Crossroads

I can count up to seven pen shows (but what is a pen show, anyway?) held this past November—Tokyo, Istanbul, Madrid, Budapest, Melbourne, Singapore, and Bologna. But for the sake of this text, I will focus my attention on just three of them: the Tokyo International Pen Show (Nov 1–3), Pen Fest Istanbul (Nov 8–9), and the Madrid Pen Show (Nov 14–16).

I will begin by stating that I attended only two of them—Tokyo and Madrid. As I have often said on these pages and even in the printed publication Shumi-no Bungubako (趣味の文具箱), they are two primary examples of the basic models of pen shows—the Western and the East Asian. And they went as expected: plenty of stationery in Tokyo and a strong presence of vintage pens in Madrid. Both were successful events.

In Tokyo, about 150 dealers attracted over 3,000 visitors in three days (entry fees ranged from JPY 1,000—about EUR 6—to JPY 3,000 per day, or JPY 5,000 for a three-day pass; table fee: JPY 40,000, or EUR 225). Everything looked business as usual. The formula is well established, and it works. Limited as it is in the vintage and used pen area, TIPS has the merit of attracting small companies to display their goods to a mildly international audience. The only drawback might be the relatively small number of visitors compared to the large number of dealers, as well as the proliferation of similar events in Tokyo. The good part? The exhibition area is never crowded.

TIPS 2025.

In Madrid, over 1,500 visitors attended an event with around 60 dealers (free entry; EUR 360 per table). However, attendance figures in Madrid must be taken with a pinch of salt, as a free-access event makes accurate counting more difficult.

Still, the Madrid Pen Show showed some signs of exhaustion, as if that model had already reached its full potential and could only decline from here. The reasons are both circumstantial and structural.

Madrid has become a very expensive city, and for the first time in years the organisers are reporting some losses. The cost of the city also deterred many regulars from attending the event—accommodation, some said, was prohibitively expensive. But the main problem is the age of the regular attendee. We are old, and there is hardly a younger generation of aficionados ready to take over and generate the necessary demand.

Madrid Pen Show 2025.

Madrid, I believe, is at a crossroads—the formula that has worked for 21 editions may no longer be the right one in 2025. And the way out of this situation might be found in Istanbul.

Pen Fest Istanbul, now in its fourth edition, showed some remarkable numbers: 63 dealers and about 8,000 visitors in just two days (entry fee: TRY 500—EUR 10; table fee: TRY 40,000—EUR 800).

But what is more interesting from the outside is the combination of the two basic pen show models in a single event. As we can see in Miroslav Tichsler’s video, Istanbul offered new and old pens, stationery, pen fixers, and nib tuners—an exciting mix indeed.

Penkala´s video of the 2025 Pen Fest Istanbul.

Istanbul, at the crossroads between Europe and Asia, might very well represent the future of pen shows: the sweet spot between the declining Western tradition and the rising force of the Eastern aficionado.

Hongdian N6 Long Knife– Platinum Black

Bruno Taut
December 3rd, 2025
etiquetas: evento, mercado, Madrid, Tokyo, Istanbul