Drilling

This coming Sunday 29th, the August meeting of the Wagner Association will take place at the Subaru building in Ebisu, Tokyo. And now, checking my notes of the July Pen Clinic I see some pens worth to mention here.

On a previous entry I spoke about the creations of Mr. Yamada. This time I focused my attention on his modification of a Pilot Custom 823.


On these chronicles and in some other discussion fora, pen users have complained about the boring looks of the pens equipped with more interesting nibs. The case of Pilot is very significant. This company makes as much as 15 different nibs –actually, many more--, of which five or six really stand off the common trend of purely symmetric points. But these interesting nibs only come in black torpedo pens.

Mr. Yamada’s way to correct this problem is quite radical—and inspiring. He modifies the nibs by thinning the nib plate and by drilling holes on them with the final goal of making those rigid nibs more flexible. When needed, he also works on the feeds.


On its side, the Custom 823 model is often praised by its self-filling system (one of the few self-filling pens in the Japanese pen scene) and by its huge ink capacity. On its cons, the small selection of nibs: F, M, and B.


Then, he chose this interesting pen to create a more exciting writer. The result, looks aside, is not spectacular. Maybe because the baseline of this nib is a B, quite broad by default. Therefore, the apparent increase in the line-width is compared to an already wide line. To create more striking results, a fine nib would be more suitable.


There is, however, another alternative to this DIY (do it yourself) approach. Pilot’s size 15 nibs come also as a flexible falcon (FA). Exchanging the nib and feed in a Custom 823 is easy—just grab them firmly and yank them out of the section. A different story might be where and how to find this extra nib and feed.

The discussion on how efficient the falcon nib actually is should be the topic of another chronicle.

(Pilot Custom 742 music nib – Sailor Red Brown)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, August 21, 2010)
[labels: plumín, evento, Pilot, Tokyo]

Craftsman

Last Sunday (June 20th), the monthly Wagner association Pen Clinic took place. As in previous occasions, lots of magnificent fountain pens gathered in there, together with their happy owners.

Today’s report will focus only on one pen: Mr. Yamada’s tuned Pelikan M800. On a first look, it appears to be a regular green stripped M800 with a BB nib.

It writes very smoothly, and is very wet. But that is usually the case with these Birds and, more particularly, with thick nibs.

But if looked sideways to the nib, things start to change:

The nib is, say, two-folded.

Mr. Yamada is an expert in tuning nibs in order to make them to perform in new ways. Most of his creations have the purpose of making them a lot more flexible. He drills holes here and there weakening the structure of the nib.

Junior 14 K gold Sailor nib with two drills on the sides to increase the flexibility. Note also the enlargement of the breathing hole to add more ink flow (by letting air in) to cope with the increased demand of ink.

This time, he opted for making a very broad nib with a big flux to cope with that big demand of ink.

Sure enough, this nib reminds of those wonderful creations by Sailor nibmeister Mr. Nagahara.

The next Wagner Pen Clinic will be celebrated on July 25th, Sunday, at the usual venue.

(Soennecken 110 – Waterman Florida Blue)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, June 21, 2010)
[labels: Pelikan, plumín, evento, Sailor, Tokyo]

Madrid Monogatari

Para los otaku de la Myu en Madrid.

Supe de la Pilot Myu 701 una vez hube llegado a Japón. En aquel momento me interesaban las plumas, pero no constituían la obsesión que es ahora.

Esa pluma estuvo en mi bolsillo durante mucho tiempo, aunque no era mi única pluma. Tanto me gustaba –y tanto me gusta aun hoy— que en uno de mis viajes a Madrid llevé otra Myu para regalar a un viejo amigo, a Merino-san. Y creo que le gustó, porque pasados lo años todavía la usa.

La pluma llamó la atención a compañeros y paseantes. Uno de ellos, de nombre Kinno-san, decidió que necesitaba una Myu y ni corto ni perezoso compró dos en la Red a pesar de los precios fuera de toda medida de los tratantes habituales. La otra era para el cuarto mosquetero: Kendo-san.

