Kuretake (art products)
 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Stationery |
| Founded | 1902 |
| Founder | Narakichi Watatani |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Masanori Watatani, President[1] |
| Products | Markers, brush pens, inks |
| Brands |
|
Number of employees | 252[2] |
| Website | kuretakezig.us |
Kuretake Co., Ltd. (株式会社くれたけ, Kabushiki Gaisha Kure Take) is a Japanese manufacturing company of writing implements. The firm began its activities manufacturing sumi ink and brushes and then expanded its range of products, producing mainly pens.[3]
Current range of products manufactured by Kuretake includes markers, brush pens, inks, watercolors.
History
[edit]Founded under the name of "Kuretake Sumi" in 1902, the company originally started by producing sumi brushes, a brush similar in style to certain watercolor brushes,[3] sharing a generally thick wooden or bamboo handle, and a broad soft hair brush that when wetted form a fine tip. The brushes produced by Kuretake Sumi were designed for sumi-e, or inkwash painting.
In 1965, Kuretake Industries Co., Ltd. was established as a plant specializing in the production of writing instruments while Tokyo office was established.[3] In 1986, a subsidiary, "Kuretake U.K. Ltd." was established in the West Midlands, England.[3] In 2014 another subsidiary, "Kuretake ZIG Corporation" was established in Sacramento, United States.
Products
[edit]Kuretake (and its subsidiary brand, "Zig") manufactures a wide variety of markers, such as highlighters and watercolor markers.
The firm also gained reputation for its "brush pen", similar to a marker pen with a brush-shapered flexible tip but refillable, using replaceable ink cartridges like fountain pens do.[4] The brush pen by Kuretake was the first using cartridges (although Pentel would later launch a brush model that used cartridges also).
Through its brand "ScrapBooking", Kuretake produces other stationery items such as papers, templates, corner punches, color selectors, and photo tapes.[5][6]
References
[edit]- ^ "Kuretake statement as of 2011". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-05-23.
- ^ "Company profile". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-05-23.
- ^ a b c d "Kuretake history - official site". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-05-23.
- ^ Kuretake brush pen review on Parkablogs, 19 Nov 2012
- ^ Kuretake UK - Products
- ^ "Kuretake products in CraftIndustry site". Archived from the original on 2011-08-31. Retrieved 2011-05-23.
External links
[edit]
