To be the one and only.

The MONO brand was born in 1963.
The launch of our top ranked high quality MONO pencil marked the beginning of the brand.

The brand name MONO originates from the Greek word “monos” whose meanings include “only” and “unique”.
The name characterizes the innovative pencil lead containing 8 billion particles per square millimeter created in a project launched for the improvement of pencil leads in 1949.

The eraser initially came with pencils as a free gift.

In 1967 Tombow released MONO 100, the highest quality MONO pencil, to commemorate its 55th anniversary.

MONO 100 has the touch, strength, and depth that match Tombow’s ideal features. One plastic eraser, a very rare item at that time, was included in the box of a dozen of pencils to demonstrate its ability to completely erase pencil marks.
This eraser gained popularity for its superb erasing performance. After many requests were made for the MONO easer to be sold, Tombow decided to sell the eraser separately on its own.

The birth of MONO Eraser.

In 1969 the MONO Eraser in a tricolor sleeve of blue, white, and black was launched.
The tri-color flag design was intended to draw attention to the little eraser.
The beautiful and memorable stripe design, which has not changed for over 50 years, has become an icon of erasers used by many people in Japan as well as the rest of the world.

The unique MONO series, including the MONO eraser, is in a constant state of evolution o keep pace with the changing times while reflecting the original concept of being the one and only pencil and eraser.