Kinno-san y yo nos conocimos, meses más tarde, en Tokyo. Y, claro, nos fuimos a comprar plumas por esta ciudad. Recuerdo que se llevó varias Pilot M-90 en el bolsillo. En el museo de Pilot en Kyobashi, Kinno-san se quejaba de que aun sin conocerlo yo le había tocado las narices con aquella Myu que le regalé a Merino-san.

Mi siguiente paso fue un cambio de residencia a Madrid. Y allí, al abrigo de visitas a tiendas, de reuniones para probar tintas y plumas, de visitas al Pen Show de Madrid… realimentamos nuestra pasión por las plumas, no sólo por la Myu y por las plumas japonesas.

Ahora estoy de vuelta en Japón. Disfruto de la actividad estilográfica de Tokyo al tiempo que me esfuerzo por mantener el contacto con estilófilos de aquí y allá. Y aguardo con impaciencia la visita de algún miembro del grupo de otaku de la Myu de Madrid.

Las distancias, sin embargo, son muy obstinadas.

(Platinum Preppy 0.5 – Platinum Carbon Ink)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, Junio de 2010)
[labels: Madrid, Tokyo, Pilot, estilofilia]

Peco & Paco

ペコとパコ

This past Sunday (May 23rd), the monthly Pen Clinic organized by the Wagner association took place in Tokyo, at the same location as the Wagner 2010 Pen Show already reported on these chronicles.

These monthly events have the main purpose of fixing and tuning the pens of those attending it. About six pen gurus were ready to listen to our concerns about our beloved pens and work quickly and efficiently on them. The charismatic leader of Wagner, Mr. Mori, doubles as a pen doctor on duty. Two others are Peco –we met her at the Pen Show—, and Paco. Both are masters in the art of smoothing and tuning the nibs.

Peco...

...and Paco.

Other than that, the clinic works as a social gathering to exchange information and to test each other’s pens. Magnificent pens were scattered on the tables. Kimi Tarusawa showed a very rare Pelikan M800 with brown tortoise shell. According to some sources, Pelikan archivist Jürgen Dittmer among them, it was commissioned in 1987 by some Spanish vendors.

Peco-san is the proud owner of a trio of exquisite Soennecken Lady 111 in mint condition. A real pleasure to write with them!

Mr. Capless also joined us. He has the complete collection of Pilot/Namiki Capless (Vanishing Point the US market). To this event, he brought only a small sample of his collection to show the differences between Namiki Vanishing Point and Pilot Capless.

The box also included his recently purchased Lamy Dialog 3, and the pair composed by the Pilot Capless in regular black finish and its apparent twin --the black urushi Capless Pilot released on the occasion of the Maki-e Fair in Itoya.

How to make a flexible Sailor nib. Final tuning by Paco-san.

Other variations on the form of being obsessed.

Excellent pens and excellent people with great knowledge on their object of their obsessions.

(Morison Pocket Pen 14 K – Pelikan Brilliant Brown)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, 25 May 2010)
[labels: Evento, Pelikan, Japón, Tokyo, Soennecken, Pilot, Lamy]

Frills

Itoya’s Maki-e Fair 2010

(This event was celebrated in a shop, and unfortunately the management did not authorized pictures. However, this being Japan, too often these decisions are enforced or not depending on the staff in charge. Fellow Fountain Pen Network subscriber Moskva (http://dondellinger.com/mipiace/index.php?) was allowed to take some pictures and I thank him for his permission to include them in this post. They are also published in this entry of the above-linked blog: http://dondellinger.com/mipiace/index.php?post/2010/05/18/Exposition-Maki-e-chez-Ito-ya).

These days –from May 12 to 24— stationery Itoya in Ginza (shop no. 15 in this link) in Tokyo organized what they called a Maki-e Fair. Five were the exhibitors invited to it: The three leading Japanese companies –Pilot-Namiki, Platinum-Nakaya, and Sailor—, the California-based Danitrio, and a fifth one dealing with Aurora, Caran d’Ache, Parker, Pelikan, and Waterman. All those brands showed their creations in maki-e and urushi (lacquer).

