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Catchy tune “Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen” takes the world by storm

Corey Gold
Sep 28, 2016
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A new Japanese music video about apples, pineapples and pens may become this year’s biggest YouTube hit!

Japan
(Apple • apple pen • DJ piko-taro • earworm • japanese comedian • Kosaka Daimou • pen • pineapple • pineapple pen)

Japanese Twitter user’s ridiculously detailed ballpoint pen art goes viral

Jamie Koide
Feb 24, 2016

If you’ve got the talent and the passion you can use pretty much anything to illustrate your vision, like this piece of art that’s been making the rounds on Japanese Twitter, drawn using only two ballpoint pens.

Internet, Japan
(art • cool • ink • pen)

New magnetic “slate” lets you write on actual paper, digitize your drawings in real-time

Scott Wilson
Jan 19, 2015

Digital drawing tablets, despite their best efforts, have always felt different from the real thing. For many artists, note-takers, or expert doodlers, nothing beats the feeling of putting actual pen to actual paper.

But now, thanks to iSketchnote, you can write on a real piece of paper using a real pen, while still digitizing it in real-time on a tablet or PC as you draw.

Europe
(drawing • ipad • paper • pen • slate • tablet)

Shohei Otomo brings the gritty side of Japan to vivid life with a mere ballpoint pen

Master Blaster
Dec 28, 2014

Shohei Otomo can sometimes be found simply under the working name “Shohei.” That might possibly have been an effort to downplay his heritage, because when your father is responsible for some of the most influential manga and anime ever it can be hard to get looked at as an individual.

However, outside of a certain degree of edginess and high degree of Akira and Domu, creator Katsuhiro Otomo and his son each stand alone with their respective arts. Shohei has the unique gift of creating a provocative illustration using only a ballpoint with such a level of detail and texture that you can get lost in them.

He’s posted a series of time-lapse YouTube videos showing him at his craft which is a spectacle almost as impressive as the drawings themselves.

Japan
(art • illustration • pen • shohei otomo)

TRANSFORM! And write while you’re at it, too — with these cool shape-shifting Transformers pens!

Kay
Jun 5, 2014

Okay, so the type of pen that you use in your daily routine may not be the most important detail in your life. But when you have a fun and attractive pen to write with, it helps to make your day just a little bit brighter, doesn’t it? In that spirit, we’ve already introduced you to a line of lovely Sailor Moon pens in one of our past articles, but this time, we’ve found some pens that may be a delight for those of you more into the robot/mecha genre. They’re Transformers pens, and yes, they actually change shapes — so Transformers fans, get ready to “transform and roll out” the letters!

Japan
(pen • Sentinel • Transformers)

Limited edition Lipton’s iced tea-scented pens to go on sale

Master Blaster
Sep 17, 2013

Japanese stationery company Zebra is celebrating the 10th anniversary of their Sarasa Clip pens, which is why they have teamed up with world-famous tea maker Lipton to launch a unique line of ball-point pens. Coming 19 September are 10 pens each with the aroma of a different flavor of Lipton iced tea sold in the Japanese market.

Japan
(Lipton • pen • tea • zebra)

Beautiful Japanese-Made Fountain Pens Make me Want to Learn to Write All Over Again

Philip Kendall
Nov 13, 2012

As a man whose handwriting could be defined as infantile at best, I can’t help but admire those who can wield a fountain pen like a paintbrush. Thanks to the bizarre way in which I hold my pen (I’m right-handed but people often ask if I’m a lefty purely because my grip is so odd), writing with any pen whose ink is wetter than a cheap ballpoint’s results in my hand turning blue and an enormous horizontal smear of ink across the page as if the letters were warping through time.

After seeing this short video from Japanese pen makers Namiki, though, I’m genuinely tempted to sit down and practice writing my ABCs all over again if it means that I can correct my awkward grip and learn to write as beautifully as this…