Confessions of a Spanish Pen Addict. III.

The third and last article of the Confessions of a Spanish Pen Addict appeared in issue 77 (nominally April 2026) of Shumi-no Bungubako (趣味の文具箱). I say final because I have decided to discontinue this collaboration due to the strict internal censorship that forms part of the magazine's editorial policy.

The ostensibly subversive subject of these particular Confessions is the story of the Presidente pens marketed in Spain around 1960. The original text reads as follows:


A Very Spanish Pen (Made in Japan)

In Madrid, every Sunday an immense and ever-growing flea market takes place along Ribera de Curtidores street. And, as in most street markets, what someone else might discard is for you to buy. There, at one stall, I saw an array of unused fountain pens, neatly arranged. They were claimed to be Presidente, a minor Spanish brand legally registered by a certain Doroteo Pérez y Pérez, whose business was located at number 8, Calle del Príncipe Pío, Madrid, in 1959.

The luxury Presidente. Photo by Tommy Lanceley

In actual fact, however, those pens proved to be Platinum pens.

Further research in Spain showed that there appear to be only three models of Presidente pens, albeit with some color variations―black, grey, red, and blue. All three feature the Platinum globe logo with the letters S and N (after Shun-ichi Nakata, 中田俊一, founder of Platinum) engraved on the cap and on the nib. One of them even carries the name Platinum engraved on the nib, whereas the other two are imprinted with the brand name “PRESIDENTE” above the Platinum logo. In any event, the Spanish brand is always prominently engraved on the barrel: “PRESIDENTE / Registrada.” Inside, the filling system also bears the Spanish brand, together with instructions on how to fill the pen, written in imperfect Spanish.

Presidente and Platinum logo.

All of them are aerometric fillers―bladder type with an internal compensation tube― with nail-shaped steel nibs, very similar to the Honest models made by Platinum in the early 1950s. Those models evolved into the Honest 60 in 1956–57, when Platinum decided to say “farewell to ink bottles” and marketed the first ink cartridges in Japan, thus abandoning self-filling mechanisms.

In 2013, at the now-discontinued Mitsukoshi Stationery Festa, the seasoned Platinum craftsman Mr. Masayoshi Nakanishi (中西正好) examined my Presidente pens. He immediately recognized them as Platinum products:

“Oh, that was the luxury model! Be careful with the clip, as it is a bit fragile.”

At the same time, however, he explained that there were no company records of contacts or transactions dating so far back. Consequently, Platinum as a company could not say much―if anything―about these somehow Spanish Platinum pens: pens bearing engravings and instructions in Spanish, sometimes incorrect Spanish.

Publishing this information online prompted several fellow aficionados from around the world to share their own knowledge. We then found out that there had been other cases of foreign-branded Platinum pens besides the Spanish one. In South Africa, the brand Hifra marketed similar models dating from the 1950s, as well as more modern Platinum “pocket pens” later in the 1960s. In Greece, the brand Joker also used a couple of Platinum models in its operations. In this latter case, the pen box carried two brand names―Joker and Platinum.

Honest models by Joker (top), Hifra (middle), and Presidente (bottom).

Joker AND Platinum.

Were there more operations like these? In the absence of written records in Platinum’s archives, it is not possible to decide one way or the other. We do know, however, that such operations existed and that they had a very loose connection to Platinum in Japan.

Once again, the pen community proved to be essential in providing information beyond what official records might reveal. There is always something hidden in plain view at flea markets around the world.

I am merely the writer of this story, populated by a number of characters. Eduardo Alcalde, Miguel Huineman, Salvador Maturana, Toshiaki Sugimoto (杉本寿明), Kostas Kouvaris, Alberto Linares, and Masa Sunami (すなみまさみち) contributed by offering information and expertise.

RomilloPens Wi Toledo – Pilot (Thai) Black

Bruno Taut
January 2026 and March 17th 2026
etiquetas: Platinum, Presidente, Joker, Hifra, publicaciones

Confessions of a Spanish Pen Addict. II.

In issue 76 (January 2026) of Shumi-no Bungubako (趣味の文具箱), I published the second instalment of the Confessions of a Spanish Pen Addict. On this occasion I wrote about the little-known Pilot Capless made in Brazil, a subject that has already been discussed on these pages (::1::, ::2::). For that reason --and because the relevant material is already available-- I will not be translating the original manuscript, which was written in Spanish, for... reasons.

In any case, those reasons provide a perfectly convenient excuse to release some information about these obscure pens in Spanish. English-speaking readers may refer to the previous Chronicles --linked above-- simply resort to any online translator. What we really need now is someone willing to contribute information in Portuguese and Japanese--something more substantial than the anodyne, self-censored drivel that certain pathologically timid magazines deem safe enough to publish.


La extraña Capless brasileña.

