:
| 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...
| mrweasel wrote:
| 17 to a pack seems like an odd number. Was it originally 18 and
| then they removed one to keep the price down.
| nedt wrote:
| In Japan numbers have meaning. Haiku have a 5-7-5 pattern -
| which gives you 17 as a sum. And saying the number 17 in
| Japanese sounds like youth and vitality. Might not be so odd
| after all.
| WalterBright wrote:
| 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.
| thr0waway001 wrote:
| Those HOMOs are superior.
| jerieljan wrote:
| > 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.
| mauvehaus wrote:
| 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.
| xeonmc wrote:
| Reminds me of Ferrari sparkling wine, for a few years they
| were the only Ferrari's on the podium.
| breggles wrote:
| Asahi Linux?
| picture wrote:
| "Union" is another good example
| williamdclt wrote:
| Nobody could blame you, Japan famously does have conglomerates
| making completely different products under the same brand. If
| Yamaha makes motorcycles and pianos, why wouldn't Mitsubishi
| make cars and pencils?
| kps wrote:
| This post was probably inspired by yesterday's "One Logo, Three
| Companies" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43245315
| teddyh wrote:
| Fascinating. This shows, beyond any doubt, why BIMI is such a
| scam.
| Henchman21 wrote:
| Apologies, but what is "BIMI" in this context? I am
| unfamiliar with this acronym.
| username_here wrote:
| I think the poster is referring to "Brand Indicators for
| Message Identification[1]". A new(ish) protocol to display
| branded avatars for messages in email clients.
|
| 1. https://bimigroup.org
| teddyh wrote:
| Yes. We've had black-and-white low-resolution images in
| emails using the X-Face header since basically forever,
| and the Face header (allowing color a image) since 2005.
| The whole deal with BIMI is, purportedly, that the logo
| shown can be _relied_ upon to not be faked, since each
| sender gets issued a (very expensive) certificate to sign
| e-mails with that logo. This certification (incidentally
| issued by all the old X.509 certificate issuers, whose
| business model imploded by free certificates from Let's
| Encrypt and others) are reportedly based on verification
| of (visual) trademarks. But if, as in the linked article,
| different companies can have the _same_ logo _even if
| their name is the same and they are in the same country_
| , then the supposed security of the BIMI logo is an
| obvious scam.
| fitsumbelay wrote:
| 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
| fitsumbelay wrote:
| also pairs well with the post about mitsubishi here
| https://estilofilos.blogspot.com/2016/03/one-logo-three-comp...
| Brajeshwar wrote:
| 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
| plagiarist wrote:
| That notebook looks like it opens all the way flat. That's
| something which has been difficult to find in my experience.
| Brajeshwar wrote:
| And the video from Jetpens explains how Midori Notebook can
| lay flat. Check out just around the 1-min mark at
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLbGJ-NCR0o
| ggm wrote:
| 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?
| dbtc wrote:
| 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.
| vjust wrote:
| 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.
| freilanzer wrote:
| Next step: fountain pens.
| WaitWaitWha wrote:
| I used to write code with pencil on grid paper as it was faster
| to re-write than in the systems themselves.
| codexb wrote:
| Reminds me of this [relevant xkcd](https://xkcd.com/1095/)
| thenthenthen wrote:
| In addition, I very much enjoyed going through the rabbit hole of
| Japanese _mechanical_ pencils, here is a short overview of some
| of the interesting (engineering) features:
| https://paperwhisper.com/blogs/blog/write-smarter-the-hidden...
| kinnth wrote:
| I appreciate this isn'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's absolutely fascinating
| how pencils came to be, the number of steps to make them etc.
|
| I really appreciate old school manufacturing and pencils were the
| top tech around the turn of the century!
| froh wrote:
| Yes, these museums are geeky fun :-) same goes for Faber
| Castell in Stein close to Nuremberg, Germany; there you can
| also get a tour in contemporary production.
|
| https://www.faber-castell.com/corporate/faber-castell-experi...
| account-5 wrote:
| I love pencils. I collect them, nearly every gift shop will have
| a PS|$|EUR1 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're cheap. I have 2 collections, places I've been and gift
| from places family/friends have been.
|
| I will leave them to my children when I die, they can use them or
| throw them out...
| linsomniac wrote:
| 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/notes
| of projects I do around the house. Previously I was using a
| Pentel TwistErase III ($15 for 3), but I'm always paranoid about
| bending the point, the eraser is very nice though.
|
| https://youtu.be/hiNScN5ZR3c?si=7C_CZBk2OE9cA4Bg
| dzonga wrote:
| Uni makes some very good pens as well. 0.5mm ones
| bilater wrote:
| I'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.
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