After over eight months of fairly regular use, I’m still not completely sure what I think about the MUJI Fountain Pen. But I mostly like it. Mostly.
The outside of the MUJI Fountain Pen.
I don’t like the sandblasted texture, which feels a bit like scratching your fingers across a chalkboard the first time you touch it. However, the texture does a great job of hiding finger prints and absorbing dings and scratches.
The tiny clip on the tiny cap looks like a joke, but it’s tight and fits most shirt pockets (if you’re a men’s L or XL anyway) but the pen is long enough that the small clip causes the bottom to swing around too much.
I don’t like the rubberized finials as they only seem to get dark and dingy looking.
Pulling the cap on and off is annoying and, at first, gives you more of that fingernails on a chalkboard feeling. On the other hand, once it’s posted, it’s secure and won’t fall out.
The tube-in-a-tube design is very strange, but it does keep the fingers away from the nib, although it forces you to keep your fingers back farther than you may find comfortable.
Close up of the tube-in-a-tube design, the Schmidt nib, and the knurling.
The knurling is slippery at first, which is odd, but I’ve gotten used to it.
In the end, what sells this pen is the Schmidt nib. It’s smooth and just wet enough that it can leave impressive marks on student exams without bleeding through the paper. I’ve marked hundreds of exams and essays with it and always miss it when I’m forced to use something else. It could just be that I like Parker Quink red ink, which is dark and not pink like a lot of other reds, or that I just like the notion of marking exams with a fountain pen.
The nib does seem a bit small and out of proportion with the rest of the pen, but it’s one of the best writers I have. I even forgive it being slightly too narrow.
Also, after months of regular use, all the parts still seem as tight as when they were new. There’s been some finish wear around the bottom of the cap, but that’s out of sight most of the time.
I’ll keep using the pen, and I recommended people try it. I can’t recommend it as a first fountain pen, but it is worth getting, along with a converter, for people ready to make the leap to bottled ink. The tube-in-a-tube design also lets people fill it without worrying about having to grip the inky part.