Pilot (pen company)

Japanese pen manufacturer
It is the largest pen manufacturer in Japan, with competition globally from other pen companies like Japanese Pentel Co., Mitsubishi Pencil Co. (Uni ball), French Bic and American Paper Mate. Pilot has many 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 US. Namiki, Pilot's fountain pens with maki e lacquering designs, are made in the Hiratsuka factory.

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. In 2018 Pilot celebrated the company's 100th anniversary with a number of special pages to its website and special edition pens. In 2023, Pilot ended its forty year old partnership with Indian stationery company Luxor Writing Instruments, and is set to enter the Indian market individually.

In 1963, 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 (known as Cocoon in Japan), a popular entry level fountain pen. The Varsity is a disposable fountain pen that is pre loaded with ink, while the Prera is a smaller pocket pen. Other offerings include the Pilot Falcon, which has a semi flexible gold nib. The Kakuno, is a beginner fountain pen meant for children, that is often sold in fun colors, and has a smiley face on the fountain pen's nib. Some of Pilot’s higher end pens bear the name of "Custom" or "Custom Heritage" and a two or three digit number. "Custom" models are cigar shaped, while "Custom Heritage" models have flat tops and bottoms. The number is based on the year of introduction (from the foundation of the company; the Custom 74 was introduced in 1992) for models with two digits, while the third digit on models with three digits represents a list price when multiplied by ¥10,000 (the Custom 823 was introduced in 2000 when it cost ¥30,000).

Iroshizuku (15 ml, 50 ml): 24 kinds of themes of "beautiful scenery of Japan" (3 new colors added to the conventional 21 colors in November 2012). All are available as bottled inks. A number are also available in Pilot's proprietary cartridge format. Namiki: Pilot's basic line of ink. Some are available in bottles, all in Pilot's proprietary cartridge format. Parallel Mixable Color: A line of 12 colors, only available in Pilot's proprietary cartridge format. These cartridges are intended for use in the Pilot Parallel Pen, a calligraphy pen designed to mix the content of two different cartridges while writing.

Drawing ink (30ml, 350ml), securities ink (30ml): It is an ink for each application and is used with a pen or brush.

Pilot Corporation published some ecological facts about its pens in 2015. The most eco friendly is the Bottle 2 Pen (B2P) which is made of 90.4% recycled components. PET plastic from bottles are used for much of it, so it is sometimes nicknamed the 'PetPen' or 'PetBall'.