Fountain Pens
Pilot Metropolitan vs Pilot Kakuno
Two Pilot pens at the bottom of the range that share a filling system and a nib family. Almost everything that separates them is the body - which turns out to be the whole decision.
How this page is funded. Buying through a link here earns us a commission at no extra cost to you. It does not change what we recommend or the order we recommend it in, and we have not hands-on tested these products — see how we choose and the full disclosure.
Pilot makes the two pens most often recommended to beginners, and they are recommended by different people for opposite reasons. The Metropolitan is the grown-up answer: brass, understated, the pen you would use in a meeting. The Kakuno is a plastic pen with a smiling face on the nib, designed for Japanese schoolchildren.
Underneath, they are far more similar than they look. Both take the same Pilot converters and the same proprietary cartridges. Both use Pilot steel nibs that run to Japanese grades, meaning narrower than the same letter from a European maker.
So this is not a comparison of writing quality, because there is very little in it. It is a comparison of what you want to be holding.
The two pens
Quick picks
Ranked for the beginner buying their first setup. Every pick names who it is wrong for.
| # | Product | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Pilot Metropolitan A brass-bodied pen with a nib far better than the price suggests, and the one most consistently handed to beginners. | The default first pen | $27.37 · View on Amazon #ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded |
| 2 |  Pilot Kakuno A hexagonal barrel that will not roll off a desk, a smiling face on the nib to show which way is up, and a genuinely good Pilot nib underneath. | Younger writers and small handwriting | $9.90 · View on Amazon #ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded |
| 3 |  Pilot CON-40 converter The screw converter that fits the widest range of Pilot pens, including the ones with narrow barrels. | Bottled ink in a Metropolitan or Kakuno | |
| 4 |  Pilot IC-100 cartridges, blue-black Pilot's own cartridge, sold twelve to a box, and the only cartridge that fits a Pilot fountain pen. | Refilling a Metropolitan, Kakuno or Prera | $5.95 · View on Amazon #ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded |
1. The default first pen
Pilot Metropolitan
A brass-bodied pen with a nib far better than the price suggests, and the one most consistently handed to beginners.
#ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded
The brass body is the reason this pen feels like it costs more than it does. It gives the pen weight in the hand and a cold, solid grip section, which is the single thing most people notice moving up from a plastic school pen.
The nib is a Japanese Fine. That matters more than the letter suggests: Japanese grades run narrower than German ones, so a Pilot Fine lays a line closer to what a European maker would call extra fine. If you write small or on thin paper, that narrowness is doing you a favor.
The catch is filling. The Metropolitan takes Pilot's own cartridges, not the international standard ones every other brand shares, and the converter you need to use bottled ink is a separate purchase.
| Nib grades offered | Fine and Medium (stub also sold separately)Source: Pilot Metropolitan, Fine (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
|---|---|
| Nib width in mm | Not publishedPilot does not state a millimeter width for the Metropolitan nib in this listing. Japanese Fine runs narrower than a German Fine — see the nib size guide. |
| Body | Brass barrel, painted finishSource: Pilot Metropolitan, Fine (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| Filling | Pilot proprietary cartridge, or a Pilot CON-40 / CON-70 converter (sold separately)Source: Pilot CON-40 converter (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| In the box | Pen with one black ink cartridge and a squeeze converterSource: Pilot Metropolitan, Fine (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
What it does well
- Brass body at a plastic-pen price
- Japanese Fine nib puts down a narrow, controlled line
- Extremely widely stocked, so replacements and spares are easy
What it does not
- Proprietary Pilot cartridges, not the international standard
- Converter is sold separately
- The painted finish scuffs if you pocket-carry it with keys
Skip this if you want to use bottled ink on day one without a second purchase, or if you already know you prefer a broad, wet line.
2. Younger writers and small handwriting
Pilot Kakuno
A hexagonal barrel that will not roll off a desk, a smiling face on the nib to show which way is up, and a genuinely good Pilot nib underneath.
#ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded
The Kakuno was designed for Japanese schoolchildren, and every design decision follows from that: hexagonal so it stays put, a face embossed on the nib so you can see at a glance whether you are holding it upside down, and a nib tuned to be forgiving rather than fast.
It shares a nib family with the Metropolitan, so the writing experience is closer to that pen than the price gap suggests. What you give up is the brass body and the sense of occasion.
