I'm using this crappy mechanical #2 and I'm starting to get the feeling that Japanese people use finer/harder lead when writing. I can't even imagine them ever having to use a traditional pencil.....it would have be to be sharpened like every 7 seconds. I've made it to part 2 with this thing but my thumb hurts like a bitch because I write too hard. Also I've noticed I hold my breath a lot when I'm writing but maybe it's because I'm left handed I dunno.

tl;dr #2 pencils suck

I bought a drafting pencil from the architecture section of my university's bookstore. It's a GraphGear 500 0.7. I use HB lead. I think proper equipment is essential and conducive to learning such a time intense thing as Japanese.

I use a pen rather than a pencil (a rollerball one that requires very little pressure to write with), since it's easier on my wrists as I've been having problems with tendinitis (not because of this). Be careful you're not doing any damage, if you know you tend to press too hard.

When I was learning Japanese calligraphy, my teacher forced us to use 6B pencils. It's much softer than #1.

By the way, I think the Japanese characters are supposed to be written larger than Latin alphabets. For example, the same article on the Japanese Wikipedia uses larger fonts than the English page.

I use a pilot pen 0.2mm (made in Japan ^^).

But to be honest, I wouldn't worry too much about your writing tool so long as you feel comfortable with it. My girlfriend is Chinese and she doesn't really care about what she writes with (just like someone who writes in English usually will write with whatever they want). The only difference is that with a less sharp writing tool, it might make your writing less neat and therefore harder for natives to read but that's just speculation.

0.5 Pentel Twist-Erase III http://www.pentel.com/catalog_product.php?id=719

if you look at people who write and erase all day long like math or physics graduate students (in my case), you find many people using this baby ;-)

Just whatever pen is closest to me. Usually ends up being a cheap $2 ballpoint

In regards to the OP:

Harder pencil leads are harder to draw nice looking characters with. The softer you go, the more brushlike the feeling is. Personally I use 2B 0.5mm in a cheap ($12) drafting mechanical pencil (when I use pencil). Anything softer smudges too much.

Normally I use a wet italic fountain pen for practice and a wet fine-point fountain pen for normal writing though. Wet makes nice dark & bold characters, but I go through a lot of ink. When I took notes in classes I had to fill my normal fountain pen every other day.

I can't stand ballpoint pens and don't own any, even for normal English writing.

There was a Suiensaa episode about this. You can do calligraphy and stuff with regular wooden pencils but not mechanical pencils. They said 「鉛筆とは、筆である。」
But actually, Japanese people write with anything. Not everyone cares about super great handwriting all the time.

As far as being good on your hand, I have a feeling that a large thick pencil is easier on the hand than a normal sized one. Think those jumbo crayons that little kids use.

My theory on this comes from playing my nintendo ds, so take it as you will. If I use a normal pen sized stylus, or that crappy little tiny thing that comes with the ds, then my hand will get cramped after a while. However I have a big jumbo sized stylus as well, and my hand NEVER cramps when I use it.

Of course, I have never seen a large mechanical pencil before...

I use a white board marker & white board so I don't feel like I'm just throwing out tons of paper everyday. But I noticed lately my writing in pen/pencil is kind of rusty every since I've adapted to the flow of the marker, so I'm going to switch back for a little bit. I'll probably just use a regular pencil or a fine point pen.

pilot

Whatever's closest to me. Japanese is easy to write with uni-ball eye micro pens.

I use a 0.5 mechanical pencil. 0.7 usually feels too thick for writing complicated kanji within the paper lines.
I don't like writing with pens. They feel sloppy and imprecise compared to pencils(and of course, I can't erase ink)

yukamina Wrote:They feel sloppy and imprecise compared to pencils(and of course, I can't erase ink)

Erasable ink exists. I even have erasable highlighters (both friction based and chemical reaction based).

ffff

Jarvik7 Wrote:

yukamina Wrote:They feel sloppy and imprecise compared to pencils(and of course, I can't erase ink)

Erasable ink exists. I even have erasable highlighters (both friction based and chemical reaction based).

I don't know how sophisticated it gets, but the erasable pens I've used before don't feel/look as good a regular ballpoints let alone pencils. One thing I like about pencils is that they have line weight and texture. The sketcher in me is speaking out here too ^_^;
I'm sure there's some nice pens out there, but I don't care enough to bother when I'm satisfied with mechanical pencils.

kanjiwarrior Wrote:I use a Wacom stylus, no wasted ink/graphite or paper.

I just use scrap paper for practice so no waste there. I use fountain pens (with bottled ink instead of refills) so there is also very little waste (no discarded carts or pens). In any case I can't imagine regularly practicing writing where you can't even directly see your output (unless you have an LCD tablet, $$).

I actually just sold my tablet for $15. It was com-port & PS/2 based so it didn't work on any computer I own anyways though

Zarxrax Wrote:Of course, I have never seen a large mechanical pencil before...

There are tons out there. Check out any decently stocked supply store. They are normally cheap plastic though.

Squintox Wrote:Whatever's closest to me. Japanese is easy to write with uni-ball eye micro pens.

It's not so much about "easy to write" as it is about comfort and feel. You can make nice looking characters with a stick and some mud if you had to. People who write a lot tend to end up fussy about their writing implements, either to improve the feel (make it enjoyable) or just to get rid of hand cramping.

Switching from HB to 2B pencils made a huge difference when I was in university and had to churn out 5 pages of essays in a 2hr final or take 20+ pages of notes/day. I went from a majorly cramped hand to zero discomfort. Going from ballpoint to gel or even better fountain pen makes a similar difference.

Using an italic fountain pen when practicing lets me make more brush-looking characters, without the hassle of actually using a brush/brushpen (90 degree writing angle & moving whole arm to write becomes a pain).

Jarvik7 Wrote:

kanjiwarrior Wrote:I use a Wacom stylus, no wasted ink/graphite or paper.

I just use scrap paper for practice so no waste there. I use fountain pens (with bottled ink instead of refills) so there is also very little waste (no discarded carts or pens). In any case I can't imagine regularly practicing writing where you can't even directly see your output (unless you have an LCD tablet, $$).

It's very easy to get used to, the cursor moves when I move the stylus, I can see where the cursor is. The program I use to review kanji is actually designed to mimic drawing, so it feels very very natural. I switch back and forth between a paper sketchbook and the computer when I do digital art and I never have any problems. The only thing I had to do with Kanji is NOT use the undo function, because I started to try to undo in the real world too much, so now I just cross it out.

kanjiwarrior Wrote:The only thing I had to do with Kanji is NOT use the undo function, because I started to try to undo in the real world too much, so now I just cross it out.

Lmao. That's happened to me too after drawing with my tablet and using undo constantly.

kanjiwarrior Wrote:The only thing I had to do with Kanji is NOT use the undo function, because I started to try to undo in the real world too much, so now I just cross it out.

I write over everything. I am already a seasoned pro at turning English letters into other English letters.

I actually write with my Cross fountain pen! I'm the only person I know who uses one, but the flow is so good, it is really comfy to write with! The only thing is, with complicated charaters, it can look a bit blurry/squished ... the line is quite thick of course! However, in general it looks fine! There is a photo on my blog, at the bottom of my Kanji Strategy page! If I were using a pencil, it'd have to be a propelling one rather than a traditional one - sharpening would be a nightmare!!