Maruzen Fountain Pen Fair Day One

[da vinci]

7th annual Maruzen Pen Fair report.

Day 1

With the current craze over Sailor inks, I really wanted to arrive at least 30 minutes before they opened today, the first day of the Maruzen pen fair. Instead I got there 30 minutes after they opened. Luckily I was able to pick up two bottles (the limit per person) of Maruzen Nihombashi Fukuro (Owl). In fact, it did not really get busy until around 11ish. It was quite busy when I left around 3PM.

There were the usual venders in their usual spots. Omas was offering large discounts as did Delta but most do not offer discounted prices.

After buying my ink and LE Pilot 845 Beni Urushi pen I went to put my name on the waiting list for Pilot's pen clinic. The earliest slot available was after 4 pm, too late for me that day. They talked me into making the appointment anyway saying that there is the possibility that someone may cancel or not show and I may get an earlier sitting. Just after I returned from lunch they called and I was able to get two pens serviced.

While at the Pilot pen counter earlier to buy ink, I had the pleasure of meeting fellow FPNer Mchenart. Sadly, I could not talk long as I had to run up to first floor for an appointment I had for Pilot's pen use analysis and consultation.

Pilot had a special event where one could have their writing analyzed. One wrote on paper above a sensor with a Pilot fountain pen that was attached to a computer and everything from pressure on the paper, letter size, writing speed, and various angles of the pen were recorded and the technician explained the outcome.

The technician was concerned about how useful this would be for me as the software was written for kanji. He thanked me, then, after I wrote my name in katakana. I write fairly slowly, I started with FPs just 3 or 4 years ago, and lightly for a man, a function of using vintage nibs I wonder? No problems were discovered and I was surprised to learn that XF, F and FM nibs suit me best.

Ran into Mchenart again and he introduced me to a few members of his group. A group of very nice folks I wish I had more time to visit with. Hope you guys had a great time and found most if not all you hoped to find in Tokyo.

Talked briefly with the Ohashido guy, really should commit his name to memory. Saw several handmade leather pen cases and asked how much they were and he gave me one. He made them himself and gave them to people who bought pens that day. I did not but another Ohashido that day but had the one I bought from him earlier with me. He had some pens made of a plastic like material, sorry but I am not familiar with the Japanese word for it, that looked really nice. So it seems that they are branching out from ebonite only.

Went over to the Eboya display to have a look. First ran into them at last year's Mitsukosji pen fair and they have since repaired several of my vintage pens. I had not yet purchased one of their pens despite several visits to the shop not far from my home. After buying my Eboya pen off to lunch I went.

Just after stepping back into Maruzen I was called for the pen clinic. I am grateful they talked me in to putting my name on the list. One pen had a feed that was slightly curved, preventing proper ink flow. Despite it not being a Pilot pen and around 30 years old, they took to take to the Pilot shop and fix it there for free. I am really happily surprised by this. I am all the more happy that I have quite a few Pilot pens and that I had already bought one at the show.

Having accomplished everything that I came to do, I left earlier than I thought I would; happy and with heavier bag but with a much lighter wallet.

Day 2

Went back again mainly hoping to be able to pick up some ink for friends and learned as you now know, that they sold out shortly after I left the day before. Although I really didn't think I would be able to get an early enough reservation, especially as I arrived an hour later than I did the day before, I brought along some vintage pens with various problems on the off chance that I could get them looked at. Surprisingly, they had only a few people signed up and I only had to wait for an hour and a half, which I spent looking over the pens, ink and paper again, and again and again.

While waiting I thought I should check to see how many points I had earned on my point card over the last few years. Maybe I could use it towards some more ink. It turned out that I had enough points to buy another pen I had been interested in. With it being on sale and with the points I had, I picked up a brand new Stipula Vedo for about 10% of its catalog price.

My turn at the pen clinic came and two vintage pens with nib problems are now once again wonderful writers.

My Pilot 854 Maruzen LE

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My Eboya

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My Stipula

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Great report thanks

 

Your Eboya looks rather nice. Could you give a little more information? Is it a show special, what model is it and what nib did you get? Are you pleased with it? Thanks.

