Hokusei Pencil #9500 HB 19500

These “Kita-Boshi Super Drawing 9500 HB” pencils are excellent drawing pencils. They’re made in a small factory in Japan where long-time workers take great pride in the quality of their pencils. I saw a YouTube video about the factory before trying the pencils; it’s rather charming. I was surprised to find that the pencils are very high quality, with hand-made quality finish plus excellent wood and lead. The box looks very similar to those of Mitsubishi pencils. I bought a box of the HB, and found the HB easily capable of a range from quite dark to very very light. What I found remarkable was how shading the value gradations was just really easy and smooth. Like a sort of automated smoothness. And I am comparing it to the best art pencils of all grades. It’s somehow a very sensitive pencil. Like a race car instead of the family van. It sharpens to a perfect point and its USA cedar wood is beautiful and fine-grained. The “back end” of the pencil is open, so an intriguing possibility is that you could sharpen both ends and have twice the sharp pencil time, maybe in a plein air adventure? A single point does stay sharp a long time in any case. Even with a needle sharp point, it hasn’t broken. The embossed writing on the side is beautifully shiny gold, but still crisp and clear and easy to read. I had to show my husband the pencil just because it’s so aesthetically pleasing. I feel like mounting the pencil in a frame and hanging it on the wall, except I want to hold it. LOL The lead looks like about a 2 mm, and the pencil itself is slender with a very smooth, almost slick finish, so if you require some thickness or “grip” this may not be the pencil for you. I’m not a pencil fanatic, but I look for pencils that work for fine art. I want functionality. I work with or have tried other art workhorses: Faber-Castell 9000, Caran d’ache, Tombow, Derwent, borrowed a Blackwing Pearl (overpriced for quality), etc. but this pencil is clearly a step above in finish and at least equal or in some cases clearly superior better in function. Maybe a bit smudgier than Faber-Castellated 9000 but capable of more range. It’s a bit darker and softer on the HB rating, like other Japanese pencils. I think the price I paid for a box of a 12 pencils is reasonable for the exceptional quality. It’s been fun!

Perfect sharpening and writes smoothly.

The pencil has everything an artists tool should have. Beautiful dark lines from a high quality graphite core.

These are brilliant pencils. They sharpen to a point finer than any I've ever seen. As they dull, the writing still seems crisp and sharp. I adore them.

I tried these in lieu of my normal Mitsubishi 9800 HBs. I did math with both pencils, side by side. These are darker, softer, and do not keep the point nearly as long as the 9800 HB pencils do. They dull very quickly. I do not think these are actually HB, even though that is stamped on the side.

Very dark, perfect wood, the lead feels like the fanciest I've used and is a bit soft for an HB, closer to B but well behaved enough still to be called HB. Get them if you like pencils.

These pencils lay down a nice dark line. They are excellent for note taking and general writing.

Excellent pencil. Right in between Mitsu-bishi Hi-UNI and Tombow MONO. If you are accustomed to American or European lead grades, Japanese HB is darker and softer, especially in the case of Kitaboshi brand -- it feels like "B". The point retention is very good for a relatively soft core.