History
The Mitsubishi Pencil company was founded in Tokyo by Niroku Masaki in 1887[9] as the "Masaki Pencil Manufacturing Company". After World War II, it was renamed "The Mitsubishi Pencil Company".[10]
Masaki Pencil started to export its products, first to Mexico in 1927, then expanding to other markets including Belgium, Egypt, Portugal, Argentina, India and Netherlands. At the end of World War II, the company introduced the "9800" pencil. In 1959, Mitsubishi released its first ballpoint pen, while its first mechanical pencil was launched in 1961.[11]
In 1966, they began creating performance pens and by 1979 they developed the first "Uniball" rollerball pen,[9] which was the first ballpen with water-based ink and metallic tip. This pen would be a great success in Japan and North America. One year later, the company launched the "Paint", an oil-based marker.[11]
While mainly focused on making pens, in 2008 they developed a new mechanical pencil that rotated the graphite lead every time it is lifted from the page to sharpen it into an even cone shape. This line of pencils is named as Kuru Toga.[12] The name Kuru Toga is a portmanteau of the two Japanese words 'kuru' (turning) and 'togaru' (to be sharpened).
In August 2020, Uni-ball announced a partnership with Starline.[13] Beginning in January 2021, Starline became the exclusive supplier of the Uni-ball brand for the promotional products industry.[14]
In February 2024, the company announced it was acquiring German fountain and ball point pen company Lamy.[15] The acquisition was completed in the same month.
