My Pilot Kakuno Fountain Pens

I have a new appreciation for inexpensive fountain pens. Especially, when I can use them as a dual-purpose pen for creating my artwork and for writing in my journals. If the pen comes in different colors that’s just an added bonus as I like to match my fountain pen inks with the pen colors. Here’s my currently inked Pilot Kakuno fountain pens I’m currently using to create my artwork. Are they not the cutest pens?

I purchased my first two Kakuno fountain pens back in 2019 when I first started my fountain pen journey. The Kakuno pens were advertised as beginner fountain pens. So, I bought two of them. One in clear and the other one in pink. They both have medium nibs.

Fast forward to this year (2025) and I finally filled my clear Kakuno with Thunderstorm ink. I was having so much fun with my clear Kakuno that I went ahead and filled my pink Kakuno with Bless Your Heart. BTW, this is now my fave pen and ink (shimmer) combination.

This medium nib glides across my paper without much effort. It’s so smooth. When I use this pen to write in my journal, it’s a lovely and enjoyable writing experience. Why did I wait so long to use my Kakunos?

I’m finding my Kakuno pens are working well to use in my pen & ink wash art. Alongside my TWSBI GO pens.

Note: I’ve been having some issues with my older TWSBI GO fountain pens. A few of them are 5-6 years old and have been in constant use when my creativity is in full swing. The metal springs inside the body are losing its “spring” back into place. They get stuck when the plunger is pushed down. I have to pull the plunger back. It’s only a nuisance when I need to fill my pen and I worry about tipping my bottle over when I’m manually pulling the plunger up. Yes, I can get quite animated watching my pen get filled with ink.

Will my Kakuno pens replace my TWSBI? I don’t have an answer right now. There are lots of features and functions to think about. For now, I like using both.

Ink capacity? Visually, the TWSBI GO looks like a small tank. I have to say from my own experience, the capacity between the two pens are similar. I don’t necessarily get a full fill with my GO on the first pump action. It’s not an issue for me as I use up the inks in my pen quickly when I sketch with them. Plus my attention span with certain inky colors will not last that long as I’m always looking for another color to use.

I also want to add that I rarely use my GOs for writing in my journal. As most of my GOs have a Stub 1.1 nib, I don’t care to write with them. My writing looks huge on paper and the chunky pen is not that comfortable to hold in my hand for extended periods of writing.

How many can I fit in my pen case? I can definitely fit more Kakunos into my pen case (eg Rickshaw Sinclair Model R) than my chunky GOs. My Kakuno is slimmer and a tiny bit shorter in length.

Nib size limit? Not an issue for me. While the stub nib produces a broader stroke of color, there are times when I do not need that much ink on my paper. So the Kakuno medium nib works perfectly well for most of my sketches and definitely for my writing style.

Speaking of nibs, look at the adorable faces on my Kakunos.

Each Pilot Kakuno comes with a black ink cartridge. It’s ready to go for wonderful writing adventure.

Tip #1: I do not like using the Pilot CON-40 converter as the ink capacity is too small. Instead, I reuse my empty Pilot ink cartridges. I have so many black ink cartridges that came with my Pilot pens. Sometimes, I will empty out the black ink from the cartridges, give it a good rinse, and fill it with my favorite ink. A syringe works great for cleaning out a cartridge and for refilling it with ink.

Tip #2: I prefer to use the clear Kakuno over the opaque ones. I can easily see how much ink I have left in my cartridge.

Tip #3: The labels I used to identify the ink color in my TWSBI GOs work the same for my Kakunos. Since the Kakuno caps are faceted, I have to use the heat from my fingers to make sure the labels stick properly. I just place my thumb over the label for a minute longer.

Tip #4: I taught in one of my ink wash workshops how to grab the ink color from a smaller sized fountain pen nib. Use a water brush and touch the tip of the nib or the breather hole to grab some ink and create some beautiful inky washes.

Pen: Pilot Kakuno with medium nib. Pink (mother), Blue (father), and Clear (smiling with tongue sticking out).