15 Best Tried and True Japanese Calligraphy and Brush Pens in 2022 (Pentel, Pilot, and More)
Japan is known for calligraphy, for ink art, and for stationery, so wouldn’t it make sense that some of the best calligraphy pens come from this island country? In order to introduce you to a few, we ordered the 15 most popular brush pens from Japan’s e-commerce giants (such as Amazon, Rakuten, and kakaku.com) and tested for the following:
- How Well It Writes
- How the Ink Transfers and Its Depth of Color
- How Thick It is
This is how we tested and found the most exceptional Japanese calligraphy and brush pens.
Quick List - Top Japanese Calligraphy And Brush Pens
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How to Choose a Japanese Calligraphy and Brush Pen – Buying Guide
Here, we want to introduce three things you should look out for when picking out a calligraphy pen.
Find a Calligraphy Pen That’s Easy for You to Write With
Basically, with tips, you want to make sure it fits your level and purpose. You need to make sure that the character and firmness of the tip is suited to you and the piece you’re planning.
Stiff Tips Are the Kindest to Beginners
Stiff tips are good for addressing postcards and envelopes for festive occasions. Since it’s easy to work your way down to a very fine line, stiff-tipped calligraphy pens are also often used for backgrounds and depictions of movement and sound effects in manga.
Softer Tips Make It Easier to Achieve Thick Lines
Like their stiff-tipped counterparts, soft-tipped calligraphy pens do feel a bit like a permanent marker, but you need a bit of practice before you can achieve those nice hane and harai.
However, it’s easier to draw thick lines with a soft tip, rather than a stiff tip–so it’s better for large work, such as addressing letter-sized envelopes. It’s also invaluable as an art tool, as many use it when they need to cover large areas in solid black.
Bristle Tips Give You the Same Look and Feel as a Traditional Brush
However, it feels different from your run-of-the-mill marker or pen and takes quite a bit of practice to master.
But you can use it to craft a widely varying, very natural and almost crude look. Bristle-tipped calligraphy pens are also available in colors other than black, making them suitable art tools.
Check if the Calligraphy Pen Has Serviceable Ink
Dye-Based Ink Spreads Well and is Vibrant in Color
However, it fades and blurs quite easily. You shouldn’t have a problem, though, if you’re just addressing a postcard or writing on an envelope.
But if you are planning to use the calligraphy pen for art, try pigment-based ink. Because pigment-based ink dries quickly, it doesn’t smear or blur, even with the use of solvents.
Unfortunately, there aren't as many calligraphy pens that utilize pigment-based ink around and so not as much choice. Figure out your priorities before settling on a type of ink.
Pay Attention to How the Ink Transfers Onto Paper and How Deep Its Color Is
If you do end up going to a stationery store, try writing common things, like your name and numbers in both script and cursive.
There are also calligraphy pens with paler ink, which is used in Japan for sad occasions, such as funerals and wakes. There are lighter calligraphy pens designed solely for funerals, but it’s more practical to get dual-tipped pens that can write in both grey and black.
Find a Calligraphy Pen That’s Suitably Thick
Thin pens, for example, are good for fine work, such as art, addressing postcards, or copying sutras; medium pens are good for everyday calligraphy; thick pens are good for poster work and big, dynamic lettering.
However, take any labeling with a grain of salt. Thickness is greatly swayed by the length and firmness of the pen tip, as well as the skill and habits of the calligrapher. The same pen can perform differently in different hands, so if possible, test out calligraphy pens before purchase.
