im not used to this forum yet so im not sure if this is the right section for this

well i started with regular ball point pens but soon realized that they wrote too think to be able to write clearly..

so as to not be wasteful i only use aquadoodle when im reviewing on revTK.. im sure im the only one here who uses a children's toy for practice.. its just so convenient.. i mean all it is is water and by the time i fill up the page i just flip the thing over and by then the other side is dry and ready to go.. no mess no fussing around trying to find new pieces of paper.. but in the end its just not as satisfying as being able to go and see my work on paper..

so then i was using a brush.. and it was very inconvenient.. i had to have ink and i always had to wait for it to dry (however it did allow me to write thinner lines so my writing was actually legible)

then i discovered *elmers paintastics.. they are brushpens.. they are sooo convenient.. depending on the amount of pressure i put on the brush i can write super thin lines or thick lines.. of course i also am so childish and love the way you can use the white pen to change the colors.. im wondering why the other brush pen type things i find in the local stores all seem to have very slow drying paint in them.. elmers is filled with instant drying ink.. plus they are very cheap.. what can i say i just dont have extra money lying around for expensive stuff right now.

i was wondering what you all use to write the kanji? ill be starting japanese college classes next semester and im thinking that i might look weird bringing children's brush pens to class.. are there pens that write very fine lines available? i would rather not use mechanical pencil because the scraping noise bothers me..

Personally, I bought an architect's mechanical pencil and some HB 0.7 lead and went to town in a graph paper notebook, using 4 squares for each kanji. It has worked well, thought lately, yeah, I've been dying to try some brush work and more beautiful writing.

I had bought a brush tip pen that I was using just for kicks (not in reviews), but my girlfriend stole it, so I can't give you a name at the moment

Cool question

I just use any scrap paper and whatever I got to write (ballpoint pen, wood pencils, even a carpenter pencil does the job). I think one should be able to write quickly and fluidly with whatever there is at hand at the moment, so I guess I'm not into all that calligraphy stuff -- I find the kanji learning a daunting enough task.

I use a 2B 0.5mm mechanical pencil or a fountain pen. It is possible to write perfectly fine with a ballpoint pen (most Japanese people do afterall), but personally I feel that they don't give a nice feeling on paper and end up cramping my hand because I press too hard. I don't like standard HB pencil lead as it is too hard and ends up feeling a lot like writing with a ballpoint pen. It doesn't have that smooth flow of 2B (or a fountain pen).

I also have a Pentel brushpen, but I don't use it much since it's not practical for normal writing and too slow for practice writing without resorting to cursive. I want to play with it more though after my girlfriend showed off with it (she holds a high ranking in 書道).

Pilot V5 liquid ink needle-point pen.

Whatever I have next to me, it makes no big difference to me. I did train using 筆ペン in Japan though. Great for making good looking kanji, horrible for actual writing

I just use a regular #2 pencil (very sharp) and some blank computer printer paper.

I'm going to have to second the recommendations for a .5 mm mechanical pencil and graph paper. EEt werkz fer meeeee...

I recommend the Sharpie pen. It has the look and feel of a felt tip marker but let's you write like a pen. Pack of 2 is $4. Each pen lasts me about 3 weeks.

http://www.sharpie.com/enUS/Product/Sharpie_Pen.html

HB pencils. I hate mechanical pencils, something about the angle I write at always snaps the lead.

A feather quill made from the feathers of demons, dipped in the blood of virgins.

But when that's not handy I'll use a number 2 pencil.

Gel pen

flows better than ball point

Jarvik7 Wrote:I use a 2B 0.5mm mechanical pencil or a fountain pen. It is possible to write perfectly fine with a ballpoint pen (most Japanese people do afterall), but personally I feel that they don't give a nice feeling on paper and end up cramping my hand because I press too hard. I don't like standard HB pencil lead as it is too hard and ends up feeling a lot like writing with a ballpoint pen. It doesn't have that smooth flow of 2B (or a fountain pen).

I also have a Pentel brushpen, but I don't use it much since it's not practical for normal writing and too slow for practice writing without resorting to cursive. I want to play with it more though after my girlfriend showed off with it (she holds a high ranking in 書道).

hmm well i would like to try a fountain pen.. ive been looking into ballpoint pens.. it seems that most of the ones sold in japan are supposed to have finer tips than the ones i get (i prefer uniball signo pens).. according to the japanese woman i spoke to today (one of the few ive actually encountered in real life) said that the average thickness of the ordinary ballpoint pens she has encountered here has been much thicker than the ones that are most popular in japan.. weird.. i suppose ill have to look for one thats labeled fine instead of the standard medium.. and my uniball pens do way heavier lines than most pens.. which was one of the reasons i like them for english (also the ink really flows so i never had to press down hard)..
i wasnt really aware that there were finer pens until today.. i figured the BIC ones were as fine as they got.. i didnt realize they even said medium on the side..

