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Danitrio, Japanese?


Bruno Taut

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The nib of my Sailor King of Pen looks like a Montblanc one. And the nib from the Pilot Custom 845 has nothing Japanese to it. I don't really see your point, when you say that the Danitrio nibs look Chinese. There are many different nib designs from Danitrio and the one in the Godzilla-pen, the only really 100% made in Japan, has a Sumo fighter on it. That one nib is really over the top!

 

Personally if I were to buy an urushi or maki-e pen, it would have to have 100% Japanese components and made in Japan.

The pens are so culturally specific, having anything slightly off ruins the Japanese-ness for me. Danitrio's nib engravings for example look too loud to me, more Chinese than Japanese. And just knowing the nibs are made in Germany and not in Japan with their own machinery and hands dilutes the genuine-ness of owning a Japanese pen for me.

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Sorry, but that is not really true for all those manufacturers. They have some lists with some of their nibs on their website. That is all. When I bought my Pilot Custom 845 some of the nibs where definitely not available in the size required for the pen. When I bought my Sailor Realo (the real one, King of Pen size), I got a written confirmation that I would be able to change the nib later to a finer KoP nib. Regrettably, that was later no more possible and the nib had to be regrinded to a finer size by a nib meister. I don't think that Danitrio is hiding their nibs on purpose. It is more probably that they don't put too much care on their website. But that is a problem affecting many manufactures. You will sometimes not ever find whole pen series in their websites.

 

Easy: http://www.pilot.co.jp/support/fountain/1183148557940.html

 

Pilot, to name one, makes clear which nibs are available for each pen.

 

Same for Platinum/Nakaya or Sailor.

 

Pelikan specifies clearly what type of nib is available for each of their pens. And so on.

 

Danitrio does not do that--at all.

 

Cheers,

 

Iosepus

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:headsmack: I certainly am no expert....but I am alone in my field. All alone. Badoom.

 

But seriously folks... Losepus, having recieved my first Danitrio on the day of your post and thinking of the pen as Japenese (yeah, I knew the nib was German and that the Comapny was US) I was itching to fight. But I am too old for fighting (ok I'm a lover) and have come to appreciate the value of difference (ok, that might be a lie). Anyway, I laud your willingnes to raise the hair on our backs with your statements. And the fact that you end your posts with "Cheers"...well, how uterly decent. And Winedoc, a blushingly sincere apology. I say we all go out for a drink!

 

Hmmm, I guess this reply is entirely ad-hominem....though, to my defense, inverse ad hominem. Look that one up.

 

Viva la difference! Jim

Edited by jleeg
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The nib of my Sailor King of Pen looks like a Montblanc one. And the nib from the Pilot Custom 845 has nothing Japanese to it. I don't really see your point, when you say that the Danitrio nibs look Chinese. There are many different nib designs from Danitrio and the one in the Godzilla-pen, the only really 100% made in Japan, has a Sumo fighter on it. That one nib is really over the top!

 

Personally if I were to buy an urushi or maki-e pen, it would have to have 100% Japanese components and made in Japan.

The pens are so culturally specific, having anything slightly off ruins the Japanese-ness for me. Danitrio's nib engravings for example look too loud to me, more Chinese than Japanese. And just knowing the nibs are made in Germany and not in Japan with their own machinery and hands dilutes the genuine-ness of owning a Japanese pen for me.

I agree with you about Sailor copying Montblanc nibs, which is a shame in regards to originality.

While other Japanese brands don't have anything specifically Japanese on their nibs, they generally look less conspicious and quieter than Danitrio's. The Chinese style is just the impression I get. And as I mentioned, for items that are very specfic to a culture, I'd simply want something that's completely made by that country.

Edited by Blade Runner
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I understand what you say, but I think that that goal is difficult to achieve with fountain pens. If you think about it: do fountain pens really belong to the Japanese culture? There are some points that make a fountain pen looks more Japanese in my eyes. One would be: eyedropper with a shut off valve. That mechanism was developed to prevent the pens from staining expensive kimonos. Another point would be maki-e and urushi. Maki-e and urushi are offered by all the big Japanese companies, but only from Danitrio can you have an eyedropper with shut off valve and maki-e/urushi finish. I don't think that Sailor, Platinum or Pilot offer eyedropper pens today. (And I think that the ebonite used in the high end pens is not made in Japan either. I think that the material comes from Europe. The same would be for some of the Platinum celluloids.) Therefore, I decided to compromise and consider the nice maki-e and urushi pens from Sailor, Pilot(+Namiki), Platinum(+Nakaya) and Danitrio as Japanese pens, even if they are not a 100% Japanese product.

 

... for items that are very specfic to a culture, I'd simply want something that's completely made by that country.

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The nib engraving is actually designed by Mr. Kenji Yamamoto, one of Danitrio's maki-e artist.

 

I now have the copy of Japanese news paper with translation which I can send to whoever wants it, just PM or email me as I am having problem uploading it to photobucket.

 

Here are some facts for you to ponder:

Japanese EDs are a Japanese invention, yet only two companies does that now

Japan does not produce enough urushi for their own use, so crude urushi are from Vietnam and China

Only one company can claim they have pens using 100% Japanese home grown urushi from base coat to finish.

 

The fact is that one can find "facts" to suit one's argument and view point.

 

Blade Runner, how sure are you that MB and Aurora use 100% components from their perspective countries? You may be surprised. For Japanese cultural specific experiences, we should all be using brush pens ;-)

 

Kevin

To Cross The Rubicon

 

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Kevin, are you referring to all Danitrio nibs or just the Yokozuna?. That nib would be much nicer without the engraving of the sumo fighter on it. A plain nib would be expectacular, just because of its size. Look at the Namiki Emperor. It has some writting on it, but it is really plain compared to other nibs. I am sending you a PM for the article. I sent you an email, since I could not use the PM function without getting a lot of warnings from the browser about FPN been unsafe.

