Photo: Mitsubishi Pencil
Three colours in one barrel is the old trick — the new one is a knurled metal grip, weighted to sit low in the hand.
Verdict
| What it is | uniball ZENTO 3 Flow (UBE3-ZFK) — Mitsubishi Pencil's three-colour ballpoint (black, red, blue) in the new Flow variant: knurled metal grip, added grip weight, lower centre of gravity. Silver is 0.38mm; Black is 0.5mm |
| Price | ¥2,530 — Mitsubishi Pencil, Japan, checked Mon Nov 9, 2026 |
| Availability | On sale in Japan since Oct 22, 2026. No confirmed US listing for this knurled variant — the Flow line sells in the US in the earlier smooth-grip colours |
| The angle | The grip treated as engineering, not trim |
| Verdict | A ballpoint that treats the grip as engineering. |
What it is
The multi-pen is a solved problem — three inks, one barrel, click to choose. What Mitsubishi Pencil revised on Oct 22, 2026 is not the mechanism but the part your fingers actually hold. The first ZENTO 3 Flow (UBE3-ZF, June 2026, ¥2,200) wore a smooth anodised aluminium grip. This one, the UBE3-ZFK, replaces it with a knurled metal grip and adds weight to it, dropping the pen's centre of gravity toward the page.
Two versions, and the colour chooses the ball size: Silver — off-white barrel, silver metal parts — is 0.38mm; Black, barrel and metal parts unified in black, is 0.5mm. The inks are black, red and blue either way, refilled by the UBR-ZML-38/05 cartridge (¥143). The ink itself is the maker's ZENTO water-based ballpoint ink: a cushioning agent (a POA surfactant, in the maker's wording) sits between ball and paper and cuts writing friction by about 40% against the maker's standard ballpoint — the maker's figure, printed as theirs — while attraction particles in the ink suppress feathering and show-through.
Why it matters
Multi-pens compete on ink count and click feel. This one competes on balance. Knurling is a machinist's answer — it is what tool handles wear when grip has to survive grease and repetition — and weighting the grip is a fountain-pen answer, borrowed from instruments that cost fifty times more. Neither shows in a product photo at a glance, which is exactly why it is worth spotting: the improvement is in the hand, not the listing. The catch is geography. The ZFK is Japan-first; for now, the knurled pen is an import or a wait.
Specs
| Brand | Mitsubishi Pencil (uni / uniball) |
| Model | uniball ZENTO 3 Flow — UBE3-ZFK-38/05 |
| Inks | Black, red, blue (water-based ballpoint ink) |
| Ball size | 0.38mm (Silver) / 0.5mm (Black) — set by colour |
| Grip | Knurled metal, weighted — lower centre of gravity (per maker) |
| Refill | UBR-ZML-38/05 (¥143) |
| Dimensions / weight | Not stated by the maker |
| Released | Oct 22, 2026 (Japan) |
What to check before buying
- Check the grip in the photo. The earlier Flow (UBE3-ZF) has a smooth grip and different colours (Navy/Green, Burgundy/Beige) — and some of the maker's own product-page photos still show it. The featured pen's grip is knurled; if the listing's pen is smooth, it is the June pen, not this one.
- The colour picks the nib. Silver is 0.38mm only; Black is 0.5mm only. There is no Black 0.38 — choose by the line you write, then accept the colour.
- No confirmed US listing for this variant. US listings for the Flow line (uni's US store at $22.99; JetPens at $20.50, both read in November) are the earlier smooth-grip colours. A US listing that doesn't say knurled isn't this pen.
Price record
| Price | ¥2,530 (maker's reference price, tax incl.; ¥2,300 tax excl.) |
| Source | Mitsubishi Pencil's press release and product pages (mpuni.co.jp), checked Mon Nov 9, 2026 |
| Featured | Site-first, Tue Nov 10, 2026 — the Instagram post follows as part of a combined carousel |
Want one?
- In the shop: browse current stock — one-off pieces, and they turn over fast.
- Hunting one? Join the Want List — tell us the maker and the budget; pieces like this surface in our trawl most weeks.
- This one: at the source — See it at Mitsubishi Pencil. Not our listing. See Disclosure.
Related picks
- Pilot Capless Stripe — a fountain pen with no cap to lose, at ¥52,800
- Toyo Steel T-320 — the pressed-steel toolbox, at ¥2,800
- Ichizawa Shinzaburo Hanpu No. 17C — Kyoto canvas, at $84
Spotted, not sold by us — this pen lives at Mitsubishi Pencil's own store. Prices are a snapshot from when we spotted it. Disclosure
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Shop the pick
uniball ZENTO 3 Flow (UBE3-ZFK) — Silver / Black
¥2,530 — Mitsubishi Pencil, Japan, checked Mon Nov 9, 2026
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