Mitsubishi make/made a LOT of pencils. If you were to gather up all the variations they have made in the last 50 years it would quite literally be hundreds and hundreds of models.  It’s for that reason that I have tended to avoid putting many of them on this blog.

I have collected lots of Japanese pencils over the years, although I have found of late that my interest in them has waned somewhat. I think the reason for this is quite simply because there are just far to many.

What I do still enjoy collecting is special, limited or anniversary editions.  I’ve added a few photos of some sets I have in my collection, which you don’t seem to come across much.  I’ve also added some pictures of more common anniversary sets, just because.

The first set is the Mitsubishi 100 year anniversary (which was 1987) Paulowina wood edition.  This is one of the nicest looking sets I think Mitsubishi have ever produced.  It is the complete package.

Paulownia appears to have a cultural significance in Japan – I read some interesting bits about it here.

According to wikipedia, Paulowina is known in Japanese as kiri. it is also known as the “princess tree”. Paulowina is the emblem of the office of prime minister, and also serves as the Government Seal of japan used by the Cabinet and the Government of Japan.

The outer sleeve is cardboard with a very nice ripple design.  It feels almost floral in look and I think it might be representing the blossoms of the tree.  The lettering on the front gives off a nice sophisticated look.

Under the slip case is a two-part Paulowina wood box.  You can already tell this is a pretty special edition.

The rear of the slip case has very little additional information, although we now know the pencils are HB grade.

The top of the box lifts off and we are presented with some fine wrapping paper with the same design as the slip-box.

Under the wrapping sits a dozen Mitsubishi pencils manufactured from the same Paulownia wood as the box. The eraser cover also mirrors the same design as the wrapping paper and the slip-case

The pencils are simplistic, with no lettering whatsoever.  I am in two minds; on one hand perhaps some simple gold stamping would have been nice, on the other, the lack of stamping keeps your focus on the fact that it’s the wood which is the star of the show here.

You can also see how the lip of the bottom half of the box allows the lid to sit snugly.

Do you have this box? Do you know anything more about it? I’ve asked Mitsubishi if they can get me any info on numbers produced etc. I’ll update if I get any more info!

Mitsubishi also produced a couple of other 100 year anniversary sets.  I doubt that I have all of them, but let’s look at the versions I do have.

The Uni set has a nice card slipcase with the watermill on the front.  Mitsubishi was founded with a factory that was watermill powered so the imagery does pop up from time to time.

Under the cardboard slip is a standard plastic Mitsubishi uni case.  As with a lot of the 12 pencil sets of this era, we get an eraser with holder.  The windmill features once again as a cardboard insert.

The pencils are your classic Unis, however, the have the ‘100 years limited edition’ stamping to set them apart.  Note the JIS logo on the case.

On the back of the slipcase we have the 100 year seal, which features on a number of 100 year sets.  This set was 960 Yen is 1987.  According to the web, this works out at about £4 in 1987.

Next up, we have three variations of essentially the same pencil.  For the 100 year anniversary, Mitsubishi recreated three of the pencils that made them a success.  My understanding was that these were originally produced for government office use.

The pencils are still in their cellophane wrap, making them extremely difficult to photograph, but hopefully you get the idea.

The three versions were 600 yen each, so a bit cheaper that the uni set released at the same time.  I really like the old-school wrap and string finishing.

Ok so that’s all for my 100 year sets.  I figured it would be nice to just show a few other sets while I’m here.

The first is the 60th edition of the Uni pencil.  These sets were released a couple of years ago.  I think it was around 2018 if I remember correctly.  The press release came out and there was a bit of a rush in Japan.  Luckily a friend was able to get me one of each box the day they hit stores.

The case is unusual.  It is really nicely made and we don’t tend to see Mitsubishi pencils in these kind of packages.

Not too dissimilar to the 100 year anniversary pencils, the uni 60th anniversary pencils have the anniversary stamping on the pencils.  All three boxes have the same pencils inside.

Next up we have the 130th anniversary set.  Mitsubishi also released a set very similar to this with some pencil caps, but I preferred to pick up the set with the notebook.  Note the waterwheel graphic again.

This time, Mitsubishi went with the hi-uni pencils.  Rather unfortunately they didn’t add any 130 years stamping.  You could get them stamped with your name on them, but I didn’t bother.

The book is a nice touch.  It’s pretty simple, but really nice and good quality.

Last up, we have not a Mitsubishi anniversary set, but a collaboration Mitsubishi did with Disney to celebrate Disney’s 90 year anniversary.  I’m not a huge Disney fan or anything but I really did like this set when it was released.  I think it sold out pretty quickly too.  You can normally still pick these up on eBay etc still, but I’m sure sellers command an aftermarket premium.

The cardboard slip case is made to look like an old book.  Pretty neat.  Inside is the standard hi-uni art set tin, but with some fun Disney graphics.  I like the Mickey gloves on the corners especially.

The insides of the outer cardboard case have some great graphics.  The Mickey logo at the top right is actually a cut-out which is then filled in when the tin is inside the case.

The pencils themselves have quite a lot of special stamping.  I don’t think I’ve seen a better presentation of the hi-uni ever.

The edition also comes with a set of limited edition postcards.

So there we are.  A bit of a show and tell. I know this is not everything Mitsubishi has made for anniversaries, but it’s the stuff I currently have.