Inside Nakaya

[Samovar]

Last week I had some important business in Tokyo and I got a nice hotel near Ueno station. My business was done early, so I got on with pen tourism as fast as I could.

 

I had the map of the location of Nakaya in my briefcase, so I asked the nice girl at the reception desk if she could tell me where Nakaya was: " It's about 5 min from here sir, just down the street! "

 

Nakaya was indeed 5 min from my hotel and I was delighted to see the small sign. I went up to the second floor and knocked on the door. Two men were busy working on pen and two nices ladies asked me to sit down. I was not expected, but as a big and tall foreigner who speaks basic Japanese, they were amused by my visit.

 

I had enough money to buy a pen right on the spot, so I asked them if I could see some pens in my best Japanese. They took out a bunch of trays with pens. But they told me they had no pens for sale, they could take my order and they would ship me the pen in about a month or I could get a pen right away at Itoya stationery.

 

I ended up spending about 10 min in the office and I took a bunch of pics for you guys.

 

 

The front door

 

 

Tray of pens waiting to be fitted with a nib

 

 

 

A very beautiful cat maki-e

 

 

 

Nibs !

 

 

I wish he was working on my pen!

 

 

So I am still without a Nakaya. I guess the French expression Cordonnier mal chaussé applies to me, I live in Japan, I have easy access to a Nakaya and I still don't have one...

 

Oh well, I should be in Japan for many years...

[Yuki Onitsura]

*is jealous* Thanks for the mini-tour in photos =)

 

Yuki

[bushido]

well done going out of your way to see them, and kudos for sharing your visit with us!

[Kaustic]

Fantastic!

[Siv]

Thanks for sharing your visit - you're very lucky to get a glimpse inside the inner working of a great pen company.

 

Is this the "final assembly" office where they match pens to nibs and send them out? I know the finishing urushi and maki-e work is done in Wajima so where are the actual pens turned?

Edited March 29, 2010 by Siv

[dannyboy]

Thanks for sharing your visit with those of us who will probably never get a chance to see the inner workings of Nakaya! That tray of pens is fabulous--I'm drooling as I write this!

[AltecGreen]

Thanks for sharing your visit - you're very lucky to get a glimpse inside the inner working of a great pen company.

 

Is this the "final assembly" office where they match pens to nibs and send them out? I know the finishing urushi and maki-e work is done in Wajima so where are the actual pens turned?

 

 

Siv,

 

I believe Mr. Matsubara turns the pens at his home.

[ethernautrix]

Oo! Thanks for the tour, Samovar! Naturally, I looked in the tray closely, for my Nakaya Negoro.... Maybe it's on its way to me now...! *Giddy*

[johnptc]

thanks........ what a great tour for us !!

[treborefir]

Thanks for the tour. It was very interesting. I always assumed the pen "factories" were much larger. I wonder about the rest of the factories.

[Samovar]

Siv - From what I saw, it's the place where they assemble the pens and ship them. Also, it's where they would receive a pen from a stationery shop in Japan and change the nib according to what the customer wants. I saw no equipment for pen turning.

 

trebofir- It's a tiny workshop on the second floor of small building in an old area of Tokyo. This is typical to Japan where some of the best stuff you can find come in the smallest, hardest to find place you could imagine. I visited the Sailor pen factory and it's a collection of really old buildings near the sea. 90% of the area is devoted to robot and machine producing ballpoint and the last building, the smallest and the oldest is devoted to FP. I could not take pictures at the factory, but the FP building felt like a place outside of time. I will go back to Sailor and I hope I will be able to take some pictures this time.

[Aysedasi]

Smashing work Samovar - thanks very much indeed

[DAYoung]

Marvellous. The combination of arcane craftsmanship and pokey building banality: perfect.

[Ernest]

Thanks for the pictures.

They aren't kidding when they say that every piece of Nakaya pen is individually handcrafted!

Most insightful.

 

Ernest

[Samovar]

Guys, this was one tray out of 4 and they had a bunch of very nice pen wraps full of pens.

 

I am planning a visit to Hakase in Tottori prefecture this spring, I will order a pen from them and I will try to take some pics.

[seanpooh]

Such an insight to a great pen company. Thanks for the pics. And don't worry, you'll have a Nakaya soon enough.

[roger3]

Guys, this was one tray out of 4 and they had a bunch of very nice pen wraps full of pens.

 

I am planning a visit to Hakase in Tottori prefecture this spring, I will order a pen from them and I will try to take some pics.

Please show us the pix of Hakase. Perhaps you can ask them about Ohashido too. As Sean so accurately points out, You will have a Nakaya, but you can never have one soon enough...=)

Edited March 30, 2010 by roger3

[nvbrennan]

Great pics. Inspired me to go on next trip to Japan.

[encre]

Very cool glimpse inside the Nakaya sanctum