Wagner 2015

The Platinum 3776 Century is the current best selling fountain pen in Japan. It is, by now, a well known product even outside of Japan—a balance model made of plastic, cartridge-converter filling system, 14 K gold nib. All these characteristics are common among the direct competitors: Pilot Custom 74 and Sailor Profit (1911) Junior.

Platinum 3776 Century.

Pilot Custom 74.

Sailor Profit (1911 in some markets) in size Junior. The nib on display is not the original.

This success, though, might have come with a curse. Platinum has hardly introduced any new model recently, and its marketing strategy seems limited to making small variations of the success model. And there is more…

Platinum 3776 Century of the Fuji lakes series. In particular, this is the model dedicated to lake Shoji.

Platinum, as many other brands, is open to taking orders for personalized products. The Wagner Pen Club, in Japan, contacted Platinum in 2015 for the creation of the pen to commemorate its 10th anniversary.

The commemorative pen of the 10 years of the Wagner Pen Club.

The result was a 3776 Century in transparent green plastic. However, there is nothing on the pen revealing this otherwise obvious origin. All the inscriptions on it have changed. On the cap-ring it just says “WAGNER 10th”. On the nib, “2015 / WAGNER / 10th / Anniversary”.

The inscription on the cap-ring reads "WAGNER 10th".

The nib also carries its specific decoration. The inscription says “2015 / WAGNER / 10th / Anniversary”.

There were two possibilities for the nib: a music nib –115 units— and a soft fine –130 units. They were numbered separately.

These pens are numbered. There are 115 with music nibs, and 130 with soft fine nibs.

So, all in all these pens are somewhat different from any of the variations of the 3776 Century… but it is still a 3776 Century.

Two 3776 Century, after all.

My thanks to Mr. Shimizu.

Platinum 3776 Century, Wagner 10th anniversary – unknown ink

Bruno Taut
Shinjuku and Nakano, September 2016
etiquetas: mercado, Japón, Platinum, plumín musical

Daiso's Fountain Pens

Daiso, the Wikipedia says, is a franchise of 100-yen shops original from Hiroshima, in Japan. This company is present in a number of countries including US, Canada and Australia.

Among the many products present on the Daiso’s shelves we can always find some fountain pens. On this Chronicle I will describe some recent examples. All of them cost JPY 100, plus tax.

This picture taken in 2010 shows a number of inexpensive pens present in the Japanese market. Among them, some of the pens marketed by Daiso analyzed on this Chronicle.

1. Daiso Mini, ca. 2008. This was a small pen to be used posted. It uses Sailor cartridges, but it has no room for the regular Sailor converter. The nib is made of stainless steel and carries no engraving at all.

Daiso Mini.

Daiso Mini's nib, shared with the Regular model.

2. Daiso Regular, ca. 2008. This is the sister pen of the Daiso Mini. It is a regular size pen and accepts a converter. Section and nib are identical –and interchangeable – on both pens. This model could be found in black and in red.

Daiso Regular in red.

3. Sailor Ink Pen, ca. 2008. This is the cheapest Sailor fountain pen in recent years. It is a regular size pen that uses Sailor-proprietary cartridges and converter. The nib is labeled as F-4, is made of stainless steel, and is not tipped.

The Sailor Ink Pen, now discontinued.

The untipped F-4 nib of the Sailor Ink Pen.

4. Platinum Riviere. I saw this pen at Daiso shops back in 2008 and it is still available. Again, this is a cartridge-converter (Platinum proprietary) pen with steel nib. The nib is engraved with the platinum logo and the nib point—M. It is tipped and the pen is a smooth writer. Several colors --at least, black, blue and red— have existed, but lately only black seems to be available.

The Platinum Riviere in blue.

The Platinum nib of a 100-yen pen.

5. Daiso metal pen, ca. 2015 on. The latest arrival is this all metal pen save for the section. It implements a steel nib and uses international cartridges and converters. This pen is available in grey and white.

The non-branded fountain pens on sale at Daiso's shops nowadays.

Not much information is provided by the nib itself.

This last pen is, by far, the most attractive of those here described. On the other end we encounter the Sailor Ink Pen, whose untipped nib made it a bit tricky to use for the novice.

In any event, these Daiso pens show that there are refillable pens in the market for less than a US dollar or a Euro.

Pelikan M800 – Tomiya Tomikei blue (by Sailor)

Bruno Taut
Nakano, April 30th, 2016
etiquetas: Daiso, mercado, Japón, Sailor, Platinum.

