奥深きシャープペンシルの世界　日本の技術と企業努力がぎっしり【グッド！いちおし】【グッド！モーニング】(2025年6月20日)

Yes, from here it's a good recommendation. The nostalgic stationery of the Showa and Heisei eras, the deep world of mechanical pencils.

Japan is one of the world's leading countries in mechanical pencils. A lot of technology and effort from companies has been put into it.

In the last broadcast, we talked about nostalgic pencil cases from the Showa and Heisei eras.

Mr. Masayuki Takahata spoke passionately. This time, the stationery we will delve into is...

I wonder if I should talk about mechanical pencils, yes, we have a huge quantity here.

We are organizing them by manufacturer so that you can search for them. Has mechanical pencil really evolved to the point of needing such introductions?

Mechanical pencils do have small manufacturers inside them, and the technology in that area is tightly packed.

The development is quite interesting. Let's start with the pioneers of mechanical pencils in Japan.

The pioneers who succeeded in developing practical mechanical pencils in Japan were not electrical equipment manufacturers.

They have become home appliance manufacturers, but could it be Sharp? That's right.

It was developed by Mr. Tokuji Hayakawa, the founder of Sharp.

It was born in 1915, and it's called the Hayakawa-style retractable pencil.

It doesn't look that different from now, right? But the big difference is how the lead comes out; it can't be knocked.

When you twist the back, the lead comes out. Oh ho ho.

It comes out smoothly, and in 1960, a groundbreaking event happened with that mechanical pencil.

That is called polymer lead, but until then, pencils were made by mixing graphite and clay and baking them.

It's a method of baking, but instead of clay, by mixing resin and baking it,

Harder, thinner, and more precise

They were able to create what is called a core, and at the same time, they developed the click mechanism, which allows the lead to come out gradually when you click it. This type of mechanical pencil was also created around the same time.

So, the mechanical pencil that you all know today is mostly based on the one that Pentel created in 1960.

After that, various mechanical pencils were developed over time, but in the beginning, they were still somewhat luxury items.

For example, they were used by people doing drafting or drawing blueprints.

Also, they were writing instruments aimed at adults, such as businessmen.

However, as they gradually became more popular,

a significant turning point, or what is said to have come this far, was the introduction of the 100 yen mechanical pencil in 1980, which had a tremendous impact on the industry.

It is said that this sharp pencil became affordable for everyone.

Then, in the 1990s, the sharp pencil developed in collaboration with doctors became a hit.

The 1980s and 1990s were an era when office work increased significantly, with lots of documents being written at desks.

As that happened, issues like shoulder stiffness and eye strain arose.

People began to experience health issues due to office work.

What was proposed and created by a certain doctor is this one.

It's the Doctor Grip, right? Yes, that's where the name comes from. When I held the Doctor Grip, I was surprised; it didn't tire me at all. I thought it might be better if it were a bit thicker, so I tried various sizes, and as a result, this 13.

They said 0.8 mm was good, and at that time, that thickness became popular. Around this time, the term ergonomics started to become popular in stationery.

It was around this time that research began on what kind of writing instruments are easy to use or have less strain.

Yes, various stationery manufacturers began to develop sharp pencils based on ergonomics.

For example, this one was created to make the grip even softer.

Do you know this one? I had it. Oh, I had it. This part is squishy, isn't it?

This material was originally created to absorb shock by being used in the soles of shoes.

By applying that material to pens,

it was thought that it would make holding the pen easier on the hand.

Additionally, around this time, non-locking mechanisms for extending the lead began to attract attention.

For example, there were side-knock types and slide types.

This lead extension method is interesting because it comes out when you bend it.