Pilot introduced a 10-unit limited edition of a black urushi finished exclusively for the Fair for JPY 52500. It only came with M nib. The whole line of maki-e by Pilot and all the Namiki branded pens were on display.

The lower pen is urushi finished; the upper one, the regular black pen with golden accents. The difference, JPN 36750, and the nibs are exactly the same. Picture taken at the May meeting of the Wagner association (May 23, 2010).

Some pens by Nakaya together with matching business card holders. Picture courtesy of Moskva.

Platinum presented their first maki-e pen after a long time (I cannot find how long…), but their main selling point were those marketed under the Nakaya brand. However, the Nakaya craftsmen only attended the event on the last four days.

Two more Nakaya pens. Picture courtesy of Moskva.

Danitrio made the big news being invited to attend the fair by Itoya. And from now on, this shop will carry their line of products. Urushi and maki-e –with examples of good and unbelievable bad taste— were present on display. All the art on these pens is made in Japan; all the nibs –with one Japanese exception— are made in Germany by Peter Bock. They also displayed their 24 K gold nib.

Danitrio urushi pens. Picture courtesy of Moskva.

Sailor showed their urushi King of Pen line.

Sailor's King of Pens in urushi finish. Picture courtesy of Moskva.

Finally, the Western companies showed their very limited set of products. Among them, two M1000-based Pelikan limited editions –Maiko in Kyoto and Fireworks—, and the Sérenité based Waterman models were the more interesting products.

There was also a maki-e workshop for those interested in learning the basics of the technique. It costed JPY 2100 and was quickly sold out.

Certainly, I am not enticed by these pens, Actually, I wonder if they really were pens ready to write. For sure, some of them were, as I had the chance to test some of the pieces. However, the writing experience was not in accordance with the price tag. And that is what finally counts.

(Pilot Telescopic – Waterman Florida Blue)

Bruno Taut
(Shibuya, May 22, 2010)
[labels: Tokyo, Pilot, Sailor, Platinum, Danitrio, evento, FPN]

Mix

To Suomi-san, ink addict.

This I saw some weeks ago:



Japanese fountain pen company Sailor has changed its line of inks as part of their more aggressive marketing strategy. And to show them, an ink mixologist, armed with all the paraphernalia of a barman, tunes the ink color to your taste.

The Sailor webpage, event section, details the schedules: http://www.sailor.co.jp/event.

And regarding events. from May 12th to 24th stationery Itoya (links to the map and to my post on pen shops in Tokyo) holds a maki-e show with a number of makers –most likely Japanese— showing their products. I am planning to go to have a look. Anyone coming?

(Platinum WG full size – Platinum black, cartridge)

Bruno Taut
(Machida, May 10, 2010)
[labels: tinta, Tokyo, Japón, evento, Sailor]

Tokyo - April 2010

An updated version of this post can be found on this page in this blog. This text, however, will remain here as a landing mark for those coming from non updated websites. Updated version.


(Second edition of this post)
Over the years I have learned about where to find and buy fountain pens in this city. The summary of my findings is this report. But by no means is this list complete. I wanted to note, though, that the very traditional pen shop Juzensha, near Omori Station, is no longer in business.


Second hand shops:

1. Lemon
www.lemonsha.com

Photography and other “otaku” goods with a small section of pens. It offers discount prices for new goods.

Ginza Kyokaido Building 8F
4-2-1 Ginza (Sotobori Dori)
Chuo, Tokyo 104-0061
Phone: 03-3567-3131
See map.

Mo-Sa: 11:00-20:00
Su: 11:00-17:00


2. Eurobox
www.euro-box.com

Vintage pen shop in Tokyo.

Okuno Building 4F
1-9-8 407 Ginza
Chuo, Tokyo 104-0061
Tel: 03-3538-8388
Fax: 03-3538-6313
See map.

Th: 11:30-19:00
Sa: 11:30-18:00
(Usual opening days. Check website).