Sailor's Plunger

Plungers are old and new, particularly in Japan. Some of the first fountain pens arriving in this country were Onoto plunger fillers, and the well known Japanese eyedropper system (::1::, ::2::) of storing ink in the pen is a simplification of the original Onoto system.

However common the Japanese eyedropper is, Japanese companies continued making plungers for some of their models. Pilot’s examples, the P type, are well documented, but these are by no means the only ones.

This is a Sailor, not an Omas.

The clip is clearly signed as Sailor.

Sailor also made some, and such is the case of the pen on display today. It is a small celluloid pen made around 1935. The nib, not that big, is labeled as being a size 20.

The size-20 nib. The engraving reads "14 CR GOLD / Sailor / REGISTERED / PATENT OFFICE / -20-".

These are the dimensions of this pen:
Length closed: 124 mm
Length open: 112 mm
Length posted: 151 mm
Diameter: 11 mm
Weight: 15.2 g (dry)

The plunger, half retracted.

The basic problem of this filling system is its vulnerability. It is very fragile and prone to break down due to failures in the plunger seal.

The plunger, disassembled.

My thanks to Mr. Sugimoto and to Mr. Mochizuki.

Pelikan M800 – Tomiya Tomikei Blue (by Sailor)

Bruno Taut
Nakano, April 25th, 2016
etiquetas: Japón, soluciones técnicas, Sailor, Pilot, Onoto

Pens at an Exhibition

The National Museum of Japanese History, in the city of Sakura (Chiba prefecture), hosts these days –March 8th to May 8th 2016—an exhibition on fountain pens: “Fountain Pens: Their History ad Art in Japan”. That is the official English title. However, the original in Japanese is more along the lines of “Lifestyle and Fountain Pens. The Modernization of Writing”.

Finally I had the chance to attend it and these are my recollections:

Sakura is a small town (population around 180000) in the prefecture of Chiba, about 60 minutes away from Tokyo Station by train. The Museum is connected to the train station by a bus route that takes 15 min. The admission fee to the exhibition is JPY 830. No pictures are allowed.

This is the outline:

Lifestyle and Fountain Pens. The Modernization of Writing.
0. Introduction. Literature and writing in Japan.
1. Fountain pens in Japan and their craftsmanship.
1.1 History of fountain pens in Japan.
1.2 Craftsmanship.
-- Lathe masters.
-- Maki-e.
2. Fountain pens and contemporary Japan.
2.1 The time of fountain pens.
2.2 Fountain pens and the modern organization.
2.3 Fountain pens and daily life.
3. Epilogue. Writing revisited.

The starting point of the exhibition is the role fountain pens played around 1900 in Japan. Fountain pens –that is, a reliable writing tool with an integrated ink deposit—were a much better writing device in a highly literate society whose writing system was based on handwriting. This starting point, somehow, defines the whole exhibition whose focus is on the social influence of pens and not on the historical development of them.

In fact, as could be seen on the outline, the part dedicated to the history of pen in Japan is limited to the first section (1.1). It is, however, rather limited and is organized by brands, with the big three companies taking most of the available space. A more chronological display would have been a lot more illustrative. There is also the obvious void of pens made after 1980 (save for some contemporary Pilot Capless and some Kato Seisakusho’s models).

Given the focus of the exhibition, most of the pens on display are common tools that were available to the average citizen. The most obvious exception to this rule is the selection of maki-e decorated pens used to illustrate the section on Japanese craftsmanship.

This section is completed with assorted memorabilia: ads, display cases, sale materials, etc.

More importance is given to the theme of craftsmanship of pens (section 1.2), focused on two aspects: pen turning and maki-e decoration.

Pen turning by rather primitive means has always been an important part of the Japanese pen industry. Let us remember brands as Ban-ei, Kato Seisakusho, Hakase, Eboya, Ohashido, and many others. Several of those lathes --pedal operated, with precarious chucks more often than not, and unstable toolposts— together with sets of tools can be seen at the museum.

Maki-e is also very well presented. The selection of pens, many from private collections, is magnificent and is supported by a computer system where visitors can explore the decorative motifs in detail through high quality pictures.

Page 111 of the catalog. It displays a maki-e decorated pen by Platinum. A pen, actually, already described on these Chronicles.

