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Shopping Advice For First Trip To Tokyo


jasedit

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I'm heading to Tokyo next week for the first time ever, and hope to have some time to explore the city. In particular, I'm very interested in trying to get an idea of what fountain pen related gear might be worth buying there, either because of rarity or good value. I've been trying to look around online, and have found some suggested shops to try and stop by, but other than the high level "Japanese goods are likely to be cheaper in Japan" I haven't found any specifics to follow. Any ideas?

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FWIW, do a search of the forum and you'll find lots of advice, such as this recent post or this recent post.

 

IMHO, one of the more interesting opportunities might be attending one of the (semi-?)regular "Pen Clinics" at the various pen stores; you can bring your (non-MB) pens and have them tuned up...almost like getting a new pen but much cheaper! ;)

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FWIW, do a search of the forum and you'll find lots of advice, such as this recent post or this recent post.

 

IMHO, one of the more interesting opportunities might be attending one of the (semi-?)regular "Pen Clinics" at the various pen stores; you can bring your (non-MB) pens and have them tuned up...almost like getting a new pen but much cheaper! ;)

I've already run into those as great examples of posts for shops to visit, so I'm set on that front. I'm more interested in getting a sense for what gear is worth searching out and trying - for instance, on my honeymoon to Germany, I knew to look at Pelikan fountain pens since they were more expensive here in the US, and were a type of fountain pen I'm interested in. Germany was much easier for me to find examples of fountain pens to search out, since I was only interested in fountain pens. With Japan, I know there are a lot of potentially interesting purchases which I have less visibility on, particularly with regards to being worth purchasing while over there as opposed to imported to the US.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm going to piggy-back on the OP's thread if you don't mind . I'm also looking for similar advice except I'm not going to be in Tokyo myself. My father is currently there for an academic conference and will stay about a week. He asked if I wanted him to bring back anything so I was hoping to take this opportunity to stock up on more Pilot (gel) pens. But my friend told me to check out the fountain pens as well and being a total novice to the latter, I'm not quite sure where to start. I browsed the Namiki/Pilot website and really like their Sterling and Metal Falcon collections...

 

Anyways, it seems like the majority people here recommend Itoya. I'm hesitant to ask my father to go to more than one shop (don't want to trouble him too much) so that seems like the best bet. My main question is: How much cheaper (if they are even at all) are the Pilot (gel/frixion) pens and the Namiki fountain pens in Japan compared to their prices in the US? I usually buy from Jetpens.com but I also came across Engeika and Fountainpen-Japan, which seems to offer many at a large discount. I have no basis for comparison so I was hoping that perhaps the more seasoned pen-buying members here could give me some advice?

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A8128,

 

First off, :W2FPN:

 

It might help us to know where your father's conference is going to be held. (For example, if it's somewhere out in Ibaraki prefecture vs. central Tokyo, then getting to Itoya's HQ might be challenging on a tight schedule).

 

Also, while I can't speak for the pens you're looking for, you should be aware that retail prices in Japan for FPs are usually NOT cheaper than U.S. prices (I specify retail here as you can get better prices online, as you've already found). What you lose in price flexibility, however, you gain in the variety of FPs that aren't available outside of Japan (or not without a long wait). So I'd structure your search towards a Japanese FP that you would like to try that's either unavailable or is hard to find online. (e.g., some of the Sailor LEs that are only produced for the major Japanese pen shops)

 

One other option that might be of interest (and easier on your budget) is to look at LE inks that are only available in Japan. For example, I think Maruzen has a number of inks that aren't available outside of Japan that were recently reviewed here. The only possible downside to this approach is that i. your father would need to pack the ink in his checked luggage and ii. you would need to give him a number of spill-proof baggies in case one of the inks opens in transit.

 

HTH! Good luck and let us know what you get!

Edited by JLS1
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