Kubo's Pens

Kubo Kohei stands nowadays as the sole maker of nibs in Japan not associated with a pen maker. And this in itself is an interesting fact that deserves a separate reflection. But today I want to speak about some of the operations in which nibmeister Kubo has participated.

As of today, other that the nibs one could order directly from him, it is possible to find Kubo nibs on pens Tohma, made by Toma Kiyotaka of Pen Cluster, and on some models by Iwase Seisakusho, albeit its activity seems currently suspended.

A Model N by Iwase Seisakusho with a nib by nibmeister Kubo.

But nibmeister Kubo has a long history in the pen industry in Japan. Two brands associated with Kubo were Nobel –or Nobel's, as he likes to call it-- and Elliott.

The Elliott company was founded by former worker of SSS Uesugi Yoshizaku around 1936 or 1937 in the Kita Ward in Tokyo. Around 1960, Kubo's uncle bought the company and Kubo Kohei started working on it. The engagement with this brand lasted until around 1980.

An Elliott ad in the 1950s.

On top, a pre-Kubo Elliott pen from 1950s. Bottom, an Elliott pen that looks like a Nobel pen.

In parallel, at least during the late 1960s and 1970s, Kubo Kohei also worked on his own brand Nobel. For those pens, he used injected plastic for the bodies and adopted Platinum cartridges and converters as filling mechanisms, as was the common practice among small companies of the moment.

Two Nobel pens: the "Super Gold" model on top; and a pocket pen. Both were made by Kubo Kohei. They use Platinum cartridges.

Kubo's music nibs for his Nobel pens (::1::, ::2::). NK stands for "Nobel Kubo".

So these are some of the nibs and pens made by nibmeister Kubo. However, they are not easy to find in the market.


My thanks to Mr. Kanesaki, Mr. Sugimonto and Mr. Sunami.

Note (Sept 1st, 2019): I have changed some of the original pics form some others with better quality.

Pilot Custom 74 – Wagner 2008 (Sailor)

Bruno Taut
Nakano, August 30th 2019
etiquetas: Nobel, Elliott, Nobel, Tohma Pens, Iwase Seisakusho, nibmeister Kubo Kohei

A Pen Is A Pen

A pen must write well in any country. That should be a given, but not all pens perform correctly.

When a Japanese pen is at fault, the different writing scripts –Kanji and kana in Japan, alphabet in the West— have been used by some to explain why it did not work properly, and even to justify how suitable a pen is for certain market.

These are some examples:

Some years ago, it became well known that the size #10 Falcon nib by Pilot (present on the models Custom 742 and Custom Heritage 912) did not always behave properly (::1::, ::2::). Many units tended to railroad under almost any pressure. But to this obvious fault some in the West invoked the special way of writing (Japanese, that is) to explain and justify that failure.

Pilot Custom 742 with a Falcon nib.

More recently, Davidoff argued –at least in Japan-- that their nibs were perfectly suited for Japan because their nibs were Sailor's... Like if Pelikan and Montblanc pens were so bad at that and had a hard time in the Japanese market.

Davidoff pens.

The case of Naginata Togi nibs has already been discussed on these pages. In the Japanese market, Sailor brags about how suitable those nibs are to write Japanse (::3::, ::4::), but that does not prevent Sailor from selling them in the West...

Sailor Naginata Togi nibs.

All those examples are nothing but bland excuses and cheap marketing. A pen is a pen and must write well in any script. And Pilot claimed this long time ago:

A Namiki ad from 1927 in the UK explained that the Japanese writing was the perfect benchmark to ensure the correct performance of their pens under any circumstance... such as writing in alphabet!

The Bookseller & the Stationery Trades Journal, July 1927. Page 27. As seen at the Pen Station, Tokyo, in April of 2013. Japanese as the perfect test for any pen!

Japanese are not from another planet. Neither are Westerners when seen from Japan.

Sailor Profit Naginata Togi – Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-jaku

Bruno Taut
Nakano, July - August 2019
etiquetas: mercado, Japón, japonés, Pilot, Sailor, Davidoff, plumín