New Tsuge Fountain Pen

[notVirtuThe3rd]

Hi there,

 

This post may not be a kind of review of fountain pens, but I'd like to

share this awesome brand-new pen (upcoming product) made in Japan!

 

I think TSUGE is one of the most enterprise companies in Japan.

Please enjoy watching.

 

Thanks.

 

 

TSUGE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMRmrf2oBSA

[Amgroma]

Looks like it's got a fountain pen nib, but the other images show other mechanisms. How does this pen work? Looks pretty neat!

[notVirtuThe3rd]

Looks like it's got a fountain pen nib, but the other images show other mechanisms. How does this pen work? Looks pretty neat!

 

This nib looks like oversized Onoto made in 1909.

But I don't know the details about it's feed system because this pen is still an upcoming product.

 

I can't wait!! :roflmho:

[KrazyIvan]

It almost looks like an old style Japanese eyedropper with an ink shut off valve.

[notVirtuThe3rd]

It almost looks like an old style Japanese eyedropper with an ink shut off valve.

 

The two masters of modern literature period in Japan are Ogai Mori and Soseki Natsume.

The latter used Onoto (which had a similar to TSUGE nib in appearance) manufactured by Thomas De la Rue.

[Korybas]

Virtuthe3rd, you did it again; you caught my undivided attention!

I very much enjoyed the video, was expecting a writing sample or at least see the pen in action, so as to see if the nib has flex (which I suspect). Is that an overfeed I see?

 

Aris

[AltecGreen]

But I don't know the details about it's feed system because this pen is still an upcoming product.

 

I can't wait!! :roflmho:

 

 

When is this coming out? The pictures on the website for this pen date to 2011. They did announce pricing for these pens (not cheap).

[KrazyIvan]

It almost looks like an old style Japanese eyedropper with an ink shut off valve.

 

The two masters of modern literature period in Japan are Ogai Mori and Soseki Natsume.

The latter used Onoto (which had a similar to TSUGE nib in appearance) manufactured by Thomas De la Rue.

 

That would make sense since some early Japanese eyedroppers copied the Onoto design. http://www.vintagepens.com/filling_instructions_plunger-fillers.shtml

 

See the third and fourth sentence.

[notVirtuThe3rd]

I very much enjoyed the video, was expecting a writing sample or at least see the pen in action, so as to see if the nib has flex (which I suspect). Is that an overfeed I see?

 

Thanks for the comment, Aris.

 

Yes, it has both overfeed and underfeed.

If I could write with this nib, I would feel sooo wet.

 

The nib looks like flex, however, this brand-new TSUGE may not have flex nib.

Personally speaking, I hope it'll be flexible!

[notVirtuThe3rd]

When is this coming out? The pictures on the website for this pen date to 2011. They did announce pricing for these pens (not cheap).

 

I don't know the release date actually...

Some magazines showed the price. If I remember correctly, it costs about 1,600 U.S. dollars.

[notVirtuThe3rd]

That would make sense since some early Japanese eyedroppers copied the Onoto design. http://www.vintagepens.com/filling_instructions_plunger-fillers.shtml

 

See the third and fourth sentence.

 

Oh, definitely! You know Japanese fountain pens very much!!

 

Thank you so much for the informative link.

[RudyR]

Is this the same company that makes smoking pipes?

[KrazyIvan]

That would make sense since some early Japanese eyedroppers copied the Onoto design. http://www.vintagepens.com/filling_instructions_plunger-fillers.shtml

 

See the third and fourth sentence.

 

Oh, definitely! You know Japanese fountain pens very much!!

 

Thank you so much for the informative link.

 

Not too much but I recently discovered vintage Japanese eyedroppers so this stuff is still very fresh in my mind. I researched it because I recently purchased one. Here is another link with a bit more information but it looks like the link is dead now. I am glad I copied the information to my Evernote account just last week.

 

http://www.kamakurapens.com/Japanese_Eyedropper_Pens.html

 

A Description of Japanese Eyedropper Fountain Pens

Perhaps no type of fountain pen is more misunderstood than the Japanese Eyedropper. This is not so surprising. To the casual pen collector, a Japanese eyedropper pen looks like some kind of strange plunger filler, and nearly every day I can find a seller on eBay mistakenly calling one of these pens a Plunger filler that seems broken. Hopefully this page can help prevent future misunderstandings.

First let's clear up what an "eye dropper" pen actually is.

