Pentel

Pentel Co., Ltd.
FormerlyJapan Stationery Co., Ltd. (1946–71)
TypePrivate K.K.
IndustryStationery (primary)
Founded1946; 80 years ago (1946)
FounderYukio Horie(President 1946–2010)
Headquarters
Tokyo
,
Japan
Area served
Worldwide
Key peopleYu Wada (President and CEO)
ProductsWriting implements, art materials, office products, electronic devices and production equipment
Number of employees
773 (March 2012)
ParentPlus Corporation April 2026 Re-branded as ASTRUM CORPORATION
Websitepentel.co.jp
Footnotes
https://www.astrum-st.com/en/company/

Pentel Co., Ltd. (ぺんてる株式会社, Penteru Kabushiki Kaisha) is a privately held Japanese manufacturing company of stationery products. The company name was derived from the trademark used for one of their first widely known products, a portmanteau of the English words painting and pastel, but has since been interpreted as a combination of the words pen and tell (as in telling a story). Pentel is also the inventor of non-permanent marker technology. Most Pentel products are manufactured in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Brazil, Mexico, and France.

The company is regarded as the inventor of the fibre-tipped (felt-tip) pen in 1962. Included in its innovations was its success in adapting traditional Japanese practice to industrial production. Nowadays, Pentel produces a wide range of products that include writing implements, art materials and office goods.

History

After dissolving Horie Bunkaido, a Japanese wholesaler of Japanese traditional writing brushes established by his father, Yukio Horie, founded Pentel in 1946 in Tokyo as Dai Nippon Bungu Co., which later would become "Japan Stationery Limited" (Nihonbungu Kabushiki Kaisha). The goal was to manufacture crayons and pastels for use in education. The first products for sale were released in 1951, followed by pencils in 1960.

In 1963 Pentel launched the "Sign Pen", a fibre-type pen that was used by then President of the United States Lyndon B. Johnson, who bought a dozen of them to sign photographs, apart from being adopted as the official writing instrument of NASA and going into space with a Gemini mission in 1966. Demand for a Sign Pen was so extraordinary that the Tokyo factories could not supply all requests. The Sign Pen was one of Pentel's most successful products with more than two billion units sold.

In 1971 the company changed its name to "Pentel Co. Ltd." and one year later, the green rollerball pen with water-based ink, was launched. Horie remained as President of the company until his death in 2010.

In the 2010s, Pentel launched the "Pocket Brush", a fudepen that used replaceable waterproof ink cartridges, like fountain pens (and unlike conventional brush pens, which are more like marker pens.)

Brush pens (designed and recommended for calligraphy) have also gained popularity among comic book artists, who choose them to ink their works instead of dip pens or traditional brushes. One of those artists using Pentel was Neal Adams.

Products

Stationery

Product lines include Sharp Kerry, Sharp P200 series, Multi 8 (All-purpose mechanical pencil), Twist-Erase, Q-Erase, Quicker Clicker, Graph 1000, Graphgear (500, 800 and 1000), Smash, Orenz, OrenzNero (mechanical pencils or "sharps"); Ain and Hi-Polymer (mechanical pencil leads, erasers); Energel (gel ink pens); Floatune, Vicuña (hybrid ink ballpoint pen); RSVP (oil-based ballpoint pens), Pentel Pen (permanent marker), and Sign Pen (fine tip marker).

Pentel RSVP pens
Type Products
Writing implementsRollerball pens, gel pens, ballpoint pens, mechanical pencils, fountain pens, marker pens, highlighters, brush pens, pencils, colour pencils, refills
Art materialsOil pastels, crayons, watercolors
Office suppliesErasers, correction fluids, correction tapes, glues

Other products

Pentel produces and sells electronic devices and production equipment in addition to stationery.

References

  1. ↑ "Pentel Corporate Report" Archived 2021-01-27 at the Wayback Machine, Pentel Corporation, January 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Pentel celebrates 70 years of success". Archived from the original on 2016-12-22. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  3. 1 2 "Pentel Japanese site corporate information" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on May 14, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Pentel international locations".
  5. ↑ 「ぺんてる」の社名の由来とは? Archived 2021-04-18 at the Wayback Machine Pentel Co., Ltd. history. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Chi siamo | Pentel Italia SpA". pentel.it.
  7. ↑ "'Sign Pen' the first fibre tip pen, 1962 | Science Museum Group Collection". Archived from the original on 2025-03-25. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
  8. ↑ Bayley, Stephen (2000). General Knowledge. Harry N. Abrams. p. 68. ISBN 978-1-86154-068-3.
  9. ↑ Ward, James (2014). Adventures in Stationery: A Journey Through Your Pencil Case. Profile. ISBN 978-1-84765-871-5.
  10. ↑ Evans, Ferguson (2008). The Rise of the Japanese Specialist Manufacturer: Leading Medium-Sized Enterprises. Palgrave Macmillan UK. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-230-21842-0.
  11. ↑ Ward, James (2015). The Perfection of the Paper Clip: Curious Tales of Invention, Accidental Genius, and Stationery Obsession. Simon and Schuster. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-4767-9988-9.
  12. 1 2 History of the Pentel Sign Pen Archived 2021-04-10 at the Wayback Machine on Pen Cult website
  13. ↑ "Pentel Pocket Brush features". Archived from the original on 2010-09-26. Retrieved 2011-05-24.
  14. ↑ Pentel brush Archived 2014-05-16 at the Wayback Machine on Cult Pens website
  15. ↑ Review: Pentel Pocket Brush Pen Archived 2021-04-10 at the Wayback Machine by Teoh Yi Chie, December 28, 2014
  16. ↑ Larry Hama interview in Comic Book Resources Archived 2009-06-07 at the Wayback Machine June 3, 2009