The cap does not post, which is a real annoyance for anyone with large hands — you either hold a slightly short pen or find somewhere to put the cap.
| Line width | 0.3 mm on the Fine nibStated in the listing's own product attributes.Source: Pilot Kakuno, Fine (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
|---|---|
| Nib grades offered | Extra Fine, Fine, MediumSource: Pilot Kakuno, Extra Fine 0.3 mm (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| Body | Hexagonal plastic barrel; the cap does not postSource: Pilot Kakuno, Fine (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| Filling | Pilot proprietary cartridge, or a Pilot CON-40 converterSource: Pilot CON-40 converter (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
What it does well
- The maker publishes a millimeter figure for the nib
- Hexagonal barrel does not roll
- Same Pilot nib quality as pens costing twice as much
What it does not
- The cap does not post on the barrel
- Unmistakably a children's pen to look at
- Proprietary Pilot cartridges
Skip this if the pen has to look serious on a desk at work, or if you have large hands and need to post the cap.
3. Bottled ink in a Metropolitan or Kakuno
Pilot CON-40 converter
The screw converter that fits the widest range of Pilot pens, including the ones with narrow barrels.
Pilot sells several converters and they are not interchangeable. The CON-40 is the small one that fits nearly everything; the CON-70 holds far more but only fits wider pens.
The CON-40 has agitator balls inside it, which look like a defect and are not — they stop ink clinging to the walls.
If you own a Metropolitan and want to use a bottle, this is the part.
| Type | Screw-type converterSource: Pilot CON-40 converter (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
|---|---|
| Fits | Pilot fountain pens that take the CON-40, including the Metropolitan and KakunoSource: Pilot CON-40 converter (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| Capacity | Not published |
| Larger alternative | The CON-70, for pens with a wider barrelSource: Pilot CON-70 converter (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
What it does well
- Fits the widest range of Pilot pens
- Cheap enough to buy two
- Screw fitting will not fall out
What it does not
- Small capacity
- Not interchangeable with the CON-70
- Pilot does not publish the capacity
Skip this if your Pilot takes the larger CON-70 — buy that instead and get double the ink.
4. Refilling a Metropolitan, Kakuno or Prera
Pilot IC-100 cartridges, blue-black
Pilot's own cartridge, sold twelve to a box, and the only cartridge that fits a Pilot fountain pen.
#ad Price as of October 18, 2026. How this is funded
Pilot, like LAMY, uses its own cartridge size. If you own a Metropolitan, a Kakuno or a Prera, this is the refill, and an international standard cartridge will not go in.
Blue-black is the useful default: dark enough to read as serious, distinct enough from black to be legible in the margin of a printed page.
Twelve cartridges is roughly a year of light use.
| Format | 12 cartridges per packSource: Pilot Namiki IC100, blue/black (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
|---|---|
| Fits | Pilot fountain pens that take the IC-100 cartridgeSource: Pilot Namiki IC100, blue/black (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| Also available | Black and blue, same pack sizeSource: Pilot Namiki IC100, black (retail listing, read 2026-09-01) |
| Published drying time | Not published |
What it does well
- Twelve per box, so it is a long time between orders
- Blue-black is a genuinely practical everyday color
- No mess and nothing to clean
What it does not
- Proprietary to Pilot
- Expensive per milliliter next to bottled ink
- Only three colors in common US circulation
Skip this if you have a CON-40 or CON-70 converter — a bottle costs far less per fill.
Side by side
| Metropolitan | Kakuno | |
|---|---|---|
| Body | Brass barrel with stainless accents | Molded plastic, hexagonal so it will not roll |
| Weight in the hand | Noticeable - the brass is the point | Very light |
| Nib | Pilot steel, Japanese grades | Pilot steel, Japanese grades |
| Grip | Conventional round metal section | Molded finger guides, and a face on the nib |
| Filling | Pilot proprietary cartridge or CON converter | The same cartridge and converters |
| In the box | Cartridge and a squeeze converter | Cartridge only |
| Cap | Snap cap | Snap cap, and it does not post |
| Intended buyer | An adult buying a first proper pen | A Japanese schoolchild learning to write |
| Price | The higher of the two | Among the cheapest pens on this site |
Read down the rows that affect the line on the page - nib, filling, cap - and they are the same pen. Read down the rest and they are not remotely the same object.
The case for the Metropolitan
The brass barrel is doing more work than a materials line suggests. It gives the pen a weight and a balance that reads as expensive, and the reason the Metropolitan has been the default recommendation for a decade is that it is the cheapest pen that does not feel cheap.
