#641 成績が上がるだけでなく体調もよくなる…脳科学の研究で判明｢頭にも体にも効く1日15分間の"手書き"の内容｣
Drawing on a book by stationery sommelier Ishizu Hiroshi, this episode of President Audio Edition surveys research claiming that handwriting activates the brain to improve both health and academic performance. Host and PRESIDENT editor-in-chief Hoshino Takahiko (星野孝彦) walks through studies from Princeton, UCLA, the University of Texas, and Norway's NTNU—then pushes back, pointing out where the science is murkier than the article lets on. The second half veers into Hoshino's own attachment to a LAMY Safari, a Pilot V-Corn, and a clicky blue-switch mechanical keyboard.
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What this episode answers
What was the handwriting experiment conducted by Pennebaker at the University of Texas?
Pennebaker had multiple unemployed participants write about their feelings by hand for 20 minutes a day over five days, then checked re-employment rates eight months later—the handwriting group showed significantly higher rates than those who did nothing. In a separate experiment, students who wrote about their most personally meaningful experience for 15 minutes a day over several days showed both improved health and better academic performance.
Has it been scientifically proven that handwriting is more effective for learning than computers or smartphones?
Multiple studies support the claim, but the debate is ongoing: Mueller and Oppenheimer at Princeton (2014) reported that PC note-taking hinders knowledge absorption, but a separate team's 2021 replication found no clear difference, while Norway's NTNU (2020) used EEG to demonstrate that handwriting activates more brain regions than typing.
What differences in brain activity between handwriting and typing were found in the Norwegian University of Science and Technology study?
In 2020, Professor Audrey van der Meer's group measured brain waves and found that handwriting activates more brain regions than typing and generates more complex neural network connections, which they identified as essential for retaining new information and improving learning performance.
What problems does editor-in-chief Hoshino point out in the handwriting-praising article?
Hoshino points out that Pennebaker's experiment did not compare handwriting against keyboard input at all—it tested whether writing personal emotions and experiences made a difference, regardless of medium—and notes that the 2014 Princeton/UCLA study failed to replicate in a 2021 follow-up, concluding that neither method can be declared definitively superior.
What stationery and digital peripherals does the editor-in-chief actually use?
For pens, Hoshino uses the LAMY Safari (now under Mitsubishi Pencil's Uni umbrella, with a Jetstream-refill variant) and the Pilot V-Corn capped water-based ballpoint for proofreading; his keyboard is a blue-switch mechanical model costing around ¥30,000, and his mouse is a Logitech Marathon Mouse.
Overview of the Featured Article
Hoshino Takahiko, editor-in-chief of PRESIDENT, introduces an article by Ishizu Hiroshi (石津博), a stationery sommelier and planner producer, titled "Not only do grades improve, so does your health: brain science research reveals what to write by hand for 15 minutes a day to benefit both mind and body." Ishizu has worked at his family's stationery shop since age seven, and the piece is an adapted excerpt from his book *Stationery Sommelier's Planner Time* (文房具ソムリエの手帳時間, Mikasa Shobo). Hoshino prefaces the summary by noting that Ishizu's background as a stationery sommelier whose family runs a stationery store means the claims should be read with a degree of skepticism.
Key Research on the Effects of Handwriting
The article draws on several studies.
**Princeton University and UCLA (2014)**: Mueller and Oppenheimer reported that taking notes exclusively on a computer makes it harder to absorb new knowledge.
**James Pennebaker, University of Texas (1986)**: Pennebaker reported that writing personal emotions and experiences by hand has positive effects on both psychological and physical health. In one study, multiple unemployed participants wrote about their feelings by hand for 20 minutes a day over five days; when re-employment rates were measured eight months later, the handwriting group showed significantly higher rates than a group that did nothing. In a separate experiment, students who wrote about "the most personally meaningful experience" for 15 minutes a day over several days showed improved health and better academic performance.
**Norwegian University of Science and Technology (2020)**: A team led by Professor Audrey van der Meer measured brain waves and demonstrated that handwriting activates more brain regions than typing and generates more complex neural network connections—deemed essential for retaining new information and improving learning performance.
The article also references neurologist Hasegawa Yoshiya's (長谷川義也) book, which argues that the visual elements unique to handwriting aid memory consolidation, and cites goal-setting research by Edwin Locke (University of Maryland) and Gary Latham (University of Toronto) showing that writing out goals raises motivation and makes concrete action easier. On that basis, the article presents paper planners as effective tools for making goals visible.
The Brain Science Behind Handwriting
According to the article, handwriting is an integrative brain activity that engages all five senses simultaneously: the feel of paper, the scent of ink and paper, the sound of the pen moving across the page, and the memory retrieval involved in recalling kanji and choosing phrasing. Computers and smartphones, by contrast, offer little beyond the tactile sensation of touching a device—visual, olfactory, and auditory stimulation are virtually absent, and the machine handles everything from kanji conversion to sentence generation, minimizing cognitive load. The article describes computers and smartphones as "coddlers of the brain."
Editor-in-Chief Hoshino's Critical Commentary
Hoshino introduces the article positively but attaches several caveats. He points out that Pennebaker's experiment did not pit handwriting against typing—it tested whether writing personal emotions and experiences at all made a difference, regardless of medium. He also notes that a 2021 replication of the 2014 Princeton/UCLA study by a separate team found no clear difference in lecture comprehension between handwriting and computer note-taking.
"If handwriting stimulates certain areas of the brain, typing stimulates others," Hoshino concludes. "The way you move your hands is completely different, so of course the brain works differently—but whether that translates into a performance gap is a separate question entirely." He stresses that typing has a clear speed advantage, says he cannot imagine going back to a paper planner for schedule management, and notes that he wants to keep shared family calendars digital.
The Editor-in-Chief's Stationery and Peripherals
The conversation moves from research to Hoshino's personal stationery preferences. He formerly used the LAMY (ラミー) Safari, a German brand that came under Mitsubishi Pencil's Uni umbrella in 2024 and now offers a Safari loaded with a Jetstream refill. For proofreading, he always reaches for the Pilot V-Corn (パイロットVコーン), a capped water-based ballpoint; removing the cap is a ritual that puts him in "red-pen mode." He buys his own V-Corn rather than using office supply stock.
His keyboard is a mechanical model with blue switches—the noisiest, clackiest option—purchased for around ¥30,000, paired with a Logitech Marathon Mouse. He reads most books on Kindle but reserves books he truly wants to savor for paper, because he can sense how far through he is and because physical location becomes linked to memory—he can recall where he was sitting when he read a particular passage. He cites Mogi Ken'ichiro's (茂木健一郎) advocacy of reading while traveling and Maruya Saiichi's (丸谷才一) book *Reading in London* (ロンドンで本を読む) to support the idea that the brain ties memory to place, time, and tool.
Hoshino closes by noting that the Hobonichi Techo is designed less for scheduling than for diary-style personal writing, and says he would like to try the habit of writing about his most meaningful daily experience for 15 minutes—starting next year.
Takeaways
- Pennebaker's research showed that writing about your most personally meaningful experience for just 15 minutes a day led to measurable improvements in both health and academic performance.
- Key handwriting studies have failed to replicate in follow-up trials, and the scientific debate over handwriting versus typing superiority remains unresolved.
- Editor-in-chief Hoshino's own attachment to specific tools—the LAMY Safari, the Pilot V-Corn, a blue-switch mechanical keyboard—reflects a personal conviction that the right instrument sharpens focus and strengthens memory.
This article is edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. It is not an official summary — please listen to the episode itself.