Sailor Nagahara Retirement Commemoration Pen

[troglokev]

Introduction

 

Nobuyoshi Nagahara is a name to be reckoned with in the world of fountain pens. Nagahara-san recently retired from his position at Sailor, for whom he invented a number of exotic and interesting nib designs. His inventiveness and craftsmanship was unparalleled,

and he will be greatly missed by all who take an interest in Japanese fountain pens.

 

To commemorate the man and his achievements, Sailor released a pen commemorating his retirement. The pen is in the shape of one of the bamboo pens that he loved, and crafted towards the end of his career, using the traditional take-nuri technique, which uses urushi to create the shape of the bamboo.

 

First impressions

 

I had been trying to get hold of one of these for some time, but it took a trip to Japan to find one. I was quite lucky: Itoya had none, but Maruzen had one left. Soon, they had none.

 

The unwrapping begins:

 

 

The pen comes in a gold coloured cardboard box, with "Nagahara Nobuyoshi retirement commemoration Take-nuri fountain pen" written in Japanese on the top.

 

 

Opening the box, we find a wiping cloth, the guarantee card, and some literature about the pen.

 

 

The first is a tribute to Nagahara-san and a description of the Take-nuri pen itself.

 

 

The second describes the Naginata Togi nib, and its benefits for writing in Japanese.

 

 

Finally a message from the man himself:

 

 

Removing the black foam reveals the cartridges, and the pen kimono containing the pen itself.

 

 

The pen reveals itself in the shape of a short length of bamboo. It's quite long, as pens go, certainly longer than the usual run of Japanese pens.

 

 

The cap is a snap-on, with a very positive snap when new. We'll see how the spring survives the years. There is something of a step down to the section, which allows the cap to smoothly line up with the barrel of the pen.

 

 

The nib, of course, is a Naginata togi N-MF, which is the earliest of the nibs that Nagahara-san designed for Sailor. It was based on early Japanese nibs that have a long blade shape which gives a broader cross stroke, and allows the width of the line to be modified by adjusting the angle of the pen to the paper. In skilled hands, it will give a brush-like stroke when writing in Japanese.

 

The nib has Nagahara san's signature in place of the usual Sailor Logo.

 

 

Weight and Dimensions

 

The pen is quite light, and well-balanced in the hand. There is no option for posting the cap, which must be set aside. Uncapped, it is about 2 cm longer than an uncapped MB149, and is about the same diameter. The balance point is nicely between the middle finger and the webbing of your hand, when the pen is held in the conventional fashion, so no balance issues.

 

Nib and performance

 

As previously mentioned, the nib is a N-MF naginata togi. The blade-like shape of the nib allows for variation of the line width, and gives a more brush-like stroke than a conventional nib.

 

The nib itself is smooth, as you'd expect from Sailor. The feed system provides plenty of ink flow, and there were no skipping or other flow issues, straight out of the box.

 

 

Filling system

 

The filling system is Sailor's proprietary cartridges. The proprietary cartridges are a particularly annoying feature of Japanese fountain pens, as they limit you to a particular manufacturer's cartridges.

 

There is a cartridge converter available, but the Sailor converter is not particularly capacious, so many will prefer to refill used cartridges.

 

Conclusion

 

The Nagahara retirement pen is a very appropriate pen to celebrate the career of one of the greats of the fountain pen world. Nagahara san loved the simplicity of bamboo shapes, while being one of the great innovators of nib design. This is a pen that I will treasure.

Edited February 23, 2014 by troglokev

[troglokev]

Translations to come... when I get the time.

[mtnbiker62]

Wow...what a treasure. Enjoy!

[Fakie]

Beautiful!

[willard]

> Finally a message from the man himself.

 

I'd like to know what Nagahara-san wrote.

 

***

 

Thank you for your review!

Edited February 22, 2014 by willard

[jandrese]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing,

[RMN]

Lovely pen to look at. I am not happy with that steppend section, though.

 

 

D.ick

[troglokev]

> Finally a message from the man himself.

 

I'd like to know what Nagahara-san wrote.

 

***

 

Thank you for your review!

 

More or less:

 

新作万年筆

New fountain pen

職人のあそび心がこの万年筆を作りました。

This fountain pen was created by the pleasure of the craftsman.