[Tinjapan]

It is a KYOUKA small, the color is called KUMFUU and it has a 14k medium nib. I have not had much chance to use my pens since I bought and have three new ones to play with, however I am very happy with it so far.

 

Although I have small hands, I usually use large pens. The small of this model however is very close to the vintage eye droppers I use. I really like it.

[shuuemura]

Tinjapan: Your Pilot Custom 845 Maruzen LE looks beautiful! How does the colour differ from the Tokyo Pen Quill shop version? Could you show us a picture of the two pens juxtaposed? Thanks in advance!

Edited March 5, 2016 by shuuemura

[da vinci]

It is a KYOUKA small, the color is called KUMFUU and it has a 14k medium nib. I have not had much chance to use my pens since I bought and have three new ones to play with, however I am very happy with it so far.

Although I have small hands, I usually use large pens. The small of this model however is very close to the vintage eye droppers I use. I really like it.

Thank you, I really like it Edited March 5, 2016 by da vinci

[Tinjapan]

Thank you, I really like it

Thank you, I really like it

I forgot to add that it is NOT a show piece. It is one of their standard models.

 

And, thanks.

[Tinjapan]

Tinjapan: Your Pilot Custom 845 Maruzen LE looks beautiful! How does the colour differ from the Tokyo Pen Quill shop version? Could you show us a picture of the two pens juxtaposed? Thanks in advance!

They are quite different. Tokyo Pen Quill is red while this is a reddish brown.

 

The Maruzen Beni Urushi is in the foreground and the Quill Vermilion is in the background.

Edited March 5, 2016 by Tinjapan

[haruka337]

Vermilion colored pens are gorgeous! X-O

[Algester]

the new Shuumi no Bungu Hako volume has just released the pen fair pens coverage

http://i.imgur.com/qxT5dXg.jpg

the pen fairs that happened over at Maruzen and Mitsukoshi?

[Tinjapan]

This is an advertisement for the upcoming MItsikoshi Pen Fair.

[Algester]

I thought the Mitsukoshi pen fair happens to coincide with Maruzen's pen fair for this year? if thats not the case then good... though I don't presume the pens presented can still be had since more or less all units would have been reserved prior to announcement

[Tinjapan]

Maruzen's is between the 2nd and 8th. Mitsukoshi's the 9th to the 14th. Mitsukoshi does have some smaller pen and stationery related events from even before Maruzen's fair started and during. For example, they offered some bottles of their LE ink for their pen fair on the 2nd.

 

I do not think that all the LE show pens are reserved in advance. Last year's Maruzen LE Pilot 845 was split into two offerings. 50 for reservation and those which were not preordered offered during the show and 50 for order at the show to pick up in December. I am quite certain that not all were reserved this year. I met people who flew in for the show and bought some. I do not think that they preordered them.

 

One of Mitsukoshi's LE Sailors was still available at the event. I was even able to pick which serial number I wanted. Alas, I spent too much at Maruzen and my credit card was maxed out. They may still have then in stock.

 

There were several LE pens from previous years for sale and I was able to by my LE (just 20!) Mitsukoshi/Isetan Cherry Bark Sailor a week or so after the event.

 

This does not mean that the pen you want won't be sold out in preorder, but it is possible to find LE pens even after the event is over.

 

Ink, well that seems to be a very different situation. Of course it is easier to buy multiple bottles of $20. ink than several pens ranging from a few hundred dollars to several thousand dollars.

[mchenart]

Thank you katanankes and Tinjapan for your wonderful reports of the Maruzen show. I was there only in the morning of March 2, so was quite glad to read about what had happened after my departure. I am also happy to have met Tinjapan at the pen show. We not only chatted briefly on pens, he was kind enough to offer me some badly needed translation.

 

Taiwan has a very vibrant fountain pen scene, and more and more Taiwanese pen friends are going to such events in Japan while grabbing whatever pens and stationery items that strike their fancy. Members of the Fountain Pen Congress, to which I am a member and chairman, are guilty too in that we bought up quite a good share of the Maruzen LE ink as well as this year’s special Pilot 845 pen. But we know that since Maruzen do not accept orders from overseas, the only way we could get these items is to visit the store in person.

