A couple of months ago, I went with my daughter and six-year-old grandson to the Kita-Boshi Pencil factory in eastern Tokyo [1]. He is a first-grader at a public elementary school in Yokohama, and he is learning to write using wooden pencils.
We had watched many times a similar video [2] showing pencils being made at the Kita-Boshi factory. The production line wasn’t operating the day we went, but we still got a full introduction to the history and manufacture of pencils from the company chairman [3], who is very enthusiastic about the pencil business. The other attendees were all elementary school children and their parents or grandparents.
There used to be dozens of pencil factories in Tokyo, but Kita-Boshi is one of the few remaining. The larger Japanese pencil brands, such as Tombow and Mitsubishi, now source most of their production from places like Vietnam or China.
We came back home with a bag full of Kita-Boshi pencils that I bought there. I don’t use pencils much myself anymore, but when I tried writing with them they felt smoother and easier to write with than the wooden pencils I used as a child in the U.S. sixty years ago.
The details are all on that first page [1] in Japanese. Try asking an LLM for a translation.
The page says to contact the factory by either email or fax (!) to reserve a spot. If you write to them in English, I suggest you preface it with a translation of your message in Japanese by ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. If you prompt the LLM with an explanation of how you plan to use the text you want translated, it should produce a decent translation.
The explanations at the factory were entirely in Japanese, and I doubt if any interpreting is available. The chairman did tell me, though, that they get occasional visitors from outside Japan, and he seemed to welcome them.
They are not suitable for fine drawing (too waxy and soft) - those are either STAEDTLER, FaberCastell, or Tombow (Japanese brand).
The fancy tip eraser is also not very useful. The metal around it is so soft, it can't hold any pressure. Also extremely not child friendly, as the small metal part inside just fells out.
What does a pencil have over a mechanical pencil? Mechanical pencils never need sharpening, infinite supply of lead of various type and and they seem more environmentally friendly (assuming you keep using the same for many years).
In my experience, mechanical pencil tips broke too easily. I've had cheap wooden pencils where it felt that the let was shattered inside which meant the sharpened tip kept falling out. That's how I felt about pretty much every mechanical pencil.
They're not really targeted at artists but for writing and taking notes. In my opinion, they have a nice smooth feel and work well for this purpose. But they're on the expensive side, so if you don't care about the looks, there are many other—wallet-friendly—options out there!
The eraser is infamous for being terrible. But it looks cool.
I also enjoy my Blackwings, though my normal pencil of choice is the Mitsubishi Hi-Uni HB, which is cheaper than the Blackwing but is still an awesome pencil. I think my supply of pencils will last at least a decade. I take a lot of handwritten notes when doing research, and I prefer pencil over pen when working in computer science and math.
Even the Blackwing sharpeners are not that great. A pencil plane works just fine for almost all pencil sharpening I've ever needed to do and making your own isn't very hard.
Terrible tool for drawing possibly; but among musicians they are widely considered the standard for marking scores. There’s always a Blackwing on my stand.
For those HN readers who are not stationery junkies: The “real” Blackwing pencils went out of production... I don’t know when, but it must be at least 15 years ago, probably longer. (I have only been watching this from the outside, so don’t ask me for details. =) ) Those sold now come from a different production line at a different company, even though the maker is trying to make them as close as possible to the original. Ever since they showed up, pencil aficionados have been debating whether they are better, worse, or about the same. Originals seem to sell for over $20 a piece on eBay (actual "sold" prices, not asking prices).
A couple of months ago, I went with my daughter and six-year-old grandson to the Kita-Boshi Pencil factory in eastern Tokyo [1]. He is a first-grader at a public elementary school in Yokohama, and he is learning to write using wooden pencils.
We had watched many times a similar video [2] showing pencils being made at the Kita-Boshi factory. The production line wasn’t operating the day we went, but we still got a full introduction to the history and manufacture of pencils from the company chairman [3], who is very enthusiastic about the pencil business. The other attendees were all elementary school children and their parents or grandparents.
There used to be dozens of pencil factories in Tokyo, but Kita-Boshi is one of the few remaining. The larger Japanese pencil brands, such as Tombow and Mitsubishi, now source most of their production from places like Vietnam or China.
