Niji Fountain Pens?

[Velma]

While rummaging through my boxes of old pens and pencils, I found several Niji fountain pens. I'm pretty sure that I bought them in the early 90s: slim plastic pens with steel nibs (probably Japanese mediums, as they're pretty fine points), all black, but with different colors at the base of the body and the top of the cap. I seem to have four left -- pink, purple, yellow, and blue -- though I'm sure I had more.

 

They were cheap cheerful fountain pens, that ran about $3-$5, if memory serves, and there were ink cartridges in basic colors (blue, red, green, black, pink, purple, brown, if memory serves). They didn't leak, they wrote every time, and were smooth-nibbed.

 

And as far as I can tell, they never existed. I don't see any references to them online, I've never seen them in stores since the 90s, and no one I know has ever had one. it's ever so faintly spooky, to realize that I seem to be the only person who has these pens. (I'll post a picture when I get home.)

 

So I'll ask here: has anyone ever seen a cheap and cheerful Niji fountain pen?

[KCat]

new one to me, Velma. curious to see what they look like.

[Elaine]

http://www.canit.se/~griffon/writing/pens/niji_jclear.html

 

from Art Brown web site:

 

Niji

Yasumoto & Co.

490 Eccles Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94080

(415)-468-7066

[Velma]

http://www.canit.se/~griffon/writing/pens/niji_jclear.html

 

from Art Brown web site:

 

Niji

Yasumoto & Co.

490 Eccles Avenue

San Francisco, CA 94080

(415)-468-7066

That's a gel pen; the ones I'm talking about are really-o, truly-o fountain pens. And I SWEAR that no one else on the planet evidently has them or saw them; I've asked in several places, and keep getting blank looks, or the pixellated equivalent.

 

Okay. So space aliens gave me these pens, and then vanished. I can deal with this. (aieeeeeeee)

[Elaine]

Did you try calling Niji? They may have the history of when those were made, if they aren't currently in production.

[antoniosz]

I 've heard of them. I had a black (or was it dark blue) one which I included in a "bag-o-pens" sale some time ago. So this is not too much help but just to let you know that they exist(ed) indeed

[Ann Finley]

(I'll post a picture when I get home.)

 

Velma, please do post a picture...if we ever see any, we'll know what we're looking at!

 

Thanks,

Ann

[Velma]

Yay! One other person has seen them! I am not living in an alternate universe!

 

I have tried taking digital photos of them, but only managed to get incredible glare. I'll make another attempt tonight.

[tntaylor]

I 've heard of them. I had a black (or was it dark blue) one which I included in a "bag-o-pens" sale some time ago. So this is not too much help but just to let you know that they exist(ed) indeed

And there I'd been thinking it was a figment of V's imagination! Lol! Some children have imaginary friends, and Velma's developed and matured into an imaginary pen. I expected to find her case history in a medical journal, some day.

 

Velma, you've got us all frantically rubbing our hands together in anticipation of seeing this Niji!

 

t!

[Elaine]

Velma. bring the pen to the pen show and I'll try to take a picture and post it here. I'll be there Friday around noon, and Saturday around I don't know.0

[Velma]

Velma. bring the pen to the pen show and I'll try to take a picture and post it here. I'll be there Friday around noon, and Saturday around I don't know.0

I should be there about 12:30 today, and then again tomorrow (today, comparatively empty-handed, tomorrow with checkbook). But with the Nijis.

[scarygodmother]

OMG!

The principal at the school where I work writes with a fountain pen, which in turn took me back in time to stain little fingers, blotters,and bleach pens of my childhood. I knew that I owned at least one fountain pen, two of which happen to be Niji one is "sky blue" and the other "hot Pink" which had come with matching ink cartiges, just like you discribed them colored cap top, bottom and where the top where the nib is. Other then your comment I have not had much luck finding info on them but would like to so as to find the proper cartidges.

