I prefer wooden pencils to mechanical ones. They may be a pain in the ass to sharpen, but the print looks better imo.

I hate hate HATE ballpoint pens. They look dull and really make Japanese look ugly. I prefer gel ballpoints. I would use fountain pens, but I'm left-handed.

EDIT: The pen NCG posted is the very same kind I use!! It's perfect. It's bold and smooth.

EDIT Part Deux: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwYTibTbYHQ ooh