Nebotek (III) - 10 Years

While preparing the previous post, I had to revisit an old piece I wrote in 2013. It ended with this sentence:

“Nebotek pens are indeed good and interesting products, but their poor marketing makes them almost unknown. And anonymous.”

Nebotek catalog from 2012.

That was the pen I was introducing: a very well-made pen with no obvious brand, a beautiful business card without a name on it.

Four Eboya/Nebotek pens from different moments in their evolution.

But much has changed since that pen was released—no later than 2013. In 2014, the brand changed its name, and the pens began to carry it engraved on the barrel: “Eboya — MADE IN TOKYO.”

Eboya catalog in 2019.

Then, in 2016, came the bigger transformation. Nikko Ebonite, the parent company, replaced the traditional rokuro with a couple of digital lathes. Pen production was simplified—only one filling system remained—and expanded. At the same time, the brand’s presence in international markets grew through a number of retailers: Nibs.com and Anderson Pens in the United States in 2015, and Sakura Fountain Pen Gallery and Inktraveler in Europe in 2016 and 2017, respectively. (Since then, other retailers began carrying Eboya, even as Anderson Pens ceased operations at the end of 2024—its founders later returning as Cardinal Pens & Paper, though without Eboya in their catalogue—and Sakura Fountain Pen Gallery dropped Eboya from its portfolio).

So, in ten years, Nebotek became Eboya. It went from being a collection of essentially anonymous pens to becoming a point of reference in Japan’s fountain-pen scene.

Nebotek Hôga, medium size – Sailor Tomikei Blue

Bruno Taut
October 12th, 2026
etiquetas: Nebotek, Eboya, mercado