 

Hope you had some luck since then.

Debbie

[Possum Hill]

Yay! One other person has seen them! I am not living in an alternate universe!

 

I have tried taking digital photos of them, but only managed to get incredible glare. I'll make another attempt tonight.

They can't be photographed because they're from an alternate universe.

 

I hope you do get a good photo; I'm finding currently produced inexpensive Japanese pens quite interesting.

[gyasko]

Niji Japan makes pencils, pens, and i guess fountain pens, too. They're in Oomori, in Tokyo's industrial belt.

[kernando]

Wow, Art Brown New Yorkers can't get California right. They're Yasutomo, and they're in South San Francisco. I've heard of them because they import origami paper. And I'd never heard of Eccles Ave.

 

I hadn't heard of the pens, but what cartridge do they take? I've seen a cheapo Platinum branded pen, made outside Japan, that they slapped the old Riviere name on, even though the pen was mostly cheap plastic in black.

[haywoody]

I have a couple of the Niji fountain pens that you described. Both of mine are black, one with yellow section and "jewels" and the other green. I bought them years ago when I picked up every cheap FP I could get my hands on.

 

I am quite sure the pens were made by Sailor for Niji. They take Sailor cartridges and the steel nibs look identical to those on Sailor's cheapest pens, only with the Niji logo instead.

 

They are nice little pens.

 

/Woody

[bone215]

I own two, one completely black and one that has a blue piece. I have some ink cartriges as well.

Brown says Niji and on the box says SPECTURA. Brown = NFP50RE

Black ink = NFP50RA

Pink = NFP50RP

 

Yes, they write well, have a very fine point, and were / are an amazing value. Mine were purchased prior to 1995, they were less than $3 per pen. I still use the black one, it doesn't leak, the one with blue on it leaks a little so it basically is in storage. They never skip a line when in use, open the cap and just start writing.

 

I was just reinking my cheap Parker and had to move the ink boxes to get to the ink I wanted and did a Google. Imagine, finding this thread in the alternate universe.

[SallyAA]

While rummaging through my boxes of old pens and pencils, I found several Niji fountain pens. I'm pretty sure that I bought them in the early 90s: slim plastic pens with steel nibs (probably Japanese mediums, as they're pretty fine points), all black, but with different colors at the base of the body and the top of the cap. I seem to have four left -- pink, purple, yellow, and blue -- though I'm sure I had more.

 

They were cheap cheerful fountain pens, that ran about $3-$5, if memory serves, and there were ink cartridges in basic colors (blue, red, green, black, pink, purple, brown, if memory serves). They didn't leak, they wrote every time, and were smooth-nibbed.

 

And as far as I can tell, they never existed. I don't see any references to them online, I've never seen them in stores since the 90s, and no one I know has ever had one. it's ever so faintly spooky, to realize that I seem to be the only person who has these pens. (I'll post a picture when I get home.)

 

So I'll ask here: has anyone ever seen a cheap and cheerful Niji fountain pen?

 

Hey, Velma, you still here? I have a NIJI. It's black with pale yellow details. I have no idea where I got it, except probability indicates that it was from the University Bookstore of either the University of Pittsburgh or Carnegie Mellon University. I recently ground it from a needle-scratchy Fine to a smooth 0.5 mm stub. Here's the only hint I can find: it uses a Sailor standard cartridge!

[MYU]

^ According to her profile, she was last active 4 years ago, so... looks like she left the building.

 

I have a few "SAILOR INK PEN" fountain pens that are probably very similar. They were about $2 a piece. Steel nibs that were surprisingly smooth. And while they looked disposable, they'd take cartridges.

[dan in montreal]

This? Sorry for the crappy photo.

 

 

I had a box of 12. And now I can only find this one. They use Sailor carts. Very fine nib. Even lighter than the Sailor Ink Pen.

 

They look and feel like disposables. But hey, they have what really looks like a Sailor nib.