Ohashido No More

Some weeks ago, blogger Fudefan released the news—Mr. Uehara had stopped the production of Ôhashidô pens in December of 2024.

Ôhashidô's lathe in 2023.

These news have surprised most of us. Not much information we really know and we can only speculate.

We do know, though, that Mr. Uehara had been struggling to source nibs for several years. Let us remember that he was using Sailor nibs, and Sailor went as far as engraving them in origin —that is in Kure— with the Ôhashidô imprint. But at some point, that relationship strained leaving Mr. Uehara in a difficult situation—fewer nibs meant fewer pens and lower sales. Making ends meet, therefore, became harder.

Some Ôhashidô pens on display at Maruzen's Pen Fair, March 2022.

Was that all the problem? Probably not, but it surely contributed to the demise of the brand.

Long ago I described Ôhashidô as a preindustrial operation, a one-man company without any system in the production. Chaotic as it might sound, that was also part of the appeal.

Some Ôhashidô products.

But Ôhashidô is no more, and we can only turn our eyes to all those old pens –even if there were recently made— to enjoy the charms of Uehara's works.

Well, we can also look for leftover pens in the hands of some retailers...

Ôhashidô's booth at Mitsukoshi's Fountain Pens of the World fair in 2017.

Ôhashidô, you will be missed. Uehara-san, please come back soon.

Asvine V126 – Waterman Florida Blue

Bruno Taut
February 17th, 2025
etiquetas: Ôhashidô, mercado