15 Best Japanese Calligraphy and Brush Pens
Products | Image | Click to purchase | Key features | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Pentel PentelFude ~Medium~ | | Writes in a Way Both Pros and Beginners Will Appreciate | |
2 | Kuretake Bimoji Cambio | | Keeps Your Ink at a Consistent Intensity No Matter How Long You Write | |
3 | Pentel Kirari | | Classical Calligraphy Pen that Makes Beautiful Lettering a Reality | |
4 | Pilot New Brush Pen Medium | | Reliaable Ink and Bristles With Some Resilience | |
5 | Mitsubishi Pencil New Brush Pen | | Easily Vary the Strength and Intensity of Strokes | |
6 | Pilot Colored Calligraphy Pen Fude Makase | | Varies the Width of Your Strokes, No Matter How Short They Are | |
7 | Pentel FudeMoji Autograph Pen | | Feels like a Fine-Tipped Permanent Marker and is Suitable for Both Art and Lettering | |
8 | Kuretake Fountain Brush Pen | | Ink Refills and Replaceable Head Means This Pen Lasts Forever | |
9 | Akashiya New Brush Pen | | Feels Just Like a Traditional Brush | |
10 | Platinum Pen Co. Souhitsu Hanekofude | | A Beginner-Friendly, Thick Sharpie-Type Pen Suitable for Everyday Use |
Writes in a Way Both Pros and Beginners Will Appreciate
And yet, it wasn’t difficult for beginners to use either, and even those of us with less then perfect lettering were about to spin out some pieces with character. The ink was jet-black and, depending on how we wrote, we could control the intensity.
Even the small imperfections on the edge made the piece look like it was done with a traditional brush. It was also easy to achieve the delicate ends of each stroke known as tome, hane, and harai; as long as you take the time to master this pen, mybest can confidently say it won’t let you down.
Keeps Your Ink at a Consistent Intensity No Matter How Long You Write
In addition, it had great ink flow; jet-black ink kept coming out in the perfect amount, no matter how long we wrote for. There was nothing annoying or distracting about the pen, and it had us writing comfortably and happily for hours.
Classical Calligraphy Pen that Makes Beautiful Lettering a Reality
Furthermore, we could hold it just as we would hold a ballpoint pen or pencil, which made it a perfect first for those just getting into brush pens. And, of course, this pen is also great for those who want to produce elegant lettering, no matter when or where they write.
Reliaable Ink and Bristles With Some Resilience
It looked as if we had used India ink, earning this pen a 4.0 for both its ink and thickness. This Pen is perfect for beginners and calligraphy experts alike.
Easily Vary the Strength and Intensity of Strokes
The ink was jet black and came out deep; however, when we wrote too quickly, the ink thinned out and the bristles parted–just something to look out for.
Varies the Width of Your Strokes, No Matter How Short They Are
However, even though we were able to write clear-cut letters, the color came out just a bit thin, as it would with a normal marker.
Feels like a Fine-Tipped Permanent Marker and is Suitable for Both Art and Lettering
It also works well as a simple writing and drawing instrument, perfect for quick brainstorming sketches and other pieces of artwork.
Ink Refills and Replaceable Head Means This Pen Lasts Forever
However, the ink was weak and got scratchy and thin in places, so the Fountain Brush Pen only earned an overall score of 3.0.
Feels Just Like a Traditional Brush
It was also easy to vary the width of our strokes, making this calligraphy pen a good fit for those who love the feel of traditional brushes.
A Beginner-Friendly, Thick Sharpie-Type Pen Suitable for Everyday Use
It’s hard to change up the breadth of your strokes, but that’s also why it’s easy to write in uniform letters. It’s a friendly pen, kind to beginners and suitable for everyday tasks.
※lit. small brush; brands use this to describe calligraphy pens that would write as a thinner traditional brush would, suitable for finer print with a certain amount of variance
How We Tested the Japanese Calligraphy and Brush Pens
We gathered 15 most popular Japanese calligraphy and brush pens from Amazon, Rakuten, and kakaku.com and tested them for how well each wrote, how the ink transferred and its depth of color, and how thick the strokes were.
※Note that the words hane, tome, and harai, which we'll be referencing a lot in the following text. These are all aspects of calligraphy writing, with hane being the little flick up at the end of certain strokes, tome being the thickening at the end of certain strokes, and harai being the thinning out at the end of certain strokes.
