Pentel
Pentel Co., Ltd. is a privately held Japanese manufacturing company of stationery products. The name is a combination of the English words pen and tell. Pentel is also the inventor of non-permanent marker technology. Most Pentel products are manufactured in Japan, Taiwan, Mexico and France.
The company is regarded as the inventor the fibre-tipped pen in 1963. Nowadays, Pentel produces a wide range of products that include writing implements, art materials and office goods.
History
The company was founded in 1946 as "Japan Stationery Limited" in Tokyo by Yokio Horie, with the purpose of manufacturing crayons and pastels. The first products for sale were released in 1951, followed by pencils in 1960. 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
Products
Product lines include Sharp Kerry, Sharp P200 series, Graph 1000, Graphgear, Graphlet, Sharplet, Smash, Orenz ; Ain and Hi-Polymer ; Energel ; Vicuna ; Pentel Pen, and Sign Pen.Range of products manufactured by Pentel includes:
| Type | Products |
| Writing implements | Rollerball pens, gel pens, ballpoint pens, mechanical pencils, fountain pens, marker pens, highlighters, brush pens, refills |
| Art materials | Oil pastels, crayons, watercolors |
| Office supplies | Erasers, correction fluids, correction tapes, glues |