 

After the detailed reports by katanankes and Tinjapan, I have very little to add. I could, however, share a photo of Mr. Tomohisa Endo, chariman of Eboya Pens with an assistant behind their well-stocked counter.

 

http://i955.photobucket.com/albums/ae33/mchenart/IMG_0879_zpsglkud4n8.jpg

 

And this is Mr. Uehara, grand son of the founder of Ohasido, Eichii Uehara. He was busy tuning nibs for customers and accepting new orders. Since I have pens by both Ohasido and Eboya, it adds a lot of pleasure to the writing after meeting both CEOs.

 

http://i955.photobucket.com/albums/ae33/mchenart/IMG_0881_zpsjxji1wea.jpg

 

 

[katanankes]

Katanankes,

 

If I can ask a favor since you are going back today to the fair, can you ask Ohashido whether they have a permanent section at the Hankyu Umeda 10th floor in Osaka? I read on their fb page a while back that they set up a permanent location there since October 2015. Now fb translator might not be the most accurate and I don't speak Japanese. I will be in Japan this June and would really love to see their pens in person finally. My trip unfortunately doesn't involve going to northern Japan so visiting their home office in Sendai is not possible. Thanks.

 

Lee

 

Hi Lee, I am deeply sorry, I tried, but I was unable to hold a conversation with Ohashido...

[katanankes]

Just some follow ups, additional thoughts.

 

I came back to Maruzen on 3th and 4th March and I was ready to pull the trigger on a Nakaya Neo Standard with music nib only to learn that Nakaya master engineer did not have a tool needed to install music nibs and was unable to prepare the pen. So no Nakaya this year. On the 4th I also entertained some conversation with Eboya staff (the lady pictured above spoke some English). I just was not able to talk myself into the purchase.

 

My last trip to Maruzen was on Sunday with the goal to register for the Sailor ink mixing clinic. Most people reading this forum will be familiar with this: an experienced Sailor "ink master" is available to mix customized inks using a set of predefined hues. Here language barriers showed how difficult even simple operations can be for someone who does not speak Japanese. I spent almost one hour hovering over the pen clinic stand waiting for the 11am opening time. I was repeated (or so I thought since I was speaking English and my interlocutor would speak Japanese) that advance registration was not possible. Eventually at 10.45 the Sailor staff arrived and guess what... all morning slots were already reserved. I really do not know how that happened. So no ink mix for me, but watching the process was kind of fun! No other chances for me since after lunch time I had to leave for the airport. This is also a caveat for visitors, this small events are certainly fun but they can also be frustrating if you do not speak Japanese and/or you are not an insider. Keep your expectations realistic.

 

Thanks to Tinjapan's timely post, I realized that the 845 limited edition for Maruzen was actually on sale with inventory at hand. My assumption was that only reservation was possible. On Sunday morning the pen was still available and I decided to spend the remaining budget of my visit on this pen. My dream remains to find in the secondary market the blue or green one... Speaking of Maruzen limited editions... I think that the special Salor King of Pen for Maruzen in green and reddish colors (urushi?) produced for past pen fairs were still available (it is a 150,000 yen plus 8% taxes). This year they had a King of Pen in aluminium coating.

 

On Sunday, Nakaya and Eboya were gone. Eboya'a place was taken by Eizo of Eurobox, specializing in second hand and vintage pens. Eizo speaks perfect English and answers emails. I purchased one of my "grail pens", an Opera Master Demo by Visconti. I actually completed the deal at his store before he went to Maruzen.

 

During the trip I had some other pen related visits. On my first day, I stopped at Ayosama Pen Boutique. Somebody wrote that it is the most beautiful pen shop in the world. I tend to agree. Every single inch of the shop is covered by pens, mostly high end pieces. A staff member spoke perfect English so the shopping experience was very pleasant. I scored another grail, an Omas Ogiva in Blue Celluloid issued last year only for the Japanese market in 30 pieces. They also had some Pilot vanishing point limited editions from 2015 and 2014. One plus of the boutique is that they are a tax free shop and if you are a temporary visitor and bring your passport you can avoid the 8% sales tax (no need to ask for refunds at the airport, also Itoya operates this way, not Maruzen unfortunately).

