Sailor Pen History: Kure, 1911 and the 21k Gold Nib
Sailor began in February 1911, when Kyugoro Sakata started making 14-karat gold fountain-pen nibs in Kure, Hiroshima. It took the name The Sailor Pen Co., Ltd. in 1960, launched 21-karat nibs in 1969 and the Profit pen in 1981, and has been part of Tokyo's PLUS group since May 23, 2022.
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Key takeaways
- Kyugoro Sakata, born in 1883, founded the Sakata workshop in Kure in February 1911 and named his pens Sailor after the naval port, according to Sailor's Japanese history.
- Sailor says it sold Japan's first domestic ballpoint on February 9, 1948, at 300 yen; the 500 pens a Tokyo department store stocked sold out at once.
- Sailor launched 21-karat gold nibs in 1969 and still makes them; the Profit followed in 1981 and the Pro Gear and King Profit in 2003.
- Nib grinders Gunichi Koyama and Nobuyoshi Nagahara kept Sailor's founding-era grind alive; Nagahara revived it as the Naginata-togi around 1991, and it went on sale in 2000.
- Sailor moved its registered head office back to its Kure factory in April 2021, finished a new fountain-pen factory building there in October 2022, and has had PLUS as its parent since May 23, 2022.
Sailor is the pen maker that still sharpens its nibs in the naval port where it started. Every date below comes from Sailor’s own Japanese pages: its company timeline, its illustrated history, its founder’s biography and its interviews with nib grinders, translated by us.
What is the history of Sailor pens?
Sailor began in 1911 as Kyugoro Sakata’s workshop for gold fountain-pen nibs in Kure, Hiroshima, and grew into The Sailor Pen Co., Ltd., the maker of 21-karat nibs, the Profit and the Pro Gear. It took its present name in May 1960 and has been listed in Tokyo since 1961.
Sailor’s 2022 regulatory filing names PLUS Corporation as its parent from May 23, 2022. How that happened is told in our story on PLUS, Sailor and Pentel, so this page stays with the pens.
Sailor timeline: 1911 to 2023
The story runs from a hand-cranked nib roller in 1911 to a new fountain-pen factory building in Kure in 2022. Dates are from Sailor’s Japanese history pages.
| Date | Event | Source |
|---|---|---|
| February 1911 | Kyugoro Sakata starts making 14k gold nibs in Inari-machi, Kure | Sailor history |
| May 27, 1926 | The Prince Regent visits the Hamada-cho factory; the day becomes Sailor’s anniversary | Sailor illustrated history |
| August 1932 | Incorporated as Sailor Mannenhitsu Sakata Seisakusho | Sailor history |
| April 1939 | Tenno factory built outside Kure | Sailor history |
| August 1945 | Two Kure factories lost in the war; rebuilding starts at Tenno | Sailor history |
| February 9, 1948 | Sailor Ball Point Pen, which Sailor calls Japan’s first domestic ballpoint | Sailor illustrated history |
| 1954 | Cartridge fountain pen developed and patented | Sailor history topic |
| May 1960 | Renamed The Sailor Pen Co., Ltd. | Sailor history |
| 1969 | 21-karat gold nibs launched; robot-machine business starts | Sailor illustrated history |
| 1981 | Profit fountain pen | Sailor illustrated history |
| 1994 | Pen Clinic in-store nib service starts in earnest | Sailor illustrated history |
| 2000 | Profit Naginata-togi and the left-handed Profit Lefty | Sailor illustrated history |
| 2003 | Professional Gear and King Profit | Sailor illustrated history |
| May 2011 | 100th anniversary | Sailor history |
| April 2021 | Registered head office moves back to the Kure factory | Sailor history |
| May 23, 2022 | PLUS Corporation becomes Sailor’s parent | Sailor EDINET filing |
| October 2022 | New fountain-pen factory building finished in Kure | Sailor history |
Who founded Sailor, and why “Sailor”?