3. Pen Cluster
www.pencluster.com

Small shop dedicated, mostly, to foreign pens. Repair service available.

Wind Ginza 2 Building 3F
1-20-3 Ginza
Chuo, Tokyo 104-0061
Phone: 03-3564-6331
See map.

Tu-Fr: 12:30-19:00
Sa-Su: 12:30-18:00


4. Map Camera-Kingdom Note (New pens at catalog prices, and used pens)
www.kingdomnote.com

1-12-5 Nishi Shinjuku, 6F
Shinjuku, Tokyo 160-0023
Phone: 03-3342-7911
See map.

Mo-Su: 10:30-20:30


Discount shops:

5. Sekaido
www.sekaido.co.jp

Big art supply shop with a decent department of fountain pens and fine writing utensils. The good point of this shop is the discount, up to 25%, they offer with the membership card. It costs Y500 for two years. This shop has several branches, not all carrying fountain pens. The main store is in Shinjuku (5A), and in the West side of the station there is a branch (5B):

5A. Sekaido Head Office.
3-1-1 Shinjuku
Shinjuku, Tokyo 160-002
Phone: 03-5379-1111
See map.

Mo-Su: 9:30-21:00

5B. Sekaido Nishi Shinjuku
1-11-11 Nishi Shinjuku
Shinjuku, Tokyo 160-0023
Phone: 03-3346-1515
See map.

Mo-Su: 9:30-20:00


6. Yodobashi Camera
www.yodobashi.com

Several branches. For fountain pens, check big stores:

6A. Yodobashi Shinjuku Nishiguchi Honten (West side)
1-11-1 Nishi-Shinjuku
Shinjuku, Tokyo 160-0023
Phone: 03-3346-1010
See map.

Mo-Su: 9:30-22:00


6B. Yodobashi Akiba (Akihabara)
1-1 Kanda Hanaoka
Chiyoda, Tokyo 101-0028
Phone: 03-5209-1010
See map.

Mo-Su: 9:30-22:00


6C. Yodobashi Ueno
4-10-10 Ueno
Taito, Tokyo 110-005
Phone: 03-3837-1010
See map.

Mo-Su: 9:30-22:00


6D. Yodobashi Yokohama
1-2-7 Kita Saiwai
Yokohama, Kanagawa 220-0004
Phone: 045-313-1010
See map.

Mo-Su: 9:30-22:00


7. Mori-ichi
http://www.moriichi.net/index.html

This stationery shop has some pens at discount prices—about 30%. The selection has decreased in the last two years. It is located on Chuo Dori, almost in front of the Pilot Pen Station, further north towards Nihonbashi.

1-3-2 Kyobashi
Chuo, Tokyo 104-0031
Phone: 03-3281 3228
See map.

Mo-Fr: 9:00-18:00

Shops in Ameyoko (Ueno-Okachimachi):
Under the tracks of Yamanote line between Okachimachi and Ueno stations there is this big market where you can find almost all kinds of goods. Among them, five shops where you can find pens with discounts between 30% and 40%. They are focused on imported pens, but in some of the shops (Ameyoko Mito and Tachibana, at least) you can also find Japanese brands.

See map for the location of Ameyoko Market.


8. Ameyoko Mito
www.ameyokomito.com

6-10-7 Ueno
Taito, Tokyo 110-0005
Phone: 03-3833-5280
See map for the location of Ameyoko Market.
Location of Ameyoko Mito.

Mo-Su: 10:00-18:30

9. Asahi Shokai

6-4-12 Ueno
Taito, Tokyo 110-0005
Phone: 03-3834-4771, 03-3834-4772
See map for the location of Ameyoko Market.
See map under the tracks.


10. Daiya Sutoa

6-4-12 Ueno
Taito, Tokyo 110-0005
Phone: 03-3831-8092
See map for the location of Ameyoko Market.
See map under the tracks.


11. Tachibana Shokai

6-4-6 Ueno
Taito, Tokyo 110-0005
Phone: 03-3831-4800
See map for the location of Ameyoko Market.
See map under the tracks.