pentel.. wow i just checked some out online.. they look sooo much more adult looking than my children's brush pens (more adult looking=less embarrassing) they look finer too.. the brush part is definitely smaller on the pentel ones i looked at..

oooo the site that had the pentel pens had water brush pen things.. i bet that would work well on my aquadoodle.. go ahead and make fun.. you know you want to.. an adult playing with a toddler toy and using it to practice kanji on is indeed funny..

like i said i would rather not use pencil.. for as long as i can remember the sounds of both pencils on paper and the sound of chalk on blackboards have given me goosebumps and a very uncomfortable tense feeling

graph paper is a good idea.. i went out and bought a composition book thats all graph paper inside today.. the squares are tiny so i guess ill have to do 4 boxes per kanji.. i wish i could find yellow graph paper.. ever since someone here told me that colored paper could cut down on the glare that agitates my dyslexia ive been using legal pads (and it actually works)..
hmm perhaps if i can find a shade of colored computer paper i like maybe i could print out the graph paper..


ill have to look into that sharpey pen.. it says it wont bleed through the paper.. in all my time ive never seen them come out with something that doesnt bleed through..

its interesting to see what everyone uses and how different things work for different people

.

Jen_Ai_Chan Wrote:I use a Made-in-Mexico Blue BIC pen and write on the blank parts of envelopes that my bills arrive in.

Once I get confident enough, I'll start using a brush and ink on rice paper. I'm still learning how to properly grind the ink; my ink is still full of little bubbles, which does not look too great on paper after drying.

There is a middle-ground...

Sailor Profit brush pen. Cheap and refillable with Sailor's fountain pen ink refills.

That, or a finger in the air.

I use whatever is on hand; a mitsubishi PIN 水性 FOR PRO (PIN-102) today. I like other pens too, but pencil is fine. For reviews, just something that leaves a mark long enough to make sure I have all the component parts pieced together properly.
I will not use a brush for my reviews anymore, or I become too concerned with how the characters look, and take too long. A brush is really not helpful unless you want to practice writing carefully and beautifully. Anyone writing out all their reviews in any form will end up with above-average handwriting, I believe.
Brush-writing is a whole different thing from pen-writing. I suggest you stay away from it until you can find a teacher or at least watch some videos.

I bet a lot of people answering here double checked because I can't believe you go around with all this precise information, I just use a pencil (is yellow that's all I can tell you about it) and I used to use some nice markers but I ran out of them.

I use a felt tip, I just like to see Kanji in vivid colours, also the fact that you don't have to push down as hard makes them easier to control, and I've even worked out a way of varying the angle of the felt tip to the paper in order to emulate the "brush stroke calligraphy font".

I use one of a selection of different brush pens that I have with me pretty much always. Whenever I see a new sort of brush pen in a shop somewhere (which is not very often outside of Japan), I buy it. Some are real brushes and some are just sort of felt-tips that imitate a brush. I enjoy experimenting with all the different brush types and some of them, even the real cheap ones, write beautifully. Plus I love the way the kanjis look when written this way.

One reason I use the brush pens is that my handwriting sucks. If I use a normal pen or a pencil the characters are usually ugly and misshapen, but with a brush pen they look much better.

These all are very elaborate... I use my finger and write kanji on the stair-stepper when I work out.. Otherwise, I'm partial to a golf pencil I got at a putt-putt golf place.

r3dragon Wrote:These all are very elaborate... I use my finger and write kanji on the stair-stepper when I work out.. Otherwise, I'm partial to a golf pencil I got at a putt-putt golf place.

I experimented with various writing implements and found what was best since I was writing several tens of pages worth of notes per day as a student, on top of kanji practice. Mechanical pencils and fountain pens are also more eco-friendly since you don't have to discard the husk every time it runs out.

a biro.. thats slowly running out of ink.. and its slowly breaking from the top so its only 3/4 length i may have to borrow a new one from work...

i did use a good quality parker ballpoint but it ran out of ink and i duno if i can get a new cartridge close by.

I just can't get on with brush pens, as lovely as they are. I use gel roller pens usually, but I've started using my fountain pen again, only it's a bit too italic. I really enjoy writing kanji, but I haven't found the perfect instrument yet. I might try out some new fountain pens. Technical drawing type pens are nice generally, but tend to produce rather soulless kanji that don't look very natural. There's the perfect pen out there somewhere, and I hope to find it.

By the way, can anyone recommend a particularly nice shop for pens and writing materials in Tokyo?

Pangolin Wrote:By the way, can anyone recommend a particularly nice shop for pens and writing materials in Tokyo?

Kinokuniya, Loft, and Tokyu Hands carry a decent selection, at least in Osaka, although there are definitely going to be a lot of specialty shops out there somewhere.