ゆっくりと手のひらにここちよいぬくもりを伝えます

As you leisurely hold it in your hand it conveys its pleasurable warmth.

長原宣義

Nagahara Nobuyoshi.

Edited February 22, 2014 by troglokev

[mrchan]

It looks simply magnificent. Congratz and enjoy it in good health.

[da vinci]

Great review - enjoy your pen

[Ghost Plane]

Only that step stopped me from trying for one. Glad you got one.

[andymcc]

Nice review, something about click caps always feels cheap to me, sort of like a <£10 Chinese pen but I think for this pen I'd compromise hope you enjoy your piece of pen history

[Guillermo]

That's a beautiful pen, congratulations. I like how the bamboo wood was treated and the final color. It's gorgeous. Plus the nib, it seems like a little brush! I'll start searching for this nib on a Sailor soon enough!

[Ghost Plane]

They're awesome nibs.

[troglokev]

More translation (not exact, for reasons of hermeneutic responsibility: a lot of it is hard to put in English)

 

長原宣義　勇退記念
Nagahara Nobuyoshi retirement commemoration

　

　竹塗り万年筆

　take-nuri fountain pen

この度は、本製品をお買い上げいただき、誠に有難うございます。

(very very politely) Thank you for buying this product.

一九四七年の入社以来、万年筆のペン先を作り続けてきた職人「長原宣義」。

The craftsman Nagahara Nobuyoshi, making nibs continuously since joining the company in 1947.

書く人、使う人の身になって考える事に頑固なまでにこだわり、常に「美しい文字を書く為に」と愚直に積み重ねてきた全ての仕事は日本だけでなく世界中の人々にも支持いただけるようになり、これもひとえにお客様のご指導の賜物と心より感謝いたします。

Writers, and users noted the individuality of his thought, always with the simple intention “for writing beautiful characters”, his accumulated work was supported not just in Japan but by people around the world, we would earnestly like to thank them all with this present.

皆様に愛しまれながらも長原宣義は二〇一一年一二月まで引退。本製品は長原宣義が最後の仕事として企画−監修をいたしました記念モデルです。

Although loved by everyone, Nagahara san retired in December 2011.This commemorative model was Nagahara san’s final product.

末永く愛用くださいませ。

Please treasure it forever.

「竹塗り」

「竹塗り」は山形県鶴岡市に江戸末期から伝わる伝統工芸。

Take-nuri is a traditional technique from Tsuruoka in Yamagata prefecture, originating in the late Edo period.

竹の模様を漆で盛上げ、三五工程にもおよぶ製造工程の中で、上塗りぼかしが施され、竹の持つ優美な姿を表現する技法です。

It is a technique for creating the graceful shape of bamboo using layers of Urushi, as many as 35 layers being applied during the process, along with shading of the colours.

茶筒-お盆を始め硯箱や重箱などが生産されています。

It was used for making tea caddies, tea trays, canisters for writing tools, and food boxes.

漆を塗るごとに輝く淡麗さ、その容姿に違わない重厚な伝統美、その中にあふれる静寂感。

With each layer of urushi, lustre is added, and with it a profound sense of traditional beauty, and a profound feeling of silence.

日本人の心の中の襞を再確認させてくれる逸品です。

This is a rare piece that will certainly touch the heart of the Japanese.

Edited February 23, 2014 by troglokev

[hari317]

Kev, do you know what is the base material of this pen? is it sustake? or some other material with lacquer used to simulate the bamboo pattern?

 

I have been always curious about the susutake pen but could never buy one being way outside my pay-band. I believe having read somewhere that the susutake pens themselves are made by hand by the father son duo and now the son continues to make them one by one by hand.

 

Thanks for the review.

Edited February 23, 2014 by hari317

[troglokev]

Hi Hari,

 

This one is Urushi over a base material, to simulate bamboo. Details in the translation above.

[alvarez57]

Gorgeous pen. Congrats! Review concise and to the point
I really like the nib

[troglokev]

Thanks, Sonia. The nib is particularly special: a nib with Nagahara san's signature! What could be better?

[csacks]

Beautiful. From the outer paper to the FP.

Thanks for sharing it with us