PILOT CORPORATION Receives Science and Technology Award in Development Category of the FY2026 Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Awards for Science and Technology
Innovative Contribution to Society Through the Development of Writing Instruments Featuring Writing Erased Using Friction-generated Heat
PILOT CORPORATION (Head office: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Fumio Fujisaki, President; hereafter, the "Company") is pleased to announce that it received the science and technology award in the development category of the FY2026 Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Awards for Science and Technology hosted by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ("MEXT"). The award was granted in recognition of achievements related to the development of writing instruments featuring writing that can be erased using friction-generated heat, the core technology of the Company's Frixion series of products.
The award was presented for this effort to develop writing instruments that feature writing that can be erased using friction-generated heat, which is related to writing instruments that enable users to write, erase, and write again using a single instrument. Conventional writing instruments have shortcomings such as the significant residue generated when using rubber erasers and the need to wait until white-out has dried before the user can begin writing again.
The technology developed by the Company features the use of a reversible thermochromic microcapsule pigment in the material coloring the ink. When the ink is rubbed with the special rubber attached to the instrument, the friction-generated heat causes the pigment to become colorless, which erases the writing. This mechanism based on the Company's proprietary thermochromic technology was achieved as a result of progress in multiple technologies, including the introduction of new materials for three components that are essential for thermochromism (the color former, color developer, and color change temperature regulator), a drastic evolution of microencapsulation technology to turn thermochromic components into color materials, the establishment of an ink technology that disperses microcapsules stably in writing ink, and further, the development of an eraser rubber that efficiently generates heat through friction.
By making it easy to erase writing using friction-generated heat, users can write, erase, and write again with a single writing instrument, without generating eraser residue. This technology is currently being applied to products, including Frixion series products, of which a cumulative total of five billion units have been sold in more than 100 countries and regions. This achievement was praised as a breakthrough.
<Overview of the award>
Name: Science and technology award (development category), Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Awards for Science and Technology
Technology for which the award was granted: Development of writing instruments featuring writing that can be erased with friction-generated heat
Winner of the award: Kunyuki Senga, Senior Executive Officer and Head of Shonan R&D Center, PILOT CORPORATION