I might not press the pencil down hard enough to get the gears to revolve. This could be because of many years of using fountain pens (which do not need a lot of pressure) and a relatively infrequent use of ballpoint pens (which need much more pressure). When I went to school you had to write with a fountain pen and today I still like to use fountain pens and avoid ballpoint pens. My wife, for example, is using much more pressure when writing. I’ve used quite a few Kuru Togas and own one of the 0.5mm versions, and I agree with the original poster that you need to use a certain amount of force to engage the mechanism, particularly if you hold the pencil at a fairly low angle. I prefer using softer lead and much less pressure, and get pretty inconsistent results most of the time, unless I change my writing style. Holding the pencil so the logo appears between my thumb and index finger, I can write a complete sentence without seeing the logo move at all.

The end result is I have a pencil I’m really, really happy with. It’s a plastic 0.5mm Kuru Toga running 0.5mm 2B [Uni Nano Dia Blended] lead. My only gripe is the eraser. It’s uselessly tiny. As a result, I now carry a dedicated clutch eraser (like a clutch pencil, but it dispenses eraser). I haven’t found any problem getting the engine thingy to work even at very light pressure so I deliberately tried to make it fail. The Uni Kuru Toga is a fantastic mechanical pencil for writing. When it comes to drawing, the turning mechanism may or may not work that well. But even so, it's still a mechanical pencil and will work like one. Nothing much to complaint about. And it's not too expensive. AvailabilityAs many of you have post about problems, I’m not sure is it because of writing in different language. For example, English language can be written one word without lifting the pencil, while Japanese have to lift the pencil several times for one word. Therefore Japanese language may be rotated 10 times faster than English (Just my guessing). I happen to discover the Uni Kuru Toga mechanical pencils recently and was intrigued by its ability to turn the pencil lead within. The highlight of this mechanical pencil is as you are writing, it can turn the lead so that you're always writing with a sharper point. That way, you won't have to use a blunt point anymore. It sounds too good to be true, but is it? There are also special limited editions featuring characters by Disney, Peanuts, Sanrio and Studio Ghibli.

Pressing hard to advance the lead gummed it up completely. The only solution was to retract the lead and start again. The Kuru Toga has been a disappointment for me, as the lead is not rotating, eliminating the advantage of this pencil while the disadvantages of this pencil remain: I’ve been looking at the Kuru Toga for a long time, and finally I got one yesterday. I sadly have the same problem as memm, and can confirm that it isn’t merely a defective pencil. My wife and friend have no problem activating the mechanism consistently, and there are two pencils involved with consistent results. and the inability to fill in as many spare leads as in some other mechanical pencils (maximum 4 – 6 leads, depending on length and whether you try hard to squeeze them in) I’m a light writer and I use pencil for everything except things like forms and cheques. I usually go for B lead to get dark lines and less pressure.The design of the Kuru Toga across the different models is relatively similar. The bodies are generally slim and lightweight. The grip sections are made of plastic, metal, or rubber. Some Kuru Toga pencils feature Uni’s Alpha Gel grip, which is made of soft silicone and offers a balanced feel of comfortable cushioning and ergonomic support.

This mechanism prevents the tip from becoming chisel-shaped (therefore more prone to crumble or break) and ensures a consistent line width. The tip rotation is obtained by a spring and three gears, and the revolving action is visible by a rotating logo.

Limited Edition; special auto-feed mechanism where the lead sleeve doesn't drag on the paper; adjustable length auto-feed mechanism; magnetic cap; the lead is automatically exposed when you uncap the pencil Kuru Toga is a mechanical pencil line developed by the Uni Mitsubishi company. The special feature of this pencil is a particular mechanism (referred as "Kuru Toga Engine") which rotates the lead every time the tip is pressed and then released from the paper surface. You can spot the Kuru Toga logo inside the grip section or under a window in the barrel. It's printed on the rotation mechanism—which comes in different colors depending on the lead size—so you can watch the logo turn and rest assured that your Kuru Toga is working properly. Extremely low angles would do it but the angle is about where you’d be using a pencil to shade a drawing – almost parallel to the paper.