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I don't know much about Japanese writing, but from my general experience I would not bother too much about brand. Focus mostly on the nib, like mentioned extra fine and fine tip should work well for most notebooks. If you write larger signs; medium, broad and even double broad are quickly to be considered. The guys I know who learn Japanese or Chinese practice on millimeter paper and often use Pilot Gel roller 0.5 and 0.7, which roughly are in the EF to F range. In my experience, gell rollers are very smooth almost slippery across the paper, and aren't ideal to improve on hand writing. It's not a bad idea to aim for a fountain pen at all. A pencil can be good in this situation, some use felt or brush tip pens, I personally lean towards a fountain pen with a suitable nib.
Nibs can be very smooth and flow across the paper like it's oiled, others can give a bit more resistance to the paper (often described as feedback). Firm steel nibs can work well and give a very even neat line. Some pens let out more ink than others (a.k.a dry or wet), and needs to be taken into consideration. Gold nibs can be worth considering if you look for specific qualities and know what you like, it's more of an investment. Scratchy nibs can be a horror, many prefer the smoothest nibs available, but like mentioned, don't ignore nibs with a little feed back to the paper, it can help a lot when practicing even finger movements. To find that perfect pen for your purpose you have to try a few to get to know the differences and what you like. Be warned; it easily escalates into a small colletion of pens and ink bottles. Some factors are purely personal, hand size, grip, design, color, feel of material,...
I have found a bargain priced Chinese pen I like a lot as well as new and vintage pens with or with out gold nibs. Another feature I like is the piston filler type found on many Pelikan and Montblancs. The cartrige and converter types are fine, but there are pens with larger ink capacity.
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