Zebra Pen Corporation is an American manufacturer of writing instruments. The company was founded in New York in 1982 as an independent corporation wholly owned by Zebra Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, Japan. The company sells a wide range of pens, pencils, and highlighters through retail stores, wholesalers, and mail orders.
The Zebra trademark was adopted in 1914. Legend has it that Mr. Ishikawa, founder of Zebra Co. Ltd., wanted a company name that would be memorable and also appropriate for their export business to other countries. He took an English/Japanese dictionary and, opening it Japanese style from the back, started with the "Z" words. He stopped at "Zebra".
Upon further research, Mr. Ishikawa found that zebras are gentle animals with a strong family herding instinct. This was an important attribute, since he wanted to build a business in which employees and customers were all part of a family-like culture. The fact that the zebra looks like it is decorated with large calligraphic pen strokes may have also appealed to the visual image he was seeking.[1]
Zebra's line of pens and pencils include "The Original" F-301 and the M-301, which all have a stainless steel barrel and textured grips. The Jimnie line includes plastic gel-ink pens that are in more vibrant colors as well as a correction pen, while the award-winning Saskatchewpen was designed for use in temperatures down to -50 degrees Celsius. Other product lines include Zazzle highlighters, Sarasa retractable gel-ink pens, and Z-Grip pens with soft rubber grips.
The Z Grip Line: The Z Grip pens include the F301, F301 Compact, F402, and the F701. The 301 series are characterized by their stainless steel shaft and hardened plastic grip. The 401 has the same stainless steel shaft with a rubber grip. Finally, the flagship pen, the 701 has a knurled grip and is completely stainless steel.
Fountain pens: In late 2010 Zebra announced production of the V-301, a stainless steel fountain pen that features a cartridge filling system, silver steel nib and stainless steel barrel.