Una bitácora es, sobre todo, un mecanismo de difusión de contenidos. Pero, con el tiempo puede llegar a ser un canal de comunicación con otros aficionados. Escribir en inglés sobre el mundo estilográfico japonés, un ámbito a menudo protegido tras la muralla de su idioma, favorece esa comunicación. El resultado son consultas y comentarios enviados por aficionados a las plumas estilográficas de medio mundo. Y, a veces, las noticias son sorprendentes.

Hace unos tres años, un lector me escribió desde Brasil para contarme que tenía en su poder unas Pilot Capless fabricadas en ese país. Y hasta me envió fotos. En Tokyo consulté a los sospechosos habituales, un puñado de personas con mucha experiencia y conocimiento del universo estilográfico japonés. Entre ellos destacaba el añorado Sr. Niikura (新倉) (1942-2024), gran autoridad en Pilot. Todos reaccionamos con sorpresa y hasta escepticismo:

– Pero, ¿acaso alguna vez las Capless se fabricaron fuera de Japón? – preguntó uno de nosotros.

La Capless brasileña en su caja. Foto de Tommy Lanceley.

Trasladamos la pregunta obvia a Pilot Japón, pero la respuesta no arrojó ninguna información: Pilot no tiene registros de la producción fuera de las fronteras japonesas.

Tuvimos que esperar unos meses para poder tener alguna de esas plumas en las manos: mi lector tenía una visita pendiente a Japón y aprovechamos para organizar un pequeño encuentro alrededor de esas Capless misteriosas. Y es que en ausencia de información oficial no hay nada como leer la pluma para empezar a entender de qué hablamos.

En términos generales, tal y como se puede ver en la fotos, la Capless brasileña pertenece a la serie C-300GW comercializada incialmente en Japón a partir de 1964. Pero hay detalles en ella que la diferencian claramente del modelo japonés. El ejemplar brasileño emplea un plumín de acero, sin fecha de producción, mientras que la versión japonesa utiliza un plumín de oro de 14 quilates, acompañado del logo JIS (Japan Industrial Standards) y del año y mes de fabricación. Los anillos centrales del cuerpo son también diferentes: cóncavo el japonés, levemente convexo el brasileño.

Plumín de acero para la brasileña, de oro para la japonesa. Foto de Tommy Lanceley.

El detalle más revelador, sin embargo, reside en los grabados. En el cuerpo de la versión brasileña puede leerse “PILOT / IND. BRASILEIRA”, y en su plumín, la abreviatura “PILOT / IND. BRAS.”. Por el contrario, la Capless japonesa exhibe el habitual “MADE IN JAPAN” en ambos lugares. El origen brasileño queda, por tanto, aclarado.

La Capless brasileña en el centro. Nótense las diferencias en el anillo central. Foto de Tommy Lanceley.

Así que, efectivamente, nos encontramos con una pluma semejante pero también diferente a un modelo bien conocido en Japón. Y si bien Pilot cuenta con una factoría en São Paulo desde 1954, no sabemos si esta Capless se fabricó íntegramente en Brasil o si simplemente se ensambló en Brasil a partir de piezas enviadas desde Japón. Los grabados “IND. BRASILEIRA” y la ausencia de la marca JIS, sin embargo, apuntan a la primera hipótesis.

Por otro lado, ¿durante qué años se produjo y se vendió? ¿Se vendió exclusivamente en el mercado brasileño o llegó a otros países de América del Sur? ¿Cuántas se fabricaron? ¿En qué colores se ofreció?

En fin, muchas preguntas sin respuesta inspiradas por una humilde pluma que nadie parece conocer. Una pluma que, por otro lado, no es más que una nota al pie de página de la historia inacabada de Pilot en general y de la Capless en particular. Pero es la rareza lo que de verdad atrae al coleccionista. Ahora bien, esta Capless brasileña quedaría arrinconada en un cajón ignorada por todos si no hubiera un mínimo de información pública sobre ella.

Por ello crear y mantener canales de comunicación a través de publicaciones impresas y redes sociales es importante para coleccionistas e historiadores. Y es que hay plumas e información que no aparece en los registros oficiales de las marcas y hay mucho que la memoria colectiva de los aficionados y coleccionistas puede ofrecer.

Universal with music nib – Kingdom Note Kawaratake

Bruno Taut
November 2025 and March 10th 2026
etiquetas: Pilot, Capless, Brasil, publicaciones

Confessions of a Spanish Pen Addict. I.

Last September I started a collaboration with the magazine Shumi-no Bungubako (趣味の文具箱) under the generic title “Confessions of a Spanish Pen Addict”. My first text was this piece “East Meets West” on some old topic included on these Crónicas Estilográficas you are now reading.

Repetitive as this text might be, it can also work as a contrast to the new ways seen in Istanbul that I described on my previous text.


East Meets West

My relationship with fountain pens started in high school in Spain. My first workhorse was a plasticky Waterman Jif —an excellent, even if simple, scholar fountain pen.

Waterman Jif.

