The Sailor Pen Company is a Japanese pen manufacturer based in Kure, Hiroshima. It is famous for producing the first fountain pen in Japan with a gold nib, and the first in Japan for producing ballpoint pens.
Writing implements manufactured by Sailor include fountain pens, ballpoint pens, dip pens, inks, and mechanical pencils.
History
Sailor was founded by Kyugoro Sakata and his brother in 1911 in Hiroshima as the "Sakata Manufactory", producing gold pen nibs. Mr Sakata had been introduced to the fountain pen by a visiting British sailor, and this became the inspiration for the company name adopted a few years later.[1]
The factory moved in 1917 to Hamadacho and changed its name to the “Sailor Pen Sakata-Manufactory Co., Ltd.”. Here it began the production of fountain pens.
The first ballpoint pens were produced in 1948. The first ink cartridges were invented by the firm in 1954 made available to the public in 1958.[2]
In the 1960s Sailor launched a pen with 21 gold nibs, a world first.