We came back home with a bag full of Kita-Boshi pencils that I bought there. I don’t use pencils much myself anymore, but when I tried writing with them they felt smoother and easier to write with than the wooden pencils I used as a child in the U.S. sixty years ago.
[1] http://www.kitaboshi.co.jp/pencil-lab/
[2] https://youtu.be/Lk_57TP6RFk
[3] https://www.yomiuri.co.jp/local/tokyo23/feature/CO100007/202...
How do you go about scheduling a visit to a factory?
The details are all on that first page [1] in Japanese. Try asking an LLM for a translation.
The page says to contact the factory by either email or fax (!) to reserve a spot. If you write to them in English, I suggest you preface it with a translation of your message in Japanese by ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. If you prompt the LLM with an explanation of how you plan to use the text you want translated, it should produce a decent translation.
The explanations at the factory were entirely in Japanese, and I doubt if any interpreting is available. The chairman did tell me, though, that they get occasional visitors from outside Japan, and he seemed to welcome them.
[1] http://www.kitaboshi.co.jp/pencil-lab/
I have a box of 120 Blackwing pencils of all types. They look nice, expensive, but a bad tool.
(review -> https://www.instagram.com/p/CrD5KRnuLnh/?img_index=2&igsh=cD... )
They are not suitable for fine drawing (too waxy and soft) - those are either STAEDTLER, FaberCastell, or Tombow (Japanese brand).
The fancy tip eraser is also not very useful. The metal around it is so soft, it can't hold any pressure. Also extremely not child friendly, as the small metal part inside just fells out.
Tombow Mono - de-facto standard eraser.
What does a pencil have over a mechanical pencil? Mechanical pencils never need sharpening, infinite supply of lead of various type and and they seem more environmentally friendly (assuming you keep using the same for many years).
In my experience, mechanical pencil tips broke too easily. I've had cheap wooden pencils where it felt that the let was shattered inside which meant the sharpened tip kept falling out. That's how I felt about pretty much every mechanical pencil.
They're not really targeted at artists but for writing and taking notes. In my opinion, they have a nice smooth feel and work well for this purpose. But they're on the expensive side, so if you don't care about the looks, there are many other—wallet-friendly—options out there!
The eraser is infamous for being terrible. But it looks cool.
I also enjoy my Blackwings, though my normal pencil of choice is the Mitsubishi Hi-Uni HB, which is cheaper than the Blackwing but is still an awesome pencil. I think my supply of pencils will last at least a decade. I take a lot of handwritten notes when doing research, and I prefer pencil over pen when working in computer science and math.
I don't know, they've always seemed nice to draw with.
Even the Blackwing sharpeners are not that great. A pencil plane works just fine for almost all pencil sharpening I've ever needed to do and making your own isn't very hard.
Terrible tool for drawing possibly; but among musicians they are widely considered the standard for marking scores. There’s always a Blackwing on my stand.
I consider them terrible for drawing but excellent for taking handwritten notes that will scan well.
Wait they didn't show how they insert the graphite into the wood. That's the only reason why I was watching this.
they did... it's inserted into a groove, and the two pencil halves are glued together, at 4:45 https://youtu.be/fow-LsdaH2E?si=bOIb8Q01_4V04uQ2&t=285
I had to play in slowmotion to catch it. A lot going on there.
I can't help thinking of David Rees. This guy is hilarious https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KabOfnbS4TQ&t=139s
I like how-to videos—restoration videos even more.
I find something "restorative" (ha, ha) for the soul watching a thing made, restored.
More companies should do this kind of advertisement.
This stuff is everywhere lately. They are spending some good money.
I remember using these when I was young, and being quite disappointed when the local store quit carrying them.
Glad to have them back for note-taking and sketching.
They aren't the same since they were brought back.
For those HN readers who are not stationery junkies: The “real” Blackwing pencils went out of production... I don’t know when, but it must be at least 15 years ago, probably longer. (I have only been watching this from the outside, so don’t ask me for details. =) ) Those sold now come from a different production line at a different company, even though the maker is trying to make them as close as possible to the original. Ever since they showed up, pencil aficionados have been debating whether they are better, worse, or about the same. Originals seem to sell for over $20 a piece on eBay (actual "sold" prices, not asking prices).