This forum is more than just Japanese pens, but if you have Asian pens in your collection, no matther what price point, as long as you like them, then try to post a few pics here. Tell us about them, educate us. Not a full review, but more show and tell. I am sure there are many brands out there we have not hear of. So, let's have some fun and have a pic fest.

I'll start with some Nakaya that have come and gone. I'll post pens from other manufacturers as well separately.

This one was done fine silver powder for the cap and solid dark blue urushi for the barrel. Nice contrast. It is kind of weird, when the pen was new, the silver was quite shinny, but overtime the silver on the cap has developed patina and turned darker.




this one is done with gold powders over urushi to give nice gradation




Chrisanthemum Maki-e. Looks simple, but the devil is in the detail of each petal of flower






More to come!!

Kevin

This is a Fuliwen dragon. Interesting pen. It is quite thin, and too thin for my taste. It has a dragon motif on pewter? not sure. The cap and end cap is of celluloid. The pen is clipless and does have nice balance both posted or unposted thanks to short cap. The pen has a 14kt nib. Nice packaging and comes comlete with MB like "white gove".







Kevin

These are the famous Danitrio "Tac Carry I"... actually the real model name is "Avant Garde", but Bill R took these photos with these handguns, and next thing you know folks are calling them "Tac Carry" as in Tactical Carry (for non-gun folks). The caps on these pens features 3/4 turn for "quick release". These are extremely popular here and has long since sold out. Enjoy pics by Bill R.






Kevin

Here is a part of my humble pen collection.

From left to right:

1. Parker 51 (F)
2. Lamy Studio (F)
3. Pilot Bamboo (F)
4. Pilot Capless (F)
5. Pilot Decimo (F)
6. Pilot Decimo Sesenta (F)
7. Pilot Custom 742 (FA)
8. Pilot Custom 743 (FA)
9. Pilot Prera (F)

Click to view attachment

These are my Hero Parker 51 clones
Click to view attachment
From the top -- Hero 100, Hero 329(old style), Hero 329(new style), Hero 616 Jumbo, Parker 51 special.

These are my others
Click to view attachment
From top -- Duke D1 Blue Spider, Duke D4 Carbon Fibre Red, Jinhao Silver Commemorative, Jinhao Pewter Commemorative, Jinhao Luxurious Gold, Huashilai 3000, Huashilai 2206 and Zhenjue 203.

I think I am going to try a Duke or two one of these days. Which one is your favorite out of this group?

Kevin

This one is an unusual one and not one you see often. The company is "Swan" Pen Co. of Japan. Before there were the BIG 3, there were BIG 4: Pilot/Namiki, Sailor, Platinum and Swan. The company is as old as Sailor and Pilot and used to put out quite a bit of pens, but the factory was bombed out during WWII and they have not been the same since. They tried to survive for a few years, but they have eventually faded away. This Swan "Moneta" is their last known attempt in reviving the company. This series included 18kt gold, gold plate and sterling silver finishes and I believe were made in 1980's. These are getting hard to find now. If you look closely, it's not hard to guess that the nib and filling systems were made by Pilot and the pen wrote like any Pilot/Namiki. It has the same "pump" filling ink filling system that Pilot uses the only difference being that the system is firmly connected to the section and a ink window is evident.













Kevin

Kevin, in your narrative about the Fuliwen Dragon you picture a white glove and call it "MB like." I have never even seen or heard of a white glove. (Well, maybe the white gloves worn by the Chairman on the original Japanese "Iron Chef.") What is it for? Why would it be MB-like? You really stumped me on that one.

You see, if you go to a MB store, the folks there will show you the goods by wearing a pair of white gloves so as not to leave finger prints on them.... all for show of course.

This Fuliwen pen comes with a pair of white gloves, which reminds me the white gloves treatment you get in MB boutique :-)

Kevin

That pen is stunning! I wish pilot made more pens with permanent filling systems (or at least silver trims...).

It depends on time of day, day of week, direction of wind, etc.

Of the Dukes, I think the Duke D4, although it is a bit heavy. The Duke D1 is a bit lighter unposted, but is unbalanced when posted.

If I want a pen to carry, usually the Hero 329(old style) if I want a pen that doesn't show off and just works.
If I want to show off a bit, I would take the Duke D4 or the Jinhao Pewter, but they are really a bit heavy for the pocket of a light cotton shirt.

The Huashilai 2206 is a lighter pen with a superb nib, and if I want a heavier pen, the Jinhao Pewter Commemorative.

General consensus seems to be you can't go wrong with any of the Dukes or Jinhaos.

The Huashilais are a sub-company of Duke, but the quality control is a bit iffy.

I don't get to use the Duke D1, somehow it migrated itself into my wife's handbag...

ha ha! spoke like a true pen aficionado and makes perfect sense. I guess I'll have to just pick one and try it out. Thanks.