 

In Shinjuku I visited Kingdom Note store (it is on the 6th floor of Map Camera, a popular camera equipment store). They have a large selection of inks and have opened testing bottles for most of them. Really a nice place where to try ink. I bought one of their Sailor store exclusive inks. The inventory seemed to be a bit depleted (no Pilot pens? How so?) but most pens were discounted 20%.

 

Speaking of discounts, I visited the Sekaido department store near Sinjuku-Sanchome station and on the ground floor they have a small fountain pen corner selling Pilot, Sailor, Platinum and some foreign brands at a 20% discount. Not bad.

 

Finally, on Saturday, I met Ryo Yamamoto to get delivery of the Hakase pen that I commissioned last year in Tottori. The chance was that Ryo was in Tokyo to take orders and meet customers. So I went to his spot, a cafe in Ginza, and took delivery of my Hakase green celluloid pen. It was made to meet my request for a long body and it currently exceeds expectations in terms of nib work.

 

This was probably my biggest and craziest pen shopping to date. I will need to stop for a while now. But no regrets! I have some lousy phone camera picture of the loot:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 7, 2016 by katanankes

[Tinjapan]

Katanankes

 

Glad you were able to get a Maruzen LE Pilot 845 Beni Urushi! Unfortunately, we are competitors in finding a Blue one of these, my Grail pen. Luckily, I have the green.

 

Perhaps, the reason you could not get a reservation for the ink blender is that all reservations were taken by people in line for it when the store opened in the morning. I planned to go early this morning for this reason but suddenly had a lesson to teach.. I stopped by around 1pm and of course all time slots were filled. I was told that for the first 30 minutes after opening today it was possible to make a reservation. Will try again tomorrow but am not very hopeful. I live too far away to get there as early as I should.

 

Which ink do you get at Kingdom Note? They have been low on pen inventory for a couple of years. The whole long wall and the short wall closest to the door used to be completely full of used pens! If they were all out of Pilot pens, my guess is that a fellow pen show goer stopped by there and bought them out. They had some two weeks ago when last I stopped by and we're still advertising them in their emailings before the weekend.

 

Now, which inks are you planning on using in your new pens?

[sakayume]

Katanankes, those are some lovely pens you've added. Thanks again for sharing your time at the Maruzen pen fair and other Tokyo pen shops. I've really enjoyed reading your posts in this thread.

Edited March 7, 2016 by candide

[katanankes]

Katanankes

 

Glad you were able to get a Maruzen LE Pilot 845 Beni Urushi! Unfortunately, we are competitors in finding a Blue one of these, my Grail pen. Luckily, I have the green.

 

Perhaps, the reason you could not get a reservation for the ink blender is that all reservations were taken by people in line for it when the store opened in the morning. I planned to go early this morning for this reason but suddenly had a lesson to teach.. I stopped by around 1pm and of course all time slots were filled. I was told that for the first 30 minutes after opening today it was possible to make a reservation. Will try again tomorrow but am not very hopeful. I live too far away to get there as early as I should.

 

Which ink do you get at Kingdom Note? They have been low on pen inventory for a couple of years. The whole long wall and the short wall closest to the door used to be completely full of used pens! If they were all out of Pilot pens, my guess is that a fellow pen show goer stopped by there and bought them out. They had some two weeks ago when last I stopped by and we're still advertising them in their emailings before the weekend.

 

Now, which inks are you planning on using in your new pens?

 

I got the Aix galericulata... that is a nice warm brown that I like... not sure whether they had all of their inks stocked, but certainly they did not mention any availability issue while I browsed their swabs. Warning: of course their inks are now placed in the regular "low" Sailor bottle. No diamond bottles anymore.