Mo-Su: 11:00-18:00


12. Marui
www.ameyokonet.jp/marui

6-4-4 Ueno
Taito, Tokyo 110-0005
Phone: 03-3831-7145
See map for the location of Ameyoko Market.
See map under the tracks.

Location of four of the five pen shops in Ameyoko Market.

Regular price shops:

Many shops, including most department stores carry fountain pens. Most of them at regular catalog prices. Eventually, it might be possible to find some “New Old Stock” (NOS) pens on them. Following there is a selection of some of these shops.


13. Maruzen
http://www.maruzen.co.jp/top/index.html

Maruzen is a bookshop with a large stationery section. It has a number of branches, most of which carry fountain pens at regular catalog prices. Among those, the head office in Nihonbashi, and that in Oazo Building in Marunouchi are the most interesting.
Maruzen carries its own brand of ink (Athena), and of pens (Century), and there are some special editions of pens by major companies for this shop alone.

13A. Maruzen Nihonbashi
3-10-2 Nihonbashi
Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Phone: 03-3272 7211
See map.


13B. Maruzen Oazo
1-6-4 Marunouchi
Chiyoda, Tokyo 100-0005
Phone: 03-5288-8881
See map.

Mo-Su: 9:00-21:00


14. Kyukyodo
http://www.kyukyodo.co.jp

Very traditional, and very old (founded in 1663), Japanese stationery. The main branch is located right on Ginza crossing. It has a small selection of Japanese and foreign pens.

5-7-4 Ginza
Chuo, Tokyo 104-0061
Phone: 03-3571 4429
See map.

Mo-Sa: 10:00-19:30
Su: 11:00-19:30

Location of pen shops in Ginza: Lemon, Kyukyodo, Itoya, Eurobox, and Pen Cluster.

15. Itoya
http://www.ito-ya.co.jp/

Itoya is a large stationery and art supply shop. There are some pens made exclusively for Itoya.

2-7-5 Ginza
Chuo, Tokyo 104-0061
Phone: 03-3561 8311
See map.

Mo-Sa: 10:30-20:00
Su: 10:30-19:00

This main branch has a pen repair service.


16. Pilot Pen Station
http://www.pilot.co.jp

This is a museum and a café owned by the pen company Pilot. There are no sales in here, but they provide a repair service for their own brand.

2-6-21 Kyobashi
Chuo, Tokyo 104-8304
Phone: 03-3538 3700
See map.

Mo-Fr: 8:00 - 19:00 (museum: 9:30-17:00)
Sa: 11:00-17:00


17. Shosaikan
http://www.shosaikan.co.jp/

Probably, the most beautiful pen shop in the world. And that makes a real experience to visit and, eventually, to buy a pen at this shop.

5-13-11 Minami Aoyama
Minato, Tokyo 107-0062
Phone: 03-3400 3377
See map.

Mo-Su: 11:00-20:00

Shosaikan also has two branches in Haneda Airport, on terminals 1 and 2.


18. Fullhalter
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/fullhalter/

This is a very small shop run by a nib master who prepares some commercial pens –smoothing the nibs, altering them in some special way, etc. The selling price is the same as in other shops.
Higashi Oi is near Oimachi station along the JR Keihin-Tohoku line.

5-26-20 Higashi Oi
Shinagawa, Tokyo
Phone: 03-3471-7378
See map.

Mo-Sa: 10:00-18:00


19. Kinpendo

Traditional pen shop located in bookshop-rich Kanda district. Mostly imported pens at regular catalog prices. The owner seems to tune the nibs of the expensive pens.

1-4 Jinbocho
Chiyoda, Tokyo
Tel: 03-3293-8186
See map.


Flea markets

Flea markets are a usual place to find hidden treasures. I will speak about them in a different blog entry.

This is it by now. Hope you can take advantage of this list.


View Fountain Pens in Tokyo in a larger map

(Pilot R lever filler – Pelikan Royal Blue)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, April-May 2010)
[labels: Tokyo]

Wagner 2010. After the show.

