Kuru Toga – the Japanese mechanical pencil

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The fantastic Kuru Toga Engine is an ingenious mechanical pencil made by uni-ball. Uni-ball and uni are pen/pencil brands made by the Mitsubishi Pencil Company, founded in Tokyo in 1887. The "uni" in the brand"s name derives from the word unique.



And if unique – and useful – is what you"re looking for then uni-ball have definitely delivered with their Kuru Toga Engine pencil.

Standard graphite and wood pencils, Uni-ball say, are prone to wearing down irregularly, having "a negative effect on your writing" – presumably the quality of the print rather than the quality of your prose or poetry.

With traditional mechanical pencils, the line becomes progressively weaker and the angled tip of the lead catches and breaks into pieces.



The Kuru Toga Engine has none of these drawbacks. Its internal gears revolve as the lead is pressed down and lifted off the writing surface, rotating the tip a fraction at a time producing a perfect cone-shaped tip that is resistant to breaking – and one which delivers crisp, dense lines.

This pencil"s name becomes more obvious when you discover that "kuru" is Japanese for "turning", and "toga" is the abbreviated form of "togaru", meaning "to be sharpened".



What"s more, each Kuru Toga Engine lead contains 400 million nano diamonds that help deliver super strength, meaning fewer lead breakages. The nano diamonds also produce a lubricating effect, reducing friction between the paper and the lead.

The Kuru Toga Engine features an ergonomic aluminum grip, high quality plastic body with a clip . . . and an eraser for when, on reflection, your impeccable words were not quite as impeccable as you first thought.



If it works well for those writing in a Latin script then it is even better for the clear rendering of Japanese ideograms.



In their video, uni-ball perform a demonstration by attaching a "propeller" – basically a bit of rectangular plastic stuck on the end of the pencil tip – which can be seen to rotate marginally every time the Kuru Toga is pressed and the raised.

The thrill of watching the mechanism in action is only enhanced by the music that sounds like it has been borrowed from the original Miami Vice television series from the 1980s.



Some Kuru Togas have a transparent grip allowing for a clear view of the lead rotation mechanism in action, with the logo slowly moving across the pencil"s axis while the user is sketching or writing.

Kuru Toga pens can be bought on most countries" Amazon websites, or at specialist sites such as www.jetpens.com or www.tigerpens.co.uk/acatalog/UNI-Ball-pens.html

For more information, please visit: www.uniball.com


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[Kittysafe]

Picture links are broken.

[Frankentime]

It's just a copy/paste of this page.

It's pretty cool that it rotates the lead for you to keep the point from getting too flat, but I have a subconscious habit of rotating my pencil as I write or draw, so I don't know how much that would benefit me.

[vjsteele4]

Very cool pencil. I have a few of them. Seems like I pick them up every time I travel to Japan.

[mljones99]

i picked one up from office depot a few weeks ago. nice pencil.

[ancreanchor]

I purchased one on amazon back when they came out. It's a great pencil, leaves a nice even line. I do much prefer the feel of a normal mechanical pencil on paper though.

[cameron202105]

I also love pencils and recently purchased a rotring 800 and I really like the way it feels has an awesome weight also it is very comfortable.Maybe you would also like to give this one a try. I ordered mine of jetpens.com ( I have no affiliation with them just ordered it there and it was a smooth transaction)

[tmr5555]

I recently picked up a 0.5 mm one. Can't really see any massive improvement. Maybe the difference would be more obvious in a 0.7 version.
I'm left handed and hold pens at an angle, the turning mechanism only works efficiently at the perpendicular position and isn't very efficient at angles. Good idea, but doesn't really work IMHO.

[Benny P]

I recently picked up a 0.5 mm one. Can't really see any massive improvement. Maybe the difference would be more obvious in a 0.7 version.
I'm left handed and hold pens at an angle, the turning mechanism only works efficiently at the perpendicular position and isn't very efficient at angles. Good idea, but doesn't really work IMHO.

I think you just saved me from buying one. I was speculating on how hard the tip has to be pushed to actuate the rotation mechanism. I find when I'm trying to draft something carefully, I just lightly glide the lead for the most part. Looks like my P205 will do for the foreseeable future.

[Benny P]

I actually found a deal and picked up one of them. I like it so much that I'm waiting for a deal on one of the all metal versions (the Kuru Toga Roulette). It is perfect for my writing style (all caps) and though it doesn't have the firmness of a drafting pencil, the spring of the mechanism is barely detectable.
I would definitely recommend it for writing, but it may not be as good if you write in cursive or need the solid tip and extended lead sleeve of a drafting pencil.