 

The nib engraving is actually designed by Mr. Kenji Yamamoto, one of Danitrio's maki-e artist.

Edited by Nero
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Kevin, are you referring to all Danitrio nibs or just the Yokozuna?. That nib would be much nicer without the engraving of the sumo fighter on it. A plain nib would be expectacular, just because of its size. Look at the Namiki Emperor. It has some writting on it, but it is really plain compared to other nibs. I am sending you a PM for the article.

 

 

I am referring to the others. Yokozuna is actually the Japanese nibmeister's idea.

 

Kevin

To Cross The Rubicon

 

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Kevin,

 

I'm curious, what is the origin or meaning of "Danitrio"?

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Kevin,

 

I'm curious, what is the origin or meaning of "Danitrio"?

 

Don't want to give you wrong info, but as far as I know, the company used to be Dani Trio as a group of 3 investors started the company. Overtime, it was bought off by the principle investor and the name changed to Danitrio.

To Cross The Rubicon

 

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To me this topic a bit of a non-issue. Irrespective of where they happen to be made or even where certain components come from, it's the aesthetic that counts, and the way the pens are made. The techniques and craftsmanship that go into the manufacture of Danitrio's Urushi and Maki-e pens is steeped in Japanese traditions, and look and feel of the finished pens is quite unlike typical mass-produced western pens. And having bought a few, I for one certainly can't imagine a better implementation of this approach. As far as the nibs go, they certainly offer something that's quite different to most other nibs out there - no question of it being a 'standard Bock nib' in my mind.

 

So is Danitrio, the company, American or Japanese? I really don't think it matters.

D A N i T R i O f e l l o w s h i p

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So Trio refers to the 3 investors. What is Dani?

 

In regards to your query about MB and Aurora, they make their own nibs. As to the various decorative elements, they most likely outsource a number of them, but their pens don't have the cultural specificity of urushi and maki-e, so I don't think the analogy applies exactly. I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with a Danitrio nib performance wise, but for urushi and maki-e pens, I'd prefer that the nib, the heart of the pen, to be also made in Japan by the company that's making the rest of the pen. A pen like that has more of a cool factor for me than one with its nib made by Bock. Irrational perhaps, but when one is paying more than a couple hundred dollars, it makes a difference to some.

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So Trio refers to the 3 investors. What is Dani?

 

In regards to your query about MB and Aurora, they make their own nibs. As to the various decorative elements, they most likely outsource a number of them, but their pens don't have the cultural specificity of urushi and maki-e, so I don't think the analogy applies exactly. I don't think there's necessarily anything wrong with a Danitrio nib performance wise, but for urushi and maki-e pens, I'd prefer that the nib, the heart of the pen, to be also made in Japan by the company that's making the rest of the pen. A pen like that has more of a cool factor for me than one with its nib made by Bock. Irrational perhaps, but when one is paying more than a couple hundred dollars, it makes a difference to some.

 

 

Not trying to convince you or anyone, and one should buy what they desire, after all it's your money, rational or not :-)

Bottom line is we can't all like the same thing. For the records, I do like Aurora and still have a few in my stable. some does not like their nibs because it's too "toothy", but I rather like the "tactile" sensation when the nib touches the paper. It's like some like the Sailor nibs because of it's smoothness, but my hand writing looks worse because it is TOO smooth. And yes, I have MBs as well but I am just more selective of which ones I get.

 

To each, his or her own.

To Cross The Rubicon

 

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Man oh man, I must be rather dense. I thought buying a pen was about what pen sang to me not some nationalistic jingoism. I love my Danitrio pens and my sailor pens. I do not care what the exact pedigree is. Last I looked, we live in a world community. My Toyota truck is Japanese but is made in the US with parts from around the world.

 

The original post, is in my opinion, troll bait.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/bugmd/trollbegone.gif

A. Don's Axiom "It's gonna be used when I sell it, might as well be used when I buy it."

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The original post, is in my opinion, troll bait.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/bugmd/trollbegone.gif

 

I catch that whiff too...

 

However, contrary to the normally expected large volume of frivolous responses we have as a community responded very well IMHO. Hurrah for the spirit that can handle a Troll so eloquently without any upset. No offence meant to anybody who enjoys the art of trolling, whether on purpose or just by nature - each to their own.

When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.

 

John Muir

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Man oh man, I must be rather dense. I thought buying a pen was about what pen sang to me not some nationalistic jingoism. I love my Danitrio pens and my sailor pens. I do not care what the exact pedigree is. Last I looked, we live in a world community. My Toyota truck is Japanese but is made in the US with parts from around the world.

 

I agree, buy what you like. I don't think the Toyota analogy holds, because auto designs are not so culturally specific in design. But if I were to buy a Bavarian lederhosen for example, I'd want one made entrely in Germany rather than a Chinese made one or one that uses Chinese parts even if they looked similar. For some people the provenance of certain kinds of objects is important.

Edited by Blade Runner
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I think we have view points from both side of the aisles sort to speak and before the thread degenrate to name calling, I am closing this topic, but I will leave the threads intact for anyone who wants to read it and make decision for themselves. The discussion at time has been a bit heated, but thank you for all involved to remain civil and debate the points.

 

So, buy what appeals to you with your hard earn money. Some buy pens for the writing experineces, some for aesthetics, some for country of origin and other variety of reasons. We can't all love the same thing. World would be quite boring this way. To each his or her own.

 

Kevin

 

 

To Cross The Rubicon

 

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