Test ① How Well It Writes
We tested for flexibility, whether our strokes had a clean finish, and whether each pen was more suited for beginners or advanced users. We then graded the pens on a five-step scale from 1.0 to 5.0.
Even Beginners Could Master Bristle-Tipped Calligraphy Pens As Long as the Tip Had Some Firmness to It
Pens with softer bristles allowed for smooth, flowing strokes, but were difficult to control for those not already used to drawing with brushes.
As for stiff- and soft-tipped pens, there were products that squeaked when we wrote and nibs that had no give to them, which made it hard to execute hane, tome, and harai. They were pretty much markers posing as calligraphy pens and were rated quite harshly.
Test ② How the Ink Transfers and Its Depth of Color
We wanted to see whether the ink would get scratchy, or if we could accurately control the strength of color by how we held the brush. We then rated each product on a scale from 1.0 to 5.0.
Big-Name Brands Are Consistent With Their Ink
In particular, old favorites like Mitsubishi Pencils’ New Brush Pen, Kuretake’s Bimoji Cambio, and Pentel’s PentelFude positively shined; all three earned a 5.0 for their ink.
Mitsubishi Pencil’s New Brush Pen, by the way, comes out to a jet black. However, you can vary the shading depending on how you draw with it, which makes it suitable for almost anything, from addresses on envelopes to ink wash paintings.
Test ③ How Thick It is
We paid attention to whether or not we could vary the width of a stroke and whether a pen lived up to its claims (that is, whether it was really thick, thin, or in between). We then determined what kind of work each pen was best suited for.
You Need to Be Careful With Stiff and Soft-Tipped Calligraphy Pens
With brush pens, as long as we could control the pressure of our strokes, it was easy to adjust for thickness. And the width of a single stroke was pretty much always what it said on the box.
However, stiff- and soft-tipped pens could differ greatly from product to product. In particular, while soft-tipped pens, such as Zebra’s Soft-Tipped Calligraphy Pen ~Fine~, allowed us some control over the width of our strokes, many of them could get quite thick, leaving us with a very broad line.
Tips and Tricks on How to Hold and Write With a Calligraphy Pen
Hold the Pen With the End Facing up, as You Would With a Brush
People who aren’t used to using calligraphy pens usually end up using too much force, so remember to hold the pen gently. Furthermore, straightening out your posture will help keep your hand and arm from getting tired.
Thickness is Controlled by Adjusting Brush Contact With the Page
Learning how to flow smoothly between thick and thin strokes is key to making your work look more like it was drawn by a brush and your words more like traditional calligraphy.
For thin lines, draw with just the very point of the tip. If you can’t get your strokes to come out fine, it either means that you’re writing at an angle or with too much force, driving the tip of the pen into the paper. Focus on relaxing your hand and softly and lightly touching the page with just the very tip.
On the other hand, for thick lines, make sure you’re pushing not just the point, but the entire length of the tip against the page. This increases the area at which the brush touches the page, naturally resulting in a thicker line.
Continuously Practice With the Help of Samples and Examples
Honestly, you probably weren’t even that amazing with a ballpoint pen or mechanical pencil when you first started out. As long as you keep at it and don’t give up, you will see results.
More Reliable, Tried and True Pens
Other than calligraphy pens, there are plenty of other options for writing utensils out there that are reliable and work better for different situations. If you're looking for more pens that have been proven great through testing, then take a look at the articles below!
Top 5 Japanese Calligraphy And Brush Pens
No. 1: Pentel｜PentelFude ~Medium~
No. 2: Kuretake｜Bimoji Cambio
No. 3: Pentel｜Kirari
No. 4: Pilot｜New Brush Pen Medium
No. 5: Mitsubishi Pencil｜New Brush Pen
View Full RankingThe descriptions of each product are referenced from content available on manufacturer, brand, and e-commerce sites.
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