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14 October 2012

Itoya 2012

Itoya is one of the big stationery shops in Tokyo. Its two buildings in Ginza are a Mecca for any lover of stationery goods, including fountain pens, visiting this city.

Itoya's building in 1909

Itoya has recently –opening this past October 3rd—reorganized its sections. Fountain pens are now located on the backstreet building, named K. Itoya 1904 after the foundation of the company in 1904 by Katsutaro Ito, and occupies the first two floors. On the ground floor we see the Montblanc counter, always separated from the rest of pens by imposition of the company, and most pens in price ranges medium and low. The second floor is dedicated to maki-e and urushi fountain pens and to the technical service.


The K.Itoya 1904 building is clearly marked as the fountain pen building, although only two of the seven floors are in fact devoted to these tools.

View of the second floor, dedicated mostly to fountain pens decorated in maki-e and urushi.

This investment in the new organization and this larger space dedicated to sophisticated pens can only mean that the profits derived from upscale writing tools in increasing in the total balance of the company. And foreign visitors might have played an important role in this as there is now a native English-speaker salesman.

Pilot E, manifold nib – Pilot blue-black

Bruno Taut
Shinjuku, October 12th, 2012
Etiquetas: Tokyo, mercado, Japón, papelería, Itoya

9 comments:

Bana Sıkça Yaz said...

Bruno,

thank you for great information. I hope I will visit Japan someday, though I have to save for great Japanese pens :)

GourmetPens said...

Ohhhhh I so hope to visit one day!! This makes me drool! Thanks for sharing!

Bruno Taut said...

Thanks, Zeynep and Azizah, for passing by and commenting. Itoya is indeed a place to visit. Drooling comes by default once you enter, and not only because of the fountain pens.

Thanks again.

BT

ML said...

Wow! An architectural marvel and pen store in one place! Great article, Bruno!

Bruno Taut said...

Thanks, ML. The architectural attractions of Ginza are multiple in fact.

Thanks for commenting.

BT

Anonymous said...

buenos dias,esto es poner los dientes muuuuuuuuy largos !.
me lo apunto por si algun dia consigo ir para alla.
un abrazo

Bruno Taut said...

Anímese, D. Anónimo, a declara su identidad, aunque fuera con un psudónimo.

Itoya es un lugar que merece una visita, pero no es el lugar adecuado para comprar. Hay sitios más baratos en Tokyo, tal y como describo en la bitácora.

Gracias por el cometario.

BT

Lourdes V. said...

Hello. I live in Spain and soon a family will be traveling to Japan. I have commissioned a pen Namiki Falcon , cheap , the resin . He did not have much time to buy ... what store you recommend?
Thanks for your answer
(sorry for my English. I am using Google translator )

Bruno Taut said...

Lourdes V:

Póngase en contacto conmigo a través de mi cuenta de correo electrónico katsura.rikyu arroba gmail.com

Saludos,

BT

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