So cool!
Oh wow… can you imagine? He was one of the “early ones”, who combed over old stationery shops and used markets to find mechanical pencils that owners saw little value and let go. And got incredible deals that today are unimaginable. He has about 5,000 pencils in his collection, and 1,000 of them are featured in his little museum. I didn’t realize at first that this is Hirose, the guy who has a small mechanical pencil crafting business.
I wish the article had featured more photos. We saw just 2 legends, the Pentel Mechanica 0.3 mm and the Hi Uni 5050. In the first photo, the field of focus leaves a lot of pencils blurred out but you can make out a PILOT ProTec in the lineup, and possibly a Sakura Automatic. Weird ordering, as the 3rd one in is an OHTO SP-15 Piston… not as rare as the others.
EDIT
Ah, found another shot that’s much clearer:
I think we need one of these museums in every major city.
As this topic has been brought up, I want to mention what an overly kind person he is.
I requested to order a drawing of one of my favorite pencils and sent some images. He made a beautiful 30cmx41cm large drawing of various perspectives in watercolor, framed it, and sent it to me. He didnt want to get paid anything, even though I insisted multiple times.
His architecture background explains his skill 
As it says in the article, he also manufactures his own pencils, they are also worth checking out (sadly out of stock).
Definitely check out his profile 廣瀬鐵筆堂 (@syake1505) / X
Got one of his double ended leadholders last year. Very fun. Very handmade. It is imprecise in an endearing way, not a sloppy way.
I wonder where he gets his mechanisms from? Isn’t the minimum amount for such OEM work always super high?
Pretty sure he uses mechanisms from other makers, not built to spec for his pencils. For holders, I think he uses KIN 5201.
But I hope he is able to scale into a volume that can justify custom mechanisms. That is always the dream. Perhaps by teaming with Luddite he is headed that direction.
Oh I knew it… Reading the article, that surname Hirose rang a bell from the beginning. I did not know the Hirose Teppitsudo guy is only 20 years old.
Here are some of his stuff I photoed at a 590&Co event earlier this year. No wonder he makes so many PG5 barrels since the Mechanica is what sparked his passion.
At every collab event with 590&Co, he sold some of his own collection, so at one point he actually had more than the 5000 he states he has now. I have to say he’s got an enormous amount of budget for a hobby as someone his age.
(Also I heard @cytherian wants more images of his collection.)
Just like Hirose’s museum in Kyoto, if everyone on the forum contributed something from their collections, I think we could put together a surprisingly impressive exhibition.
A world tour could even be possible, while giving everyone a chance to meet and connect offline. Just imagining it is already a lot of fun.
Of course, for now it’s probably just a fantasy. Our day jobs might make it pretty difficult to actually pull something like this off.
Oh, yeah. That vid made the rounds previously and blew my mind. Glad to connect Hirose with that video. His logo is now a defining piece linking Instagram, Youtube, etc.
Thanks! This is really amazing.
Embedded (but if you go directly to YouTube, you can use instant translation for narration):
That small cabinet contains a goldmine of highly desirable mechanical pencils. Truly an astounding collection. He must’ve picked up so many for sticker price. Crazy appreciated value now.
Sharp is collaborating with Hirose (i.e. they contributed to his museum).
Sharp used to be a notable manufacturer of MPs in the early 20th century, with one of its products’ name inspired by American “Eversharp”.
Which is why today, japanese mechanical pencils are called ‘sharp pencil’.
Sharp’s first pencil (早川式繰出鉛筆) from 1915 has gotten revivals by Platinum in 1983, 1993, 2003, 2009 and 2025.
Being recognized by the japanese pencil company (it isn’t technically the same company but anyways..) as a private museum by just one person is a great achievement.