Kevin

Now a few pens by Kato Seisakusho. He is an elderly gentleman, not sure if he still active in making pens. These are some of his earlier offerings, some interesting material used here. Enjoy the pics.











Kevin

Love the stripey green pen!

OK, here are some that I do own (and use). Ruud


From top to bottom: Nakaya Piccolo Aka-tamenuri (elastic nib), Danitrio Mikado in Tamenuri finish (eye dropper, fine nib), Nakaya Equilibrium Short Writer model in Aka-tamenuri finish (fine nib) and a Nakaya Long Cigar model in Kuro-tamenuri finish (fine nib). That last pen is also shown below.



Then, I like to use my Nakaya in Kanshistu finish with raden bands:


The pen below is made by mr. Tsuchida. It is an eyedropper in black urushi finish. However, there is a thin layer of gold dust, hardly visible in the picture I am afraid. Beautiful.

Nice pens Ruud. Speaking of Tsuchida, here are few more for you. Tsuchida san did made the Ban-ei series pens which are long sold out:





there are few more but can't seem to find the photos right now.

Kevin

very impressive and nice pens It makes me want to buy a japanese pen.

Here's a very basic Asian pen



I like the simple lines of the Sailor, and the quality of their nibs. However, in my limited experience, the Pilot nibs are better than the Sailors.

The tamenuri finish is so beautiful!

One more Japanese pen: the Platinum Aurora Northern Dawn. Spectacular maki-e work. The only drawback (to me) is that the cap snaps shut on the barrel, it does not screw closed.







Interestingly, the making of this pen is described by Russ Stutler in his article A visit with two maki-e artists.


Kevin: what is the material of your Tsuchida pen? Ruud

How about some pre-war Hero!!!
Pre- which war? You decide.

One is an eyedropper and the other a lever filler.

My white Trio Classic.



The Nib of my Custom 823



Transparent Ink Reservoir of Custom 823



823: I love this pen.

I have a very silly question.

Are Danitrio pens considered Japanese since their office and factory are based in the States (ok, I may be wrong on this)?

purpledog

Winedoc can answer this better than I can but I visited the home of two of DaniTrio's Maki-e artists in Japan and saw how they were decorating them. so at least
PART of the time, I might say the IMPORTANT part of the time, they are in Japan... so I'd consider them Japanese Pens.

skyp

How about a vintage Chinese pen (though not entirely sure what vintage)? I have posted about this one before, but here is a pen from the Shanghai Gold Star Pen co. - an old pen company that, like Hero, dates back to the 1930s. Gold Star Pen Co. is now the Chinese half of the joint venture that makes Duke. Picked this up at a stationers in the Wan Chai district in Hong Kong.



It fills as a bulb filler, with an internal filler system. You can either take off the barrel, as shown, or just take off a blind cap to reveal the end of the bulb.



And the nib, which I have been told is a replacement Nib from Guan Le Ming:



I believe it translates to 50% gold, or 12K.


This really peaked my interest in vintage Chinese pens. Anyone have any more out there?

John

Only thing not Japanese is the nib/feed and outer carboard box. I am talking about the urushi and maki-e pens. NOT talking about older models which Danitrio no longer makes.

As for the nib/feed... that may be changing soon as an option.

Kevin

oops, and Ban-ei series is 100% Japanese down to nib and feed.

Kevin

Kevin, is there any way of finding out whether Kato Seisakusho is still selling pens? Those are really amazing designs.

Don

As best I know, they are still making pens. There were a bunch in a shop in Kyoto two years ago and they show up on Yahoo Japan off and on. Their distributor had a website that featured many of their pens. It went offline about a year ago. Several online shops in Japan sell their pens.

Any online shops that ship to the US?

There are none that sell new pens of which I am aware.

I've tried to purchase pens from online sites and my credit card was not accepted. It is common in Japan for overseas credit cards not be accepted in online transactions. The one shop with an online prescence that does international transactions is Eurobox, who mostly sells vintage pens. They accept international money orders.

If you can speak Japanese (or have a friend who can help) you might try telephoning them and asking if any arrangements can be made. We did that some time ago with a non-pen related transaction and worked out an arrangement. You never know.

Best regards.

stan

Kevin --

The second pen you showed in your photos had gold powder sprinkled over a dark red. It is breathtakingly beautiful. Could you tell more about it?

David

Hi David,

That's Nashiji-nuri. Basically urushi as base, then use gold flakes or powders of specific sizes and sprinkle on the pen to create the gradation effects, so will be more dense at both ends and lighten up toward the middle. I agree, it is an elegant pen. Looks simple, but it's not. Other pen makers have their own intrepretations. These are done by Danitrio. As you can see, as they use different powder sizes will give the pen different effects:

finer gold powder:


coarser gold flakes:


Same principle applied to the clip without gradation:


Kevin