Tombow Roller pens

Tombow History

1913 First founded in Tokyo as a pencil manufacturer by Harunosuke Ogawa. At that time it was named Harunosuke, after its founder.
1927 Tombow brand was first applied.
1939 Converted to two corporations respectively, and renamed as Tombow Pencil.
1946 Began to make pencil sharpener.
1951 Became a JIS authorized company for pencil making.
1952 Launched Homo pencil, the most superior pencil in Japan at the time.
1953 Marking pen was developed and launched into market.
1958 Developed new types of lead for technical drawing and lead holder. Began to make “dry-ink” (quick drying ink) pen and ballpoint pen. At this time, Tombow evolved from a pencil maker to a general stationery manufacturer.
1961 Became JIS authorized for making spare leads.
1964 JIS authorized for ballpoint pen making.
1967 Launched Mono 100 pencil, the highest quality pencil of the time, on the 35 anniversary of Tombow.
1969 Released “Mono” eraser.
1971 Launched “PIT” glue stick, the first of the kind in Japan.
1974 Released the first fluorescent line marker in Japan.
1979 Tombow Pen & Pencil GmbH was established in Koln, West Germany.
1981 Launched “Play Color”, a marking pen with wide range of colors.
1982 Launched “Prograph”, a multi purpose pen.
 Also introduced “Roll Pen”, a pen with pigment ink and a unique ink-feeding system.

1983 American Tombow Inc. was established in West Lake Village, California (now moved to Atlanta, GA).
1984 Launched “Monoball”, a water based ballpoint pen and “AB-T Dual Brush Pen”, a water based marker of 72 colors, later extended to variety of 144 colors.
1986 Launched “Zoom”, a series of gift pen, including water or oil based ballpoint pen and mechanical pencil.
1988 “Zoom 707 series” with ballpoint pen and mechanical pencil were chosen as the “Best of the Best” for its highest design quality by Haus Industrieform, Essen, Germany.  
1990 Developed “Surge”, a rollerball for "Design Collection".
1991 Developed “Zoom series” fountain pen.
1992 Launched “Mono White Tape YK”, the sideways correction tape.
1993 “Zoom Oceanic” ballpoint pen and mechanical pencil won second prize in the “Design Plus” award at the 1993 Frankfurt Premiere Show.
 Lauched colored glue stick.

1994 “Play Color 2” was introduced.
1996 Launched “K-Coat”, a twin tip highlighter featuring a collared tip, and “J-Ball”, a gel ink ballpoint pen.
1997 Released “Pit Tape”, an adhesive tape, in both permanent and removable type.
1998 Environment friendly eraser “ECONET” was introduced.
1999 The HB spare lead was improved consisted of 3 different HB grades.
 A water based highlighter “K-Coat a” with a single collared tip was introduced.

2000 New types of adhesive tape, “Pit Tape S”, available in both permanent and removable, were released.
 Tombow (Thailand) Co., Ltd acquired ISO9002 certificate.

2001 “Pit Tape S” won the "Design Plus" award (Frankfurt, Germany) for its excellent industrial design.
 Tombow Pencil Co., Ltd acquired ISO9001 certificate.

2002 Several new products were launched including “CT-PL” pen type correction tape, PVC-free eraser, “Pit Tape M”, refillable adhesive tape, ink charger for K-Coat highlighter, and more.
2003 Tombow Vietnam Ltd, the second overseas factory of Tombow, started its operation in October near Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
2004 Zoom 727, one of the new design pens, won "iF Design Award 2004", one of the best acknowledged design awards worldwide. Launched CT-YS, a sideways pen type correction tape.
2005 American Tombow was awarded for the 2005 Leadership Award/OPWA
 Acquired ISO14001 certificate.
 Launched BW-CIP(Tombow iO)
 Launched "Zoom 414", which won the iF Design Award 2006

2006 Launched short type eraser, "MONO-one" and extra fine point eraser, "MONO-zero".
 Launched "ZOOM 101", fountain pen/ballpoint pen/rollerball/ made only with genuine carbon fiber and duralumin.
 Design Collection ballpoint pen, "ZOOM 414" won the "reddot award", an international design award in Germany.

2007 Launched dot type glue tape, "PN-MSM" and smooth applying glue tape, "PN-MSF".
 Ballpoint pen with large clip, "P-Fit" won the "Good Design Award", a famous design award in Japan.

2008 July: Release of the super-slim and compact Zoom 717 ballpoint pen.
 October: Pressurized ballpoint pen Airpress and eraser holder Mono Zero receive the 2008 "Good Design" award.
 
2009 March: P-Fit Ballpoint pen receives the 2009 "reddot award".
 December: Ballpoint pen P-Fit, and eraser holder Mono Zero receive the 2010 "iF Design" award.

2010 March: Release of the MONO PGX Correction Tape, with an ultra fine particle correction membrane.
 April: Pressurized ballpoint pen Airpress and eraser holder "Mono Zero" receive the 2010 "Good Design" award.
 Release of the Petats adhesive tacks that allow easy removal, and applying without perforating the applying surface.
 September: Pressurized ballpoint pen Airpress receives the 2010 "Good Design" Award.
 December: Correction tape MONO YS and ballpoint pen for organizer Onbook receive the 2011 "iF Design award".
 
2011 March: Release of the"Body knock" type mechanical pencil Olno.
 July: Establishment of the subsidiary Tombow Pencil Dalian Co., Ltd in China.
 October: Release of the Petats adhesive tacks sheet type.
 Release of the MONO Air Touch eraser that allows to erase without applying a lot of pressure.
 Release of the MONO Dust Catch eraser that creates a very small amount of residues when erasing.
 November: Release of the Reporter Smart multicolor ballpoint pen with ultra low viscosity ink.
 "Body knock" type mechanical pencil Olno receives the 2011 "Good Design Award".
 The MONO eraser and the 8900 pencils receive the 2011 "Good Design, Long Life Design Award".
 
2013 Tombow will be celebrating the 100th anniversary of its foundation.

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