The exhibition is interesting and worth the trip from Tokyo. After all, pens rarely show up collectively in museums. Unfortunately, pictures are not allowed. However, there is a very serious flaw: pens and other objects are not dated. This is an inexplicable mistake to any curator.

The catalog is nicely printed and is affordable in price (JPY 1800, plus tax). Pictures, and in particular those of maki-e pens, are very good. But the editor made a big mistake. There are a number of pictures of pens that are seamless compositions of pictures of single pens. At the time of putting them together, someone made the stupid decision of representing all the pens in the same length, not respecting the actual differences in size. The result is ridiculous: a pocket pen of the same length of a full size Pilot Custom Sterling, as can be seen on the accompanying pictures.

Page 30 of the catalog shows these six Pilot pens. All of them, apparently, have the same length.

This is how those six pens (save minor decorative details) really look like with respect to each other. This ridiculous mistake is repeated in a number of pages of the catalog.

The lack of dates in the exhibition is not corrected in the catalog. Again, we are deprived of that valuable piece of information.

But I would visit the exhibition “Lifestyle and Fountain Pens” again.

My thanks to Poplicola-san.

Ban-ei in black urushi – Pilot Blue

Bruno Taut
Nakano, April 20th 2016
etiquetas: evento, Japón, estilofilia

The Pen Station

Urban development, real needs for more space, Olympic Games in 2020, real estate speculation… Whatever the reason, Pilot Corporation will close down its pen museum --Pen Station-- in Chuo Ward in Tokyo by the end of this month of March.

That is only part of a major operation. The current building of the Pilot Corporation headquarters will be demolished to erect a new one. These works will take over three years.

Pilot currently has no plan to reopen the pen museum. The pens and other materials on display at it will be taken to a warehouse at the Hiratsuka site where Pilot has its production plant. Thus, Tokyo is about to lose the only pen museum in town. This primary source of information for anyone interested on pens in Japan and on Pilot in particular will be lost. Of course, the information will still exist, but hidden somewhere in Kanagawa province, less accessible, harder to find…

Not many museums like this one exist anywhere in the world, and Japan seems very apt to host one—a active and thriving pen industry, a taste for craftsmanship, a very Japanese way to decorate pens… All that could be seen and enjoyed at the Pen Station.

Over a year ago, January 2015, Pilot opened a small museum on maki-e pens (plus some additional good produced by Pilot maki-e craftsmen) on the grounds of the Hiratsuka plant. It is an interesting initiative, but very small and limited in scope. And far away from Tokyo. However, it is bound to being the only pen museum in Tokyo area.

The old gunpowder manufacturing building is the center of maki-e creation at the Hiratsuka plant. It is also the site of the Pilot Maki-e Museum.

Sure enough, Pen Station, museum & café, will be sadly missed.

The Pen Station is located on Kyobashi 2-6-21, Chuo, Tokyo 104-8304. Phone: 03-3538 3700. Opens Monday to Friday, from 9:30 to 17:00; and Saturdays from 11:00 to 17:00. Sundays closed.


Note added on March 29th 2016:
George Kovalenko is the author of the blog Fountain Pen History, which is an invaluable resource for anyone interested on the history of North American pens. He pointed out that you can virtually visit Pen Station through Google Maps. This is the link: https://www.google.ca/maps/@35.6768921,139.7703936,3a,75y,125.83h,89.73t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sOAKJ4EblmqkAAAQzVOQZ5A!2e0!3e2!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en . Thanks, George!

Pilot Murex – Pilot Blue-black

Bruno Taut
Nakano, March 14th, 2016
etiquetas: Japón, Tokyo, Pilot

Bokkô

Some time ago, I spoke about a rather mysterious ink made by Pilot in the 1920s. That ink, by the name of Bokujû (墨汁), was described as real sumi (墨) ink adapted to be safely used in a fountain pen. Sumi, let us remember, is the ink used in traditional East Asian calligraphy, and it is made of vegetable soot and animal glue. As a result, it is hardly compatible with fountain pens—its particles in suspension would quickly clog the ink channels of the feed.

Many years after that ink was made, other companies have tried to create similar inks in one way or another. Platinum’s Carbon Ink and Sailor Kiwa-Guro (極黒) might be the closest relatives—nano particles in aqueous suspension. Pilot does not make any pigmented ink, but named one of the Iroshizuku inks as Take-sumi (竹炭), bamboo charcoal, giving a indirect reference to the traditional ink.