Kyugoro Sakata, a stationery metalworker from Okayama, founded Sailor after seeing a fountain pen for the first time and deciding to make one himself. Sailor’s founder page says he was born on January 5, 1883 and moved to Kure at 14 to help in his elder brother’s metal-stationery workshop.
After the Russo-Japanese War, a friend back from study in Britain showed him a fountain pen. Sakata later wrote that he could not put into words how it thrilled him, and in 1911 he set up the Sakata workshop in Kure to make Japan’s first domestic 14k gold nibs.
He chose the name for the naval port and for exports by sea. A 1961 biography that Sailor quotes adds a second reason: many sailors matter more than one admiral. The first trademark showed a sailor sitting astride an anchor, and an anchor is still on Sailor’s pens.
What did Sailor make first in Japan?
Sailor claims several Japanese firsts after the war: the first domestic ballpoint in 1948, the first mass-produced injection-molded fountain pen and an early cartridge pen. Its illustrated history says the Sailor Ball Point Pen went on sale on February 9, 1948 at 300 yen, and the 500 a Tokyo department store stocked sold out at once.
The plastic injection-molded fountain pen, priced at 250 yen, started Japan’s era of mass-produced pens, according to Sailor. In 1954 Sailor developed and patented a cartridge fountain pen.
Lighter products followed. The Sailor Mini of 1963 fit a shirt pocket, the fude pen of the early 1970s sold 3 million in its first New Year’s card season, and the Candy pen of 1976 passed 15 million by 1981.
When did Sailor start making 21-karat nibs?
In 1969, and Sailor says it still insists on them. Most gold nibs are 14k or 18k; Sailor’s 2021 page says its 21k alloy is springier, so the slit stays closed under pressure and the ink keeps flowing.
The Profit of 1981 became the flagship that carries those nibs. Sailor calls it a long seller of more than 30 years; the Professional Gear and the top King Profit joined it in 2003. Our Sailor Pro Gear Slim guide covers today’s smaller Pro Gear.
In 2025 Sailor added the steel-nib Profit Casual L, sold in the US as the 1911 Casual L.
Sailor’s site says readers of the US magazine Pen World voted its 21k and 14k nibs the smoothest-writing for six years in a row by 2023. That is a reader poll, not a test.
Who are Sailor’s nib artisans?
Sailor credits named nib grinders with keeping its hand-ground nibs alive: Gunichi Koyama, Nobuyoshi Nagahara and, today, craftsmen in Kure and Tokyo. Its Naginata-togi interview says the grind dates from the 1911 founding, faded after the war when nib work was mechanized, and survived through Koyama and Nagahara.
Around 1991 Nagahara reworked the old grind so a pen could write even when tilted, and it became the modern Naginata-togi, launched on the Profit in 2000. A Naginata-togi nib writes broad when laid low and fine when upright, which suits the strokes of Japanese characters.
Nagahara also began testing a fountain pen for brush-style lettering in 1974–75, Sailor says, which led to the bent-nib fude de mannen of 1995; see our Sailor Fude de Mannen guide. The Pen Clinic, where grinders adjust customers’ nibs in stores, started in earnest in 1994. Our nib-making story explains the grinding itself.
How has Sailor changed since 2015?
Sailor has added new inks and fountain-pen ranges, moved its registered office back to Kure and come under the PLUS group. Its timeline lists STORiA pigment inks (2015), the SHIKIORI range (2017), 100-color Ink Studio bottles (2018) and a new logo in October 2020.
In April 2021 Sailor moved its registered head office to the Hiroshima factory in Kure to “return to the origin of making things”, and in October 2022 it finished a new building there mainly for fountain pens. Our guides include its Shikiori Yama-dori and Kiwa-guro inks.
PLUS converted a bond into shares and became Sailor’s parent on May 23, 2022, but Sailor stays a separately listed company. Our ownership overview lists the other groups.