The hobby came after years of using fountain pens of all kinds —good and bad, smooth and scratchy. Already living in Japan I needed a new tool to write with. I made an Internet search for information about pens in Tokyo and it gave me my first insight on Japanese fountain pens by the hand of the Pilot Myu 701. This beautiful pen triggered my interest for pens in general. Then I digged deeper. That was about twenty years ago. And four years later, I started my blog “Crónicas Estilográficas” where I mostly write about Japanese fountain pens.

Pilot Myu 701.

I attended my first pen show in 2009. It was the sixth edition of the Madrid Pen Show, the pen show of my hometown. It was a wonderful experience: an endless collection of pens and a generous community of enthusiasts willing to share their knowledge. The event gathered about 50 dealers and about 1000 visitors during three days in november.

Since then, I have visited many more pen shows, and I have gained some experience in navigating them, as they are always overwhelming: so many pens and so many dealers, but also so little money.

Madrid Pen Show in 2024.

But I live in Japan, and the scenario here is very different. At that time, 2010-15, there were frequent pen meetings in the Tokyo area –and in Japan in general. They were common, but also small: about a couple of dozen participants at most, and not that many pens for sale.

It was only in 2018 that Tokyo witnessed something resembling a true pen show: the Tokyo International Pen Show, better known as TIPS. Since that year, TIPS has been held every autumn and has grown steadily in reputation and attendance. But is it truly comparable to the grand pen shows of Madrid, London, or Utrecht, to name just a few?

European pen shows are, at their core, about fountain pens. Of course, there are always some dealers offering paper, ink, and other accessories, but these are secondary. The fountain pen is the king. And perhaps because of that focus, attendees are mostly middle-aged or older, and predominantly male.

By contrast, TIPS and other events of the type in Japan are broader in scope —they celebrate stationery culture in general. At these events, fountain pens, mostly new, are only a very small portion of what is on display. The majority of tables feature almost anything but pens: notebooks, fancy paper, stickers, ink stamps, masking tapes, and, above all, new inks. The visitors are also very different: younger, often in their twenties and thirties, and with a strong presence of women.

Tokyo International Pen Show, TIPS, in 2019.

As interesting as these events are, they might not be the primary destination for fountain pen lovers in search of unique pens in Japan. Instead, such collectors could do much better by looking to the smaller groups of aficionados whose regular gatherings, though modest in scale, are specifically dedicated to fountain pens.

Reagardless of its commercial focus, the example of TIPS poses an important question: how sustainable is the European model for pen shows? Their audience may be loyal and relatively wealthy, but they are also aging, and there is hardly a new generation of pen lovers ready to take over. Pen show organizers in Europe may then need to look at events like TIPS for inspiration, especially when it comes to attracting younger customers.

On the other hand, the TIPS model is not without problems. Its very broad scope, particularly in a country so rich in stationery goods as Japan, makes it easy to replicate. In fact, in recent years we have seen a proliferation of similar stationery markets and fairs. At times, it has seemed as though there was one such event almost every month. Is there room for so many? To stand out, organizers might want to study the European model, where specialization and focus provide a clear identity.

Ultimately, my only wish is to keep attending these gatherings, both in Europe and in Japan, for many years to come. Pen shows —whether in Madrid, Hamburg or Tokyo— are enjoyable events where a personal passion becomes communal. But for this to happen, the shows themselves must adapt, evolve, and survive.

Pilot Elabo – Pilot Black

Bruno Taut
August 25th and December 31st, 2025
etiquetas: evento, mercado, Madrid, Tokyo, publicaciones

The Litmus Test

Within a newspaper, there is often tension between two departments that are, at least in theory, far apart: accounting and editorial. While the journalist focuses on reality, the accountant ensures that the books balance — and those books largely depend on the advertising the publication attracts to its pages. The conflict arises when a news story is critical of a company that advertises in that same medium.

– “But did you really have to publish that? Couldn’t you give it a softer tone?”

This conflict is unavoidable, but it is also survivable. The powers at work manage their differences because the field covered by news reporting is much broader than the specific interests of any single advertiser. Thus, the publication does not depend excessively on any one external source of funding.

A very different situation arises when the publication’s raison d’être is the consumer goods available on the market — and there are many such publications, particularly in Japan. Their fields are diverse: cars, watches, fashion, gastronomy…

Publications in Japan.

And the problem now is obvious — the number of potential advertisers is very limited, and the publication becomes more vulnerable to any negative reaction its reporting might provoke.
But who is the reader of the publication? For whom is it produced? Where does the publication’s loyalty truly lie?

Beyond polite words and public relations, the litmus test is simple: does that publication ever say anything negative about a product? According to them, is there a bad car on the market? A bad watch? A bad pen? Do they ever dare to publish a negative review?

Because at the end of the day, they must decide whether they are in the business of reporting — or in the business of collecting advertisements.

Mannenhitsu-no Yamada – Akkerman #13 Simpliest Violet


Bruno Taut
October 28th, 2025
etiquetas: mercado, publicaciones