PRODUCT INSIGHTS
March 25, 2022
The name PILOT originated from the dream shared by our two founders as they spoke together on a boat.
The Dream of Two Founders Reaching Beyond the Sea
Let’s start with a question: when you hear the word “pilot,” what comes to mind first? For many, it is probably that of an airplane pilot.
But the origin of our company name, PILOT, has nothing to do with aviation. In this installment of Learn About Writing, we’ll explore the story behind the name and how it reflects the passionate dream and friendship shared by our two founders.
120 years ago, in the early 1900s, two young mariners shared their dreams passionately while at sea. They were Ryosuke Namiki and Masao Wada, who would later go on to found PILOT.
The two first met aboard a cargo ship bound for foreign shores. They quickly bonded and became shipmates, sailing the world’s oceans together. At that time, many ships calling at Japanese ports unloaded their cargo for import before leaving empty. Having witnessed this with their own eyes, they spoke enthusiastically about a dream of a future in which some day they would like to create something Japanese that the world would be proud to use.
After their journeys at sea, the two men followed different paths: Namiki as a professor at the Tokyo University of Mercantile Marine, his alma mater, and Wada a businessman in his hometown.
During a drawing class, Namiki used a tool known as a ruling pen to draw straight lines. However, this pen was difficult to use, as the ink supply mechanism was troublesome. With an inquisitive mind, Namiki worked to improve this mechanism in his small, self-made home lab, and he was awarded a patent for the invention of his own unique Namiki Ruling Pen that stored ink inside the shaft.
In the 1910s, foreign-made fountain pens were all the rage in Japan. Compared to ruling pens, fountain pen points were firm and resistant to abrasion, meaning they could be used for many years. Taking a colleague’s English-made fountain pen in hand, Namiki was filled with a renewed spirit of invention.
“I want to try and make a domestically produced Japanese fountain pen with minimal abrasion at the pen point like this foreign-made pen!”
Read on to learn about the origin of the PILOT name 〉〉〉Next page
The Spirit of Seafarers as Pilots of the Industry
Namiki immersed himself in his research to the point that he would forget to eat and sleep.
What extremely hard metal should be used at the end of the penpoint? And how can it be acquired?
Overwhelmed with a multitude of difficult problems, Namiki happened to notice the needle of a compass, an essential tool for sailors. This provided a major hint, allowing Namiki to discover that the hard metal used at the pen point was iridium. Had he not been a sailor himself, he might not have noticed this important clue and might have given up on his research.
After enduring countless hardships, he succeeded in welding the iridium alloy to the nib of a pen. The next challenge was to make a slit in the pen point to create a path for the ink to flow through. However, because the nib was extremely hard, it could not be cut as intended. At this point, his funds had run out.
Realizing he could go no further, Namiki reached out to Wada, with whom he had maintained his friendship after their time on the cargo ship together. Upon learning of his friend’s troubles, Wada sent Namiki a large sum of money immediately, allowing the halted research to press forward in earnest. In 1916, Namiki succeeded in producing the long-awaited purely domestic fountain pen.
“Let’s give this pen the name PILOT, as it’ll be a guiding presence in the industry!”
A marine pilot is someone who stands at the front of a large ship and guides it safely through narrow straits or harbors when navigation is difficult. In the shipping industry, this guide is simply called a “pilot.” Japan’s first purely domestic fountain pen was given the name PILOT Pen, expressing Namiki and Wada’s aspirations to become guiding figures within the industry, born from their experience as seafarers.
In 1918, Namiki and Wada established Namiki Manufacturing Co., Ltd. in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, launching full-scale production and sales of purely domestic fountain pens. Thanks to their outstanding quality, the PILOT brand became well known for fountain pens, and a few years later, overseas exports began as well.
More than two decades later, in 1938, the company name was changed to Pilot Pen Co., Ltd., then to Pilot Corporation in 1989, a name that remained the same in English but was updated in Japanese in 2003. The name “PILOT” carries with it the passion of its young founders, who set their sights beyond the sea more than a century ago.
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