Paul Oxberry wrote:
> I have just started too learn Hiragana, and would like any ideas in what
> would be a good type of pen the practice writing.
> Ball point or felt tip, fine or thick.
> 
> Paul

I prefer ball point pen, myself, even for kanji. If you want a true 
calligraphic look, you need to get some kind of brush, even if its 
really a pen of some kind, but for handwriting, a ball point pen seems 
to work just fine. Certainly, the handwriting examples I've seen appear 
to use a バルペン。 (ball point pen).