What couldn’t we confirm?
Sailor’s own pages disagree on a few dates, and one of its firsts is claimed by Pilot too. Sailor says it made Japan’s first domestic 14k nibs from 1911, while Pilot’s founding story says Ryosuke Namiki finished Japan’s first domestic 14k nib in 1916; see our Pilot history. We report both claims and don’t judge between them.
Sailor’s illustrated history dates the fude pen to 1972 and the injection-molded pen to 1949; its timeline says January 1973 for the fude pen, and its history topic says 1948 for the molded pen. The exact day, February 11, 1911, comes from Sailor’s company outline; its timeline gives only the month. Our Japan stationery story places Sailor among the other Japanese makers.
Frequently asked questions
Who founded Sailor pens?
Kyugoro Sakata (1883–1961). Sailor's founder page says he came to Kure at 14 to help in his brother's metal-stationery workshop, saw his first fountain pen when a friend brought one back from Britain after the Russo-Japanese War, and founded the Sakata workshop in Kure in 1911.
Why is Sailor's anniversary on May 27 if it was founded in February?
Because of a royal visit. Sailor's history page says the Prince Regent, later Emperor Showa, toured its Hamada-cho factory in Kure on May 27, 1926, and the company made that day its founding anniversary. It marked its 100th anniversary on May 27, 2011.
Why does Sailor use 21-karat gold nibs?
Sailor says its 21k nib is springier than the 14k and 18k nibs most makers use, so the slit doesn't spread under heavy pressure and the ink doesn't skip. It has made 21k nibs since 1969 and still sells 14k nibs alongside them.
What is a Naginata-togi nib?
Sailor's special grind for Japanese characters: a larger tipping ground so the pen writes a broad line when held low and a fine line when held upright. Sailor says the name comes from the naginata, a curved-blade polearm.
Where are Sailor nibs made?
At Sailor's Hiroshima factory in Tenno, Kure, which was called the Tenno factory until March 2021. Sailor says one craftsman also grinds Naginata-togi nibs in three widths at its Tokyo office, while other special nibs, which need several machines, are made in Kure.
What was the Sailor Candy pen?
A colorful 1976 fountain pen priced at 600 yen. Sailor says its eight body colors and ten ink colors made it a hit with junior-high and high-school girls, and it passed 15 million pens by the end of 1981. Sailor reissued it as the Clear Candy in 2011.
Does Sailor make anything besides pens?
Yes. Since 1969 Sailor has built robots that take molded parts out of injection-molding machines, run by its robot equipment division. It also sells ink, markers, correction pens and the Dokodemo Sheet, a cling film that works as a whiteboard.
Sources
- Sailor Pen (Japanese): 沿革 (company history, February 1911 to December 2023)
- Sailor Pen (Japanese): セーラー万年筆のあゆみ (illustrated history: 1926 royal visit, 1948 ballpoint, 21k nib 1969, Profit 1981, Pen Clinic 1994)
- Sailor Pen (Japanese): 創業者・阪田久五郎について (founder Kyugoro Sakata, 1883–1961, and his 1961 50th-anniversary essay)
- Sailor Pen (Japanese): セーラー万年筆の歴史 (origin of the Sailor name, first 14k nibs, 1954 cartridge pen)
- Sailor Pen (Japanese): 唯一無二のペン先「長刀研ぎ」とは (Naginata-togi interview: Koyama, Nagahara, 1991 revival)
- Sailor Pen (Japanese): プロフェッショナルギア 2021-21K Limited Edition (110th anniversary; why 21k)
- Sailor Pen (Japanese): 臨時報告書 on change of parent company, filed May 30, 2022 (EDINET PDF)
- Sailor Pen (Japanese): 会社概要 (company outline: founded February 11, 1911; incorporated August 14, 1932; 284 staff)
- Pilot (Japanese): 創業秘話 (Pilot's founding story: its own 'first domestic 14K nib' of 1916)