And there is another sumi-inspired ink in Japan. Kobe-based stationery shop Nagasawa has an extensive catalog of inks made by Sailor. They are, in essence, Jentle inks in exclusive colors. But there is one unusual ink in this catalog also made by Sailor. Contrary to the case of Jentle inks, the smell of this one is completely different—it is scented, and its fragrance is that of traditional sumi ink.

The name of the ink is not really clear. The label says “Fountain pen black ink. Sumi scent”. The last two ideograms, 墨香, could be read as bokkô or sumi kaori.

The label reads "Fountain pen ink, sumi scent."

As for the color of the ink, it is a fairly deep black, neutral color. Its chromatography does not show any non-black/grey dye.

To my knowledge, this is the only scented ink made by Sailor. And of all fragrances, that of shodo (書道) ink was chosen. Not flowers, not perfume—sumi ink.

Pilot Custom 823, WA nib – Montblanc White Forest

Bruno Taut
Nakano, June 3rd, 2015
etiquetas: Japón, Sailor, Platinum, Pilot, tinta

1.1942

Facts are stubborn, and sometimes there is no option but changing our models.

The assumed knowledge was simple—by May of 1939, the Japanese government banned gold from all domestic industries. And this prohibition was only lifted in 1949 for export goods and in 1954 for the domestic market.

But then reality –like the fossil record— hit hard.

A distant friend showed the following pen in a forum:

Everything on this pen screams 1938.

Especially, the gold nib.

It is a well known model—a Pilot RT from 1938 made in celluloid. The T stands for teko, lever (filler).

Inside, an impressive size-6 nib made of 14 K gold.

A size 6 nib in 14 K gold.

And underneath, the manufacturing date: 1.42—January of 1942.

The manufacturing date of the nib is engraved on the lower area of the nib: 1.42.

This simple piece of information pushes us into changing that assumed knowledge about golden nibs in Japan. Some sources close to Pilot company explain that this nib was made for export, and it is very rare. They also suggest it might be a replacement nib, as the R models usually implemented smaller units. However, this should be taken with a grain of salt—it is difficult to install a big nib on a small pen, and there were not that many models available at the time.

The conclusion, though, is a more basic and more general one: there were gold nibs in Japan in the 1940s. Probably very few, but some.

My thanks to Mr. Niikura, Mr. Sunami, and Mr. Zúñiga.

Pilot Custom 823, WA nib – Montblanc White Forest

Bruno Taut
Nakano, May 30th, 2015
etiquetas: Japón, Pilot

Fountain Pens of the World Festival (III)

The third leg of these texts on the Festival “Fountain Pens of the World” organized by Mitsukoshi department store are the limited releases made for the occasion, and for the 100th anniversary of the company.

The brown version of the Custom 742.

Pilot offered two versions of the well-known Custom 742 model. The varuiations oer the regular model laid on the body colors, red and brown, and on the nib. The regular size-10 nibs were now made of 18 K gold —just like those of the Namiki Yukari or the new Chinkin Series--, and showed a special engraving referring to Mitsukoshi’s symbol, a lion. 50 units of each color were made.

The nib of the Custom 742 is made of 18 K gold.

Sailor, on its side, offered a red ink by the name of “101 st”, and three pens—a Professional Gear in green (60 units), a black Profit (1911 in some markets, 50 units), and a maki-e decorated Profit (10 units) equipped with a Naginata Togi nib. The engraving of the black Profit nib was also special for the event.

Sailor's products for the occasion.

Detail of the maki-e pen by Sailor. Its name is "Lion and Bridge"--Mitsukoshi at Nihonbashi.

Detail of nib of the limited edition Sailor Profit. Again, a lion.

Finally, Platinum also offered a 3776 Century with a special decoration involving, of course, a lion. 100 units were released. I did not have the chance to see this pen and the picture is taken from the leaflet of the whole event.

Platinum's 3776 Century made for the Mitsukoshi's event. Picture taken from Mitsukoshi's leaflet of the event.

These limited edition pens attract the eye of the collector willing to pay premium for an unusual unit. These pens create an incentive for him –very often well aware of the market news and releases—to attend an event that otherwise would be all too predictable. Again, the outreach plan works even for the aficionado.

No wonder the pen scene in Japan was so active nowadays.

Romillo Essential Black – Parker Quink Blue

Bruno Taut
Nakano, April 24th, 2015
etiquetas: Sailor, Platinum, Pilot, mercado, evento