Type Public KK Industry Stationery Products Writing instruments Headquarters Chūō, Tokyo, Japan Founded 1918 | Traded as TYO: 7846 Area served Worldwide Website pilotpen.com Founder Ryosuke Namiki | |
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CEO Hiromoto Watanabe (27 Mar 2009–) Stock price 7846 (TYO) JP¥ 4,645 -10.00 (-0.21%)17 Mar, 3:00 PM GMT+9 - Disclaimer Subsidiaries Pilot Corporation Of Europe Profiles | ||
Pilot Corporation (株式会社パイロットコーポレーション, Kabushiki Gaisha Pairotto Kōporēshon, TYO: 7846) is a Japanese pen manufacturer based in Tokyo, Japan. It produces writing instruments, stationery and jewellery, but is best known for its pens.
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It is the largest pen manufacturer in Japan, and has a large number of 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 USA. 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 found 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 - 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.
Fountain pens
In 1964, 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, a popular entry-level fountain pen.
Products
The following chart contains the Pilot product lines.