Pilot (pen company)
It is the largest pen manufacturer in Japan, with competition globally from other pen companies like Japanese Pentel Co., Mitsubishi Pencil Co. (Uni-ball) and American Paper Mate. Pilot has many subsidiaries throughout the world, including in the Philippines, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Brazil, South Africa, Germany and France. Most Pilot pens are made in Japan, France and the US. Namiki, Pilot's fountain pens with maki-e lacquering designs, are made in the Hiratsuka factory. History. In 1915, Ryōsuke Namiki (並木良輔), a professor from Tokyo Nautical College in Japan, left his job to find a  small factory near Tokyo to produce gold pen nibs. In 1916, Namiki expanded his product line and became a full-fledged manufacturer of writing instruments. The Pilot Pen Corporation was founded by Ryosuke Namiki with Masao Wada (和田正雄) in 1918 under the name of the Namiki Manufacturing Company. In 1926 it established overseas offices in Malaysia, Singapore, Boston, London and Shanghai. In 1938 the name of the company changed to the Pilot Pen Co., Ltd. It was again renamed in 1950 as the Pilot Ink Company, Ltd. In 1954 a branch was opened in Brazil. From 1972 to 1999 various  sub-companies were formed to cover the various branches, and the collective name for these is Pilot Corporation. More recently, Pilot began the BeGreen line—pens and pencils composed of mostly recycled content. In 1995 and 1996, they raced a Ferrari F40 LM at the 24 Hours Of Le Mans. The racing team that entered the F40 LM was at first named Pilot-Aldix Racing, but was soon named under Pilot Pen Racing and Pilot Racing. It won at the 4 Hours of Anderstorp and finished 12th at Le Mans. In 2018 Pilot celebrated the company's 100th anniversary with  a number of special pages to its website and special edition pens. Products. Fountain pens. In 1963, Pilot Corporation introduced the "Capless". Unlike other fountain pens during its time, the Pilot Capless featured a fully retractable nib. The "Capless" was later reintroduced as the "Vanishing Point" in 1972. In 2012, the company released the "Metropolitan" (known as "Cocoon" in Japan), a popular entry-level fountain pen. The "Varsity" is a disposable fountain pen that is pre-loaded with ink, while the "Prera" is a smaller pocket pen. Other offerings include the Pilot "Falcon", which has a semi-flexible gold nib . Some of Pilot’s higher-end pens bear the name of ""Custom"" or ""Custom Heritage"" and a two or three digit number. "Custom" models are cigar-shaped, while "Custom Heritage" models have flat tops and bottoms. The number is based on the year of introduction (from the foundation of the company—the "Custom 74" was introduced in 1992) for models with two digits, while the third digit on models with three digits represents a list price when multiplied by ¥10,000 (the "Custom 823" was introduced in 2000 and cost ¥30,000 at the time of introduction). Pens from recycled  bottles. Pilot Corporation published some ecological facts about its pens in 2015. The most eco-friendly is the Bottle-2-Pen (B2P) which is made of 90.4% recycled components. PET plastic from bottles are used for much of it, so it is sometimes nicknamed the 'PetPen' or 'PetBall'. Others. The brand manufactures and commercialises a wide range of products under its own name and other brands, such as "FriXion" (erasable ink gel pens), "Acroball" (hybrid ink ballpoint pens); "Pintor"; "B2P" and "Begreen" (both, products with recycled components). Sub brands include: "Better", "Rex-Grip", "Super Grip G" (oil-based ballpoint); "Precise", "Hi -Tecpoint" (rollerballs); "Hi-Tec-C", "G-2", "Juice" (or "Pop'lol") (gel pens); and "Coleto" (customizable multi-pen system); "Mogulair", "Doctor Grip" series, "Super Grip", "Fure Fure" (2020) series (mechanical pencils); "Automac" (mechanical pencil equipped with automatic function); "S" series: "S3", "S5", "S10", "S20", "S30" (drafting pencils). The following table contains the Pilot product lines in Asia, Europe, and North and South America, as of December 2019: