Asahiya Kami Bunguten's Pilot 845 In Vermilion Urushi

[Tinjapan]

Many months ago, as long as a year perhaps, I learned of a stationery store in Tokyo by the name of Asahiya Quill. The shop sells mainly paper, of which I have more than I need, but it looked very nice and they have their own shop exclusive urushi pen by Pilot. I have long been a fan of urushi products and have many bowls, boxes and sake cups purchased mainly at low end antique stores, second hand shops and flea markets. Just last weekend my wife bought a pair of lacquerware sake cups at a local flea market for ¥10/$.08 apiece! Anyway, most of the urushi items found in department stores or antique stores frequented by tourists from overseas are priced far out of my budget.

 

Urushi fountain pens are different. Sure, there are those, Dani...Dani...Danisomethingorother (no disrespect intended) and Namiki but there are others that, while not cheap, are within reach. Asahiya's Pilot Custom 845 in vermilion lacquer is one that was within reach and has been on my wish list for a long time. There are a few shades of red urushi that I really like and many I do not. Sadly, the ones I like are usually out of reach price-wise. So, if I were to get this pen, I really wanted to see it in person before buying it.

 

The shop is located in the south part of Tokyo, a part of Tokyo I have not had any other reason to visit and thus not the time to do so. Three weeks ago I started at a new job in this part of Tokyo but have just enough time to eat lunch before hustling off to the center of the city for my next lesson. Both of my afternoon students today cancelled giving me the afternoon off. Thinking that Asahiya Quill may be in the area I checked their website and found this to be true and set off for the shop thinking my wallet to be safe as they were sold out of the nibs I was most interested in.

 

Their red urushi pen is one of the shades of red I love and while I did love the test nibs of the ones out of stock, it is unlikely I would have gotten much use of them but the broad nib suited me perfectly. The wallet was not safe after all! But is it ever a beautiful pen and writer! The facts that it is of a shade I love and that the nib I eventually choose was available joined forces with the reality that another opportunity to visit this shop would not be likely for a long time to come caused my wallet to surrender the plastic to the greater good of my pen collection. But is it ever a beautiful pen and writer! Have I said that already?

 

Quill also gives you a free pen fill of ink when you buy a pen from them. As he filled my pen he explained how to do so. I very nearly said that I knew how to do so but am glad I held my tongue for I learned something I would not have if I had opened my big mouth. He explained that I should not dip the section into the ink. The ink will not hurt the urushi but repeated drying of the section to remove the ink will eventually wear the lacquer way. Additionally, if you submerge just the first breather hole you will not get all the bubbles in the converter that I get when filling my Pilot Bamboo.

 

I also learned that Pilot blue-black is waterproof. Pilot spent a lot of effort to make a dye based ink that could be waterproof with out the corrosive ingredient of iron gall. His water test cards were impressive. The post card that he soaked for a full minute yet remains perfectly legible was especially convincing.

 

Pilot gives its standard 1 year warranty but Asahiya adds their own four year warranty to it. They also adjust the nibs to your liking as needed. Mine suited me out of the box but I can bring it back for adjustment/ tuning at any time. He also included a cleaning bulb of his own making modeled after those used by the nib meisters here, as seen at the pen clinics, made of an empty cartridge secured to a bulb. Additionally, they give all who purchase a pen a free Pilot Kakuno with their shop name on it. Sadly, this has caused a back log to their vermilion pens. They wanted their Kakuno pens to differ from the norm by having the nib of each adjusted before leaving the factory. The same pen makers who work on the vermilion pens are the ones who adjust the Kakuno nibs.

 

Another interesting point is that the lacquerers who do the Namiki urushi pens are the same as who lacquer Asahiya's vermillion pens.

 

When I asked if posting the cap might damage the finish of the barrel, he showed me the felt inside the cap lip to prevent damage.

 

While talking pens, ink and paper with the shop owner his wife was in the back busy tracking down points of sale for a product that they do not carry. I had a pleasant time there, which much to my surprise ended up being a couple of hours. Friendly people and excellent service. They have an English language webpage and this pen along with Pilot's standard black Urushi 845 that is also available with nibs that are not standard with this model. Just a very happy customer, no affiliation with the shop or owners.

 

My new pen left the shop filled with PIlot Blue-Black ink.

 

 

I hope to take pics of my pen with some of my other urushi pieces during the week, so please check back if interested.

[dms525]

A beautiful pen (I love that shade of red too) and a nice story to go with it. Use your new pen in good health!

 

Thank you for sharing the story.

 

David

[PabloAU]

I have the same pen, purchased from them via their website. I'd initially bought it with a WA nib but changed my mind after using it. I requested to change to a standard M nib, and they happily obliged. I offered to pay the return shipping costs to Australia and they politely declined, absorbing the cost themselves. It's a beautiful pen, and after my experience with them a seller I'd highly recommend!

[Tinjapan]

The WA nib was one of the nibs I was really interested in, the other epwascthe FA nib. Pens with both are on back order but they had samples to try out. Great nibs but I dicided on the broad and was able to take it home with me.

 

They are great people to do business with. If I do eventually get the same pen in black, as I hope to, I may get it from them even though I can get it at a 20% discount at Seikaido.

[hari317]

Wonderful shop visit report. I would love to buy from such a shop. well done!

 

Reg the ink filling tip, as far as I understand, the 845 has a plastic section with no lacquer on it?

 

Thanks!

Hari

[Tinjapan]

My Japanese is far from perfect. My understanding is heavily dependant on context.

 

I looked closely at the section and could see a faint mold line. You are correct, it is plastic. So I now understand his meaning to be that it is dificult to see if you have gotten all the ink off so it is better not to dip the section into the ink.

[shuuemura]

My Japanese is far from perfect. My understanding is heavily dependant on context.

 

I looked closely at the section and could see a faint mold line. You are correct, it is plastic. So I now understand his meaning to be that it is dificult to see if you have gotten all the ink off so it is better not to dip the section into the ink.

 

Fantastic story, thanks for the interesting write-up! I am intrigued about the part where you say that "repeated drying of the section to remove the ink will eventually wear the lacquer way." I'm guessing that your understanding of his conversation has changed based on your later post, but I just wanted to say that for the past five years I have been immersing the section of my Yukari Royale into ink every time I refill and the repeated wiping/drying doesn't seem to have affected the lacquer at all.

[Tinjapan]

@Shuuemura.

After Hari's commnts it seems far more likely the comments about not dipping the section into ink went with the instructions on keeping ink from inside the cap than with our talk of urushi that went before it.

I wouldn't think that occasional wiping of the section would hurt the urushi, if indeed it was urushi. Urushi is really tough stuff, still paper can be abrasive and using an abrasive with a colored liquid over time may have consequences. That was what was going through my mind at the time.

Edited October 19, 2015 by Tinjapan

[Bounce792]

Oh my. Thank you for bringing this pen to my notice. It has shot all the way to the top of my "To Buy" list. Now if only I had the funds.

 

I presume the Kakuno doesn't come with the pen if ordering online as I see no mention of it.

[RayJ]

^just ask then.

 

I have been waiting to order this for the longest time.

I would really appreciate some pictures (which you have said that you will post). It's an expensive pen for me and custom duties make it even more expensive.

But I know someone in Saudi (where there are no duties or taxes) and I can this shipped to him, and he can bring it back with him when coming back to the country. Only drawback: he will be coming in September next year.

[shuuemura]

Oh my. Thank you for bringing this pen to my notice. It has shot all the way to the top of my "To Buy" list. Now if only I had the funds.

 

I presume the Kakuno doesn't come with the pen if ordering online as I see no mention of it.

 

I wrote to the shop to ask. Hagiwara-san's reply (paraphrased) is that they will include a cleaning bulb with every purchase of a Custom 845 (black or vermilion), but the shop-specific Kakuno is only given for free with the purchase of a regular (black, non-special) Custom 845. The reason is that the vermilion Custom 845 has a higher cost price for them than the regular Custom 845. In the past, however, they may have included the special Kakuno when a customer purchased multiple pens or waited a long time for specific models to be restocked.

[bizhe]

I'd initially bought it with a WA nib but changed my mind after using it. I requested to change to a standard M nib...

 

Hi, just out of curiosity, why didn't you like the WA?

[mchenart]

Thank you so much for the positive account of your pen purchase. Yes, in this age of on-line transactions, human contacts have become a much treasured experience.

 

For people who find the black 845 too much like a basic plastic pen, the vermillion 845 could be a fine alternative. And then there are the green 845 and the blue 845...

[RayJ]

^ weren't blue and green limited editions exclusive to Maruzen? They have been discontinued now, I think. Apologies if I am wrong.

[PabloAU]

 

Hi, just out of curiosity, why didn't you like the WA?

 

I wouldn't say I didn't like it, I just prefer the feel and line of Pilot's medium nibs. The WA is equivalent to FM on the vertical stroke, and equivalent to M on the horizontal stroke.

[eloquentogre]

Thank you so much for the positive account of your pen purchase. Yes, in this age of on-line transactions, human contacts have become a much treasured experience.

 

For people who find the black 845 too much like a basic plastic pen, the vermillion 845 could be a fine alternative. And then there are the green 845 and the blue 845...

 

Th... there's a blue 845?

[Algester]

845 were released in 5 colors

Shuu-urushi (Asahiya Kamibungu this topic)

Aka-Urushi (Kobe? Maruzen pen fair)

Ao-Urushi (Kobe pen festival, Nagasawa Kobe)

Midori-Urushi (Maruzen Pen fair)

Kuro-Urushi (Pilot staple)

 

each of them well are harder to find now

Edited October 23, 2015 by Algester

[Tinjapan]

The Midori (green) urushi pen was sold by reservation only at this past Maruzen pen fair. It is a LE pen of just 50. Last year Maruzen offered a blue 845 also LE and I think that was also limited to only 50. It seems that Kobe once offered their own red urushi 845. Perhaps there are other green and blue 845 out there.

 

 

I took some pics of my pen, but reds to not show true on my DSLR. In fact, they show up looking like nein lights, the color bleeding over nearby colors. Will try again later with better natural light.

[bizhe]

 

The WA is equivalent to FM on the vertical stroke, and equivalent to M on the horizontal stroke.

 

Thanks - interesting observation - that matches my experience as well with a 742 WA.

[mchenart]

Perhaps I should just upload a photo of the three coloured 845. This was taken at a pen meet in Hong Kong this March, and the pens belong to our pen group member Kai Ming. I hope he won't mind me sharing the photo here. Oh, the red of the vermillion pen is way too intense; I think Tinjapan's photo above is more accurate.

 

http://i955.photobucket.com/albums/ae33/mchenart/DSCF5877_zpsmrasqmsp.jpg