Today during an errand run in the UCLA area, my paid informant told me that Mr. Nagahara of Sailor will be making an appearance at Flax Pens sometime in August this year. So far there isn't much detail but what I do know is:

-There will be a short session for a writing sample to assess what type of nib would be most suitable for your hands.
-He will grind two pens (regardless of make) on the spot.
-This will be one of two appearances he will make in the US.

Where and when is the other?

Well, that will certainly be an event not to miss. If you happen to find out when, please let us know.

Event confirmed here and here.

Might the other appearance be the DC Pen Show, if Nagahara-san would make the extra trip? The timing would be right.

I think you might be right about the second appearance. According to this site, Mr. Nagahara will be at the DC Show (doesn't specify dates) and at Fahrney's in Downtown DC (on August 9th, 2008).

I think Richard's Ink site has a wrong photo Mr. Yukio Nagahara is the son of Mr. Nobuyoshi Nagahara, who created Naginata and many other nibs. Nagahara Jr. is the person who created Saibi-togi nibs. I heard Nagahara Sr. is not traveling a much lately because of his age and Mr. Kawaguchi and Nagahara Jr. are attending most of Sailor Pen Clinics.

Hi Guys and Gals,
No the Photo is not wrong, it is of Nobuyoshi Nagahara, and I put a caption below it. There is also a photo of Yukio below.
But it is Yukio that will be at Flax... Here is the info at RICHARDink.com

There's not a lot of info about Yukio, but I was able to find a nice article/interview with his father, hence the confusion. You'll see a link there.

Thanks everyone, have a great day.

So this is true, Mr. Nagahara will attend the LA Show? If so, that might be a ticket to buy!

Shamouti

Richard, I'm sorry if I missed it the first time but when I saw your site there was only a photo of Nagahara senior.

Thanks for the clarification

Hi Taki,
No need to apologize, you are correct. When I first posted it, I could not find a photo of Yukio that I had permission to use.
I updated it shortly after...

Are you local? Will you be there? If so I look forward to meeting you.
Have a wonderful evening.

Richard

Hello again everyone,
Just to clarify this since there seems to be some confusion about Yukio Nagahara being at the DC Show.

According to PEN WORLD Magazine May 2008 Issue pp.27: Yukio Nagahara is scheduled to be at the DC Show.
He will fly from the West Coast after his Flax Pen Clinic in L.A. to the East Coast to attend the show.

Hope that helps.

Richard

Thank you very much for the information, Richard. Hope the event will be a big success!!

So there is a famous story about Mr. Yukio Nagahara among Japanese pen people. When Mr. Yukio Nagahara was in one of the pen shows in the U.S., a woman named Catherine (Katherine?) came to his table. She plucked her hair and asked him to grind the nib to the width of her hair. Mr. Yukio Nagahara was inspired by her and other people asked him to grind nibs to very fine widths, and developed Saibi-togi. Does anyone know who she is?

I have just returned from the Sailor Pen Clinic @ Flax Pens and I am very pleased with the results. Although I was expecting a much longer line when I arrived at 10am (only a few people), the wait for nib adjustment/grinding was about an hour (at least it felt like an hour). There was even an older couple that camped out in front of Flax at 5am... But I left with a XF-XXF Decimo Sesenta and a F-XF Custom 743 FA.

Edit: Hope you guys have the opportunity to attend the Sailor Pen clinic in Washington DC!

Edit: Were there any other FPNers at Flax besides me?

I was there. I arrived after lunch. There was quite a line and at least an hour long wait, but it was worth the experience. Also was fun comparing notes with the other people in line and discussing what they were doing with their pens.

Mr. Nagahara adjusted my Emperor Cross Nib on a Sailor Susutake--I was having a lot of trouble with the angle at which I needed to hold the pen to get it to write and he cured the problem! Also had him adjust a Togi nib on my Sailor Classic Pens LB1 which had flow and smoothness problems---also did a great job on that one.

All in all everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. The Sailor reps had the complete line of Sailor pens which you could look at and also their complete line of nibs which you could try out. Mr. Nagahara's appearance generated a lot of interest in pens and in Sailor products. Meeting Mr. Nagahara and the Sailor reps was a real treat. Now the only question is how do we get him over here more often.

Last year I attended the DC Pen Show (and got myself a very nice CS Churchill with italic fine nib from ms. Burke). Shortly before, I had bought a Classic Pens 7, with a broad nib. The nib was too broad to my liking, and coincidentally I saw Nagahara-san at the pen show, chatting with another Sailor employee. No line! I asked him to make the nib write smaller, and so he did. That pen is now going with me almost every day. Ruud

Attached is a photo of Mr. Nagahara working on the nib on my Sailor Susutake.