Uni Pencil, 6B, Set of 12 with Eraser

Uni pencils have been a popular and sought-after product since their 1958 launch, and as the decades have passed, they've become both a design icon and a ubiquitous tool in Japanese classrooms and offices. Both Mitsubishi's ultra-premium Hi-Uni pencil and its student-grade Uni Star pencil are derivatives of this original design. Mitsubishi commissioned famed designer Yoshio Akioka, who also designed the well-known Asakaze Blue Train, to lead the Uni project, and the resulting design is a midcentury classic. Uni pencils feature extremely consistent graphite, capable of making dark and distinct marks even with harder grades. Point retention is very good, not quite as supernatural as that of the more expensive Hi-Uni pencil (introduced in 1966), but still longer-wearing than 95% of pencils sold today. The core is somewhat slicker than Hi-Uni graphite, which means Uni moves faster across the page. That can be an advantage for rapid note-taking or five-minute sketches, but in our experience