The first widely used pens had no way to fill themselves on their own. They needed to be filled manually, and this was often done with a bulb eyedropper. This was the same tool that doctors used to drop medicine into people's eyes. It seemed like the perfect tool for dripping ink into a pen as well. After Self-filling pens were on the market, people started using the term eyedropper-filler to distinguish a pen from the newer self-fillers.

The first Japanese-made fountain pens were influenced by the popular Onoto pens that the import company, Maruzen, was selling in their Nihonbashi store. These pens were also eyedropper fillers, but they had a special plunger. These early pens were probably influenced by the Onoto plunger fillers. The Onoto's could actually fill themselves with ink, using the plunger. The Japanese were not so interested in self-fillers. What they cared about was sealing the ink inside the pen so that it could not leak out. In the early 1900's, indeed as late as the 1950's most Japanese still wore silk or cotton kimonos on a daily basis. Staining a kimono with ink was a tragedy, so these safety plungers were of the upmost importance. The plunger has nothing to do with filling the pen with ink. It is only there to serve as a safety feature. Pictured here is one of the first pens made in Japan An Orion. It is pictured on a 1912 Maruzen catalog that described the "ink stopping" plunger

 

So if the plunger has nothing to do with filling the fountain pen, how does one fill a Japanese eyedropper?

1. Hold the pen, nib up, and unscrew the section from the barrel.

2. Unscrew the blind cap at the end of the barrel and pull it down about 1cm (about a 1/4 inch)

4. Drip ink into the barrel, careful not to drip ink on your hand or the floor...

5. Screw the section back in place.

6. Slowly and carefully screw the blind cap back in place. You might want to have some tissue handy for this. Often a drop or two of ink will drip from the nib and feed as you do this, but then the rest of the ink should be perfectly sealed inside the barrel.

How does one write with a Japanese eyedropper fountain pen?

1. Remove the cap.

2. Hold the pen nib down and unscrew the blind cap. Pull out the plunger no more than half a centimeter. The idea is to open the plunger just enough to allow ink into the feed.

3. Write. When finished, hold the pen over a tissue or blotter and screw the blind cap home.

[AltecGreen]

Is this the same company that makes smoking pipes?

Yes.

 

They started making pens in collaboration with Sailor in 2004/2005.

[olivier78860]

http://pen.tsugepipe.co.jp/overview/inhaler.html

 

So this strange part is called an inhaler. Sadly I can't speak Japanese, could you translate the text perhaps, VirtuThe3rd ?

 

The pens looks very similar to the Onoto 3000.

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/dyijdEQ.jpg

 

 

 

And also, $1600. Itai!Itai!Itai! (I think it's the ouch word in Japanese )

Edited February 1, 2013 by olivier78860

[notVirtuThe3rd]

Is this the same company that makes smoking pipes?

 

Yes, that's right!!

[notVirtuThe3rd]

Not too much but I recently discovered vintage Japanese eyedroppers so this stuff is still very fresh in my mind. I researched it because I recently purchased one. Here is another link with a bit more information but it looks like the link is dead now. I am glad I copied the information to my Evernote account just last week.

 

Thanks again for the additional information. I'm Japanese, however, I don't know so much about Japanese vintage pens. So I'm really glad to see helpful information source. I enjoyed reading it!

[notVirtuThe3rd]

Is this the same company that makes smoking pipes?

Yes.

 

They started making pens in collaboration with Sailor in 2004/2005.

 

Thank you so much for answering.

[notVirtuThe3rd]

http://pen.tsugepipe.co.jp/overview/inhaler.html

 

So this strange part is called an inhaler. Sadly I can't speak Japanese, could you translate the text perhaps, VirtuThe3rd ?

 

The pens looks very similar to the Onoto 3000.

 

And also, $1600. Itai!Itai!Itai! (I think it's the ouch word in Japanese )

 

Oh, right. It is a forbidding price... Itai desu lol

I also think this pen looks like Onoto 3000.

 

OK. I will translate the page into English tomorrow.

I have to go to bed tonight. ahah hah

[notVirtuThe3rd]

Because this topic was moved to "Pens from the Land of the Rising Sun",

I decided to unify this topic to the topic below.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/235828-sailor-nibs-comparison-and-japanese-famous-pen-craftsman/page__st__100

 

I hope it's not too much trouble.

 

Thank you for your understanding,

VirtuThe3rd