Fudepen

Japanese fudepen and its different brush strokes

Afudepen(Bút ペン),also known as abrush pen,is a cartridge-basedwriting implementused inEast Asian calligraphy;it is, in essence, anink brushanalogue to afountain pen.

Overview

The fudepen was invented by Sailor Fountain Pen Co. Ltd. in 1972, butKuretake Co. Ltd.made it commercially successful with their release in 1973. Kuretake developed their fudepen through the application of felt-tip pen technology, after plans to export felt-tip pens were disrupted by the sudden appreciation ofJapanese Yendue to theNixon Shock.Meanwhile,Pentel,the original manufacturer of felt-tip pens, introduced their own fudepen in 1976, and became one of the earliest brands to adopt proper nylon bristles. Pentel would introduce the 'Pocket Brush' in 2010 as a pocket-safe alternative to their beloved fudepen. The 'Pocket Brush' used replaceable waterproof ink cartridges in a similar vein tofountain pens.The size of the 'Pocket Brush' eventually became the de-facto standard for all fudepens that followed it.

Fudepens (designed and recommended forcalligraphy) have also gained popularity amongcomic bookartists, who choose them to ink their works instead ofdip pensor traditionalbrushes.One of those artists using a fudepen (specifically a Pentel one) was the American comic book artistNeal Adams.

Another two Japanese brands,SakuraandTombow,manufacture and sell brush-tipmarkers,named "brush pens" by themselves, although unlike Pentel or Kuretake products, Sakura's and Tombow's don't use the same type of ink and do not use refillable cartridges.