My pencil haul from my Thailand trip was mostly composed of obscure makes and models that most readers are likely to be unfamiliar with (outside of any Thai friends…sawadee krab!). However, I picked up one type of writing implement that every pencil-lover should be aware of, because it’s the one that kicked off the Japanese pencil industry over 100 years ago. I’m talking about the Mitsu-Bishi 9800, the oldest pencil that the company currently manufactures. This general-purpose pencil has since been overshadowed by the more fashionable offspring of the Mitsubishi/Tombow office supply arms race, including its own younger sibling: the Hi-Uni. However, this venerable mainstay continues to roll off the production line, and given the reputation Japanese pencils have for punching above their weight class, being relegated to a second-string utility role is hardly an indication of quality.

But first off, semantics: it it “Mitsu-Bishi” or “Mitsubishi”? The hyphenated version seems unusual to those of us who are used to seeing the household brand name spelled as one word. The company’s name is officially unhyphenated, and the brand written on the dozen-box of these same exact pencils is written in contracted form. But I’m going to go with Mitsu-Bishi. That’s what it says on the pencils, and that’s how I started writing this review, so I’m not going to go back and change them all now that I’m nearly finished. I’ll also talk more about the Mitsubishi brand and how the pencil-maker fits into that scheme later on in this blog post. Now, let’s talk about to the pencils!

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