That matters in a specific and slightly unglamorous way: a pen that looks like a serious object gets used in front of other people. A pen with a cartoon face on the nib does not, for most adults, and a pen you are faintly embarrassed to take out is a pen you stop carrying.
The nib is also, by wide consensus, better than it has any right to be at the price - see the Metropolitan review for what Pilot does and does not publish about it.
The case for the Kakuno
The Kakuno is a better-designed pen than the Metropolitan. That sounds like a provocation and it is not.
- It cannot roll off a desk. The barrel is hexagonal, which is a solved problem the Metropolitan does not solve.
- It guides your fingers without forcing them. Molded indentations suggest a grip rather than imposing one, which is a gentler approach than LAMY's triangular section and a good deal more forgiving.
- The face on the nib is functional. It is right way up only when the nib is correctly oriented against the paper, which is the single most common beginner error and the hardest to explain in words.
- It weighs almost nothing, which matters over a long session more than most people expect.
Every one of those is a genuine design answer to a real beginner problem. They were designed for children because children are beginners, and adults buying their first fountain pen are beginners too - a fact the packaging obscures.
Nib grades, where Pilot is better than most
Both pens use Japanese grades, which run narrower than European ones. A Pilot Fine is around the width many people would call an extra fine on a German pen, and a Pilot Medium is closer to a European Fine.
That has a practical consequence worth acting on: if you are used to European pens and you order the same letter you usually buy, you will get a narrower line than you expected. Going one grade wider than instinct is usually right.
Pilot also publishes nib widths in millimeters for the Kakuno, which almost no maker does and which the nib size guide leans on heavily. If you want to know what you are buying rather than guess from a letter, that alone is an argument for the cheaper pen.
The converter question, where the two differ
Both use Pilot's proprietary cartridge rather than the international standard size, so the cheap multi-brand packs fit neither - the cartridge compatibility guide has the full picture.
What differs is what is in the box. The Metropolitan is listed as shipping with a black cartridge and a squeeze converter, so bottled ink is available from the first day at no extra cost. The Kakuno ships with a cartridge only.
That is a real point for the Metropolitan and it narrows the price gap between the two more than the sticker suggests. The squeeze converter is basic - it holds little and it is fiddly - but it works, and it means you can try a bottle before deciding whether to buy the better CON-40, which fits both pens and is the upgrade worth making on either.
Which to buy
If you are buying for a child, or for an adult who will be writing at a desk and does not care what the pen looks like, buy the Kakuno. It is the better-engineered pen for a beginner, it costs considerably less, and the money saved buys a converter and a bottle of ink - which is a better pen setup than the Metropolitan alone.
If the pen will be carried, used at work, or seen by other people, buy the Metropolitan. The brass body is not an affectation; it is the thing that makes the pen feel worth using, and feeling worth using is most of whether a first pen survives its first month.
If you cannot decide, note that the two together still cost less than most single pens in the under $50 roundup, and that owning both is how a lot of people discover which kind of pen they actually are.
Questions people actually ask
Is the Pilot Metropolitan or the Kakuno better for a beginner?
The Kakuno is the better-designed beginner pen - it cannot roll off a desk, its molded grip guides your fingers without forcing them, and the face on the nib shows when the pen is correctly oriented. The Metropolitan is the better pen to be seen with, and for many adults that is what decides whether a first pen keeps getting used.
Do the Pilot Metropolitan and Kakuno use the same nib?
They use Pilot steel nibs in the same Japanese grades, and the writing experience is very close. The pens are not distinguished by line quality but by body, weight and grip.
Do the Metropolitan and Kakuno take the same cartridges?
Yes. Both take Pilot's proprietary cartridge and both fit Pilot's CON converters. Neither takes international standard cartridges, so cheap multi-brand packs will not fit either pen.
Is a Pilot Fine nib the same as a European Fine?
No. Japanese grades run narrower - a Pilot Fine is close to what many European makers would call an extra fine. If you are used to European pens, order one grade wider than your instinct.
Does either pen come with a converter?
Neither does. Both ship with a cartridge, and the CON-40 converter is a separate purchase that fits both. It is the first thing to buy alongside either pen if you want to use bottled ink.
Is the Kakuno only for children?
It was designed for Japanese schoolchildren, but the design answers beginner problems rather than child-specific ones, and adults buying a first fountain pen are beginners too. The only real argument against it for an adult is that it looks like a child's pen.