Jump to content

2018 March Tokyo Trip Report


koofle

Recommended Posts

Another March, another Tokyo trip. Visited Bungbox, Itoya, and the two pen shows, but first, a meeting with Hakase's Yamamoto-san to pick up my gorgeous black buffalo horn.

500330w.jpg


From Bungbox, their 8 pen box, "Eight pens a week [Toyooka Craft X Bung Box]" . I didn't buy any pens from them this year. Kaoru-san remembers every customer who passes by! Video of bungbox box in action here.

z42Nqhf.jpg


Kakimori and their Inkstand was a pleasant soujourn in a quieter neighbourhood. I did not make a custom notebook at Kakimori but I did sign up for an hour of ink mixing at inkstand.


Ink Stand, outside

PgYF6jK.jpg


Ink Stand, inside. you can see the base pigments and mixing equipment

Z5Pb2aG.jpg


Kakimori, where you can make your own custom notebook

zXf1HAZ.jpg


Many shelves around the store with stationery, here's one of pencils

EXezN2u.jpg


Side-note, Yamada Heiando is a laquerware brand with gorgeous household urushi pieces, and a fountain pen collaboration with Sailor or two. You can find branches at Daikanyama and Ginza Six. These have extra long bodies.

hMkQkDb.jpg


To the meat of the trip! Maruzen and Mitsukoshi. Here's a quick summary


The inks. Here's the Maruzen ink, Nihombashi Keyaki, named after a species of Japanese elm tree

8A1IdkL.jpg


Mitsukoshi named theirs after a tea.

HbU9Lyy.jpg


Swatch

kNDxrpt.jpg


Bought this year's Maruzen Pilot Urushi in red, to go with the blue from last year.

pb1X7oJ.jpg


Mitsukoshi's pens had a lot of Edo-period motifs which was very attractive, but I went with the pair of decimos. A more official name might be the 2018 Mitsukoshi Capless 市松 (Ichimatsu, "Checkered") in pink and blue.

Y6Rsy8G.jpg


Also, the 100th anniversary of Pilot this year has spurred something in me and I bought a 95th anniversary from Euro-box. Fuji-san very helpful and a delight to talk with as always.

6hcTrc9.jpg


Also picked up a few pens from Antique Fairs and Weekend Flea Markets. Very fun! Platinum Sterling Silver pen in large size, Pilot Super 200, and a Senator Student piston filler. Maybe I'll share more about those in the future. Meanwhile, stay tuned on https://www.instagram.com/inquisitivequill/ if you want more updates!

7GQTXD5.jpg









Inquisitive Quill on Instagram and YouTube 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 30
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • koofle

    5

  • Mew

    4

  • de_pen_dent

    2

  • philhygra

    1

Forgot to add: Lamy thinking tools exhibit, mostly showcasing the design and thought process.

UrYkS4T.jpg

wHPpp1h.jpg

 

Got some postcards and a pen, the Lamy Noto.

1olumgF.jpg

 

And an obligatory Itoya shot.

aSHqFmf.jpg

Inquisitive Quill on Instagram and YouTube 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the update. I really appreciate you taking the time to "bring us along". It's always nice to see what are the new amazing places you have discovered.

 

BTW PLEASE continue with your videos. I really appreciate the unique point of view you have, and really cannot wait for a review of the Hakase.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That buffalo horn pen is gorgeous! Is the section also horn?

I also have one so I hope that qualifies me to answer: no, the section is made from ebonite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow. Thanks so much for sharing!

Thanks for reading!

 

That buffalo horn pen is gorgeous! Is the section also horn?

As Mew already replied, no. The section is ebonite.

 

Thanks for the update. I really appreciate you taking the time to "bring us along". It's always nice to see what are the new amazing places you have discovered.

 

BTW PLEASE continue with your videos. I really appreciate the unique point of view you have, and really cannot wait for a review of the Hakase.

We are! It's just that real life has intervened and it's a lot harder for us to record these days... We have several episodes in the pipeline though, so it's not like we aren't making content! Editing just takes longer now.

 

Gasp! You never fail to amaze, Leo. Everything is beautiful. Everything.

Thank you! It was a very fun trip!

Inquisitive Quill on Instagram and YouTube 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your buffalo horn Hakase is my preferred model, since we can't bring tortoise shell into the US.

Rationalizing pen and ink purchases since 1967.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A fantastic journey of places, pens, and the presentation of writing implements as a part of Japanese culture!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your buffalo horn Hakase is my preferred model, since we can't bring tortoise shell into the US.

If you can hand carry, it should be possible. I know a few people who carried theirs back to their home country.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for sharing.

 

I think it is still illegal to carry a tortoise shell pen in to the US, it is just the likelihood of getting caught is probably quite slim.

If you want less blah, blah, blah and more pictures, follow me on Instagram!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you so much for sharing! I can't wait until I'm able to travel to Japan!

<i>Many boys will bring you flowers. But someday you'll meet a boy who will learn your favourite flower, your favourite song, your favourite sweet. And even if he is too poor to give you any of them, it won't matter because he will have taken the time to know you as no one else does. Only that boy earns your heart-Leigh Bardugo

 

. Please assume no affiliation, as I'm just a pleased customer. IG: Lenses and pens_

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for sharing.

 

I think it is still illegal to carry a tortoise shell pen in to the US, it is just the likelihood of getting caught is probably quite slim.

Ah, okay. From what I read, that's the case almost everywhere. It's banned in 90% of the countries. Most people can't tell it apart from acrylic or Celluloid, so highly unlikely anyone would get caught.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree the likelihood of getting caught is slight, but dealing with things made of endangered animals is prohibited in order to protect these creatures. Many other less harmful sources for bones and horns exist. The great pen shown here is a magnificent example of this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33501
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...