Uni Kura Toga Mechanical Pencil

Uni KuraToga writing sample

My pal Brad over at Pen Addict always refers to the Uni Kuru Toga mechanical pencil as his pencil of choice so I finally decided I’d give it a try. The feature that makes this mechanical pencil unique is a automatic lead rotation so that you do not have to continually alter your grip to avoid getting a wide chisel effect.

The pencil body is plastic painted to look metallic and the grip area is clear plastic with some ridges to aid in gripping. There is a small ring of rubber just above the tip that must be designed to keep your fingers from slipping on the plastic body into the tip writing area. Overall, I love the color but this is not the most comfortable pencil for long session writing. For that, I would prefer the Pilot Opt with its large rubberized grip area.

The Kuru Toga pencil includes a small white plastic eraser under the translucent cap which works well and the cap keeps the eraser clean and free from bottom-of-the-bag debris.

Uni KuraToga close-up

There is a spring-loaded clutch in the pencil that is triggered every time you lift the pencil helping to rotate the lead to a perfect point as you write. I test drove the 0.5mm green model though there are 0.3mm lead versions of the pencil as well for an even finer line which would be good to tight technical drawings or other detailed work.

Uni KuraToga close-up

The image above is a writing sample from the Kuru Toga. There does seem to be an overall consistency in the line widths. I worked hard not to adjust my grip on the pencil while I was writing. Its a hard habit to break.

Zebra pencil writing close-up

This is a sample of my writing using a standard big-box mechanical pencil with a 0.5mm lead. I wrote with this without rotating the pencil while I wrote an lo and behold, the writing does get much thicker and more indistinct as a result of the pencil lead wearing into a chisel point.

If a consistent line width with your pencil is an issue, then the Kuru Toga line is definitely the answer. Available from JetPens for $7.50 for either the 0.5mm or 0.3mm versions.

Written by

0 comments / Add your comment below

  1. I have a couple of these and they really are superb bits of kit. As well as the 9 degree rotation for each touch down, I am impressed by the lead, smoother than anything I have ever written with pencilwise

  2. I have the metal version of this and love it. The weight is good and the grip is knurled. I use it more for sketching so the chisel is not a problem for me.

  3. All I could think while reading your review was “OH MY I WANT THAT PENCIL COLOR” because the green is so perfect and is very much perfect for you, I think! I still have a hard time not adjusting my grip with this pencil. It’s weird to not turn the pencil!

  4. Thanks for the review. These have been on my radar for a while, especially after seeing them on Dave’s Mechanical Pencils. I’ll have to order some to see for myself.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.