This past weekend the Wagner 2010 pen show was celebrated, and now is time for analysis and reflections.

As I mentioned on my previous entry, the whole show was basically unannounced. Little information in the Internet, no posters on pen shops,… nothing. Not even signs at the station or on the event building. Not even on the lounge we used! Actually, I had to go through all the floors of the building until I heard some noise. So, nobody stepped in by mere accident.

The show was, I think, on the small side. About 15 paying tables and, on the first day, about 200 visitors (according to the organizer Mutsumi Mori). The entrance fee on Saturday was 2000 yen –about USD 22.

Of all the tables, only about five were interesting. Mostly Japanese pens –Pilot and Sailor, some Platinum--, and one guy had a number of pens from already disappeared manufacturers such as SSS and (Japanese) Swan. Many of them were not exactly usable as daily writers—many eye-droppers whose inkflow was difficult to control, for instance.

Then, the non-Japanese stuff. First, Pelikan and Montblanc, new and old, and a big number of limited editions. Then, some Italians and some Americans—Sheaffer in particular. Very few Parkers, other than some modern Duofold. Only one Parker 51! Re limited editions, someone told me that a Montblanc Hemingway can cost up to half a million yen here (that is, USD 5500). There was one on sale for Y 225000 –about USD 2500.

The second day was more relaxed. The entrance fee was half price. I cannot say much about how many people attended, though. Some visitors were also trading their pens—“informal trading” one of them told me. Lots of informative conversations took place in there. That was the most social time of the pen show, but by no means unique to this one in particular.

The Show also had its own pens for sale: a Sailor Professional Gear with “Wagner 2010” engraved on the nib and on the cap ring. There were also some leftovers from a previous show—a Platinum with an impressive and smooth music nib from Wagner 2008. Last but not least, there was also a 18 K gold B nib Senator President.

Another interesting element of the show was the pen clinic. Five craftsmen, well four craftsmen and a craftswoman, were available to adjust and fix pens of all the visitors. The service was included in the entrance fee. They did work hard.

And on May 23rd, the monthly pen clinic of the Pen Collectors of Japan will take place at the same venue (EBIS303, http://gmap.jp/shop-14194.html). I will sure attend it. Entrance fee of Y 2000.

Interesting show, especially if you were interested in Japanese stuff. People were friendly and my lack of ability in Japanese was not a big problem. As it is usual in pen shows, we were a bunch of people eager to share our passion for fine writing objects.

End of the party, with flowers to Mutsumi Mori.

(Waterman Laureat - Pilot Black)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, April 28, 2010)
[Labels: evento, Tokyo, Pilot, Sailor, Platinum, Senator]

Wagner 2010 - Tokyo

This coming weekend –April 24 and 25--, the association Pen Collectors of Japan organizes its annual pen show by the name of Wagner. The event will take place in Ebisu, Tokyo, at the EBIS303 Hall on Subaru building (see map here: http://gmap.jp/shop-14194.html). Hopefully, there will be some signs for anybody who wanted to attend it. The entrance fee is Y2000 on Saturday, and Y1000 on Sunday.

Not much information in the Internet can be found on this event. And only members of the organizing association are allowed to participate as pen traders. Mo' power to them! but it does not seem to be a very wise idea to increase the number of pens in circulation in the very closed market of Japan. Unless, that is, traders were trying to keep it closed to be able to charge unrealistically high prices for some of their pens.

That is, actually, the case of foreign pens –i. e. non-Japanese made—in Japan. Few traders in Tokyo have a de-facto oligopoly, controlling the supply of those pens, and asking for outrageous prices when compared to those in other countries.

Anyway, such is the Japanese market and, so far, we have little options. In any event, this very parochial attitude is bound to change –like them or not—through international auction websites, on-line shops and traders, and even by traveling overseas to truly international pen shows.

Despite all this, I will attend this Wagner 2010 event. Hope to see you there.

(Waterman Laureat – Pilot Black)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, April 21, 2010)
[labels: Japón, Tokyo, evento]