 

I also got from Maruzen their Athena brown, gray and eternal blue. They are in the diamond shaped bottles and by Thursday all stock was sold out. From Ayosama I got their two Sailor exclusive inks, blue and yellowish.

 

Finally I got two Iro inks, Ku-Jaku and Syo-Ro that will most likely be my ink of choice for the new pens since I like teals.

 

By the way, I traveled with all of the above inks in my hand carry baggage and security staff at Narita did not raise an eyebrow. That was almost half a liter (wow, what I was thinking) of weird liquid, not sealed in zip-locks. I had similar experiences traveling out of Singapore.

 

I really admire your Midori 845 Tinjapan :-) Would you also be interested in the yellow 140 anniversary Pilot for Maruzen? I saw it on Eurobox website http://euro-box.com/biz/sale03.html but it was already sold. I do not think it is urushi, but the shape is reminiscent of the 845....

[Nobel]

Thank you for your post. I found myself in Tokyo for business last week Thursday and Friday and read your post on Friday afternoon. I was on the forum because I had just bought a Namiki Nippon Art Golden Phaesant at Itoya and I wanted to read up a bit about Japanese pens.

 

My hotel was only a stone's throw from Maruzen, so I dashed out to have a look just before closing time.

 

If you don't speak Japanese (which I don't) it is very difficult to communicate. I was interested in the Sailor Koshu Inden cherry blossom and it took the staff a good 5 minutes to find somebody with basic English. Unfortunately the discussion still didn't progress much passed "this is a pen, made by sailor, and the design is lacquer". I did a little bit of research on my phone and decided to buy it. I really like the look and feel of it.

 

Great find this little fair, and therefore once again many thanks for the post which alerted me to it.

[Tinjapan]

I got the Aix galericulata... that is a nice warm brown that I like... not sure whether they had all of their inks stocked, but certainly they did not mention any availability issue while I browsed their swabs. Warning: of course their inks are now placed in the regular "low" Sailor bottle. No diamond bottles anymore.

 

I also got from Maruzen their Athena brown, gray and eternal blue. They are in the diamond shaped bottles and by Thursday all stock was sold out. From Ayosama I got their two Sailor exclusive inks, blue and yellowish.

 

Finally I got two Iro inks, Ku-Jaku and Syo-Ro that will most likely be my ink of choice for the new pens since I like teals.

 

By the way, I traveled with all of the above inks in my hand carry baggage and security staff at Narita did not raise an eyebrow. That was almost half a liter (wow, what I was thinking) of weird liquid, not sealed in zip-locks. I had similar experiences traveling out of Singapore.

 

I really admire your Midori 845 Tinjapan :-) Would you also be interested in the yellow 140 anniversary Pilot for Maruzen? I saw it on Eurobox website http://euro-box.com/biz/sale03.html but it was already sold. I do not think it is urushi, but the shape is reminiscent of the 845....

 

Lovely inks you have chosen! Thanks for your comments on my Midori 845. I am so angry at myself for not paying more attention to these LE Pilots earlier. I could have bought the blue, I was there, but thought that all those LE pens were way beyond my budget after seeing the prices of several others.

 

I am interested in the 140 anniversary Pilot for Maruzen, but as you said, it has been sold.

 

I do have a 125th anniversary Maruzen, purchased second hand from Kingdom Note.

[Tinjapan]

Mchenart

 

Again, it was really enjoyable to meet you at the Maruzen pen show. I look forward to conversing on FPN.

 

Thank you for posting the names of the Eboya's and Ohashido's CEOs. I have never been good with names and now have a reference. For me the experience was reversed. I first met Mr. Uehara when my wife bought her first fountain pen, the precursor to my infatuation. I bought mine a year later. I first met Mr. Endo at last year's Mitsukoshi pen fair and have visited their shop several times for repairs to vintage pens. Finally, I have been able to finally buy one of their pens.

 

Sad you had only the morning of the first day at the show. Hope you got to spend more time in Japan before heading back.

 

Ran into our friend of "the 9" at Maruzen today. Rushed again, we could only exchange pleasantries. Please give them my best.

 

And to you, my best also.

 

T