Kinokuniya is bringing four Staedtler 925 75 mechanical pencils into its Dick Bruna anniversary collection, with red, yellow, blue and green versions priced at ¥990 each, including Japanese tax. The Japanese book-and-merchandise fair starts November 12, 2026.
The detail to look for is near the push button. Kinokuniya says the hardness-indicator window can display illustrations that follow the stories in Bruna’s picture books. A familiar drafting-pencil feature becomes part of the collaboration itself.
Two centenaries, one pencil collection
The timing has a reason: 2027 marks both the bookseller’s hundredth anniversary and the centenary of Dick Bruna’s birth. The collaboration arrives ahead of that anniversary year, alongside a fair devoted to his books.
Kinokuniya describes the project as a celebration of reading and a tribute to Bruna. Its own centenary merchandise program began in 2022; this collection connects that ongoing retail program with the author and designer’s work.
For the pencil range, the interesting choice is where the artwork appears. The colors establish the connection at a glance, while the little window adds a detail specific to the tool. That gives the edition more character than a barrel graphic alone. This is a design variation on the 925 75; the announcement does not describe a new lead-feed mechanism.
Japan first; US details still open
Kinokuniya’s September 25 announcement places the wider collection across 102 domestic group stores, overseas stores, university book centers and webstores. That broad rollout does not confirm pencil stock at individual US branches or a US selling price.
The current fair page specifies four-pencil sets for web reservations and says stores do not take reservations. It now warns that most merchandise preorder allocations have sold out, without identifying the pencils separately. Treat the listing as a place to check availability, not a promise that a set is still reservable.
The dates are worth separating: September 25 was the announcement; November 12 is the scheduled Japanese fair opening. The centenaries themselves fall in 2027.
