Nakaya has arrived!

[Caboose]

Well, my new Nakaya arrived Saturday and I just got a chance to snap a few less-than-professional photos

Here's a shot of her resting on her pillow after the long trek from Tokyo.

 

Here's a picture of her "tattoo"... the Kanji characters I had added. Someone who knows Kanji can post what the characters mean. I know what I asked for, but I want to make sure they mean what I think

 

Here's a pic of the two-tone nib (complete with ink smudges - sorry!) and the Kanshitsu ("stone") finish grip section.

 

Here she is again in front of her "crate"

 

One last pic of her with her kimono:

 

Now, it's time to do some writing.

 

Cheers (or should I say "Yoi ichinichi o"), Dean

 

[jd50ae]

That is a beautiful pen.

[greencobra]

Very nice, a stunning looking pen. I hope you enjoy using it. Congrats.

[jonro]

That is a beautiful pen. What does Nakaya call that style and finish?

[Caboose]

Thanks, I'm enjoying what little writing I've had a chance to do so far.

 

Jonro, It is a Urushi pen. It is a Cigar (no clip) style in the "Piccolo" size. The finish is Kuro-Tamenuri (blackish-red tamenuri). The Kanshitsu - or stone - finish on the grip section is an option.

The Piccolo is the only style available with the tapered vs. rounded ends. The Cigar style in the Piccolo is slighly shorter than the Writer model (with clip).

 

Cheers, Dean

[dwmatteson]

Wow, Dean. What a beauty. Congrats!

 

FWIW, I like your photos.

 

Don

[Penache]

Congrats on the new Nakaya beauty. The duotone nib is so elegant and the kanji gives it a personal touch.

At this point I can only dream about Nakayas but I can live vicariously.

[contravox]

I believe the characters mean "life's savings"

 

Really, I don't know what they mean, but I would be interested in knowing how much that pretty little pen set you back. Just how do you plan on carrying that around with you? DId they forget to add the clip?

[Renzhe]

Congratulations. Such a pretty color, and an elegant shape. I'm not really into the chopstick rest though. Nor would I get one anytime soon.

 

"Promise."

[Keng]

Very nice pen. Perhaps you can tell us your writing experience with the pen. Is it is a M nib? and if the Kanshitsu adds to the feel of the pen?

[Taki]

Wow, very nice! The kanji word (two kanji's together) means "promise" in Japanese. Congrats!

 

EDIT: I just notice Renzhe had already got the word

Edited July 9, 2007 by Taki

[Caboose]

Don, thanks for the comment on the photos. They actually turned out a little better than I thought they would. Just used a little nikon here at work - need some work on the glare but didn't feel like setting up a MacGyver light tent using toothpicks and Kleenex :ltcapd:

 

Contravox, You might be right on the Kanji characters. With regard to price... let's just say it was more than a cup of espresso and less than an LE Montblanc... of course, I got a discount because of the missing clip .

 

Renzhe, the chopstick rest was a bit of an afterthought. With no clip on the pen, it's mostly a funtional thing, although it does add to the Japanese flair of the pen. I won't be carting the pillow to meetings with me, however.

 

Keng, my writing experience thus far has been good. It is a fine nib, not as flexible as the only other Japanese fine nib I have on my Vanishing Point. I don't know if I would call it a "nail" but it's not terribly flexible - which is good for me. It is smooth, but not what I would call "buttery". It's got a little bit of feedback that I want and expect from an F nib. I like a little bit of a drier writer because I write fairly small and don't like all of my loops filled in. I'm playing around a bit with writing angles and such to see what kind of tolerance the nib has. So far, it seems pretty tolerant of a decent range of pen and nib angles.

 

I will try to write a more comprehensive review after I put a few more miles on the nib. I would also like to try a converter full of a different ink to see how it behaves. I expect that it will be pretty friendly, but we'll see.

 

Cheers, Dean

[Caboose]

Thanks Renzhe and Taki for the translation. I admit, I missed it in Renzhe's post as well. The word I asked for was "Commitment". There were a couple of different meanings for this, and thus different Kanji, so I guess the one I chose translates best to "promise". That's good.

 

Dean

[Taki]

Thanks Renzhe and Taki for the translation. I admit, I missed it in Renzhe's post as well. The word I asked for was "Commitment". There were a couple of different meanings for this, and thus different Kanji, so I guess the one I chose translates best to "promise". That's good.

 

Dean

Dean,

 

Commitment can be translated into several different Japanese words and some of them have slightly negative connotation. The one they chose is very nice one, I think

Edited July 9, 2007 by Taki

[Caboose]

Taki,

That was one of the nice things about dealing with the folks at Nakaya. They e-mailed back to clarify which meaning I wanted and then they sent a .jpg of what the characters would look like. To me, that was nice. I mean, I knew I wanted that sentiment on the pen, but it was nice to be able to see and approve the characters to make sure they were aesthetically interesting and/or pleasing. I like that the translation resulted in a limited number of characters to keep with the simple, uncluttered look of the pen. Some of the other words resulted in six or seven characters which was not what I was looking for.

 

Thanks, Dean

Edited July 9, 2007 by Caboose

[jmkeuning]

That Kanshitsu grip section is excellent.

 

How is it to hang on to?

[Shelley]

That is a very beautiful pen, congrats, not sure if it would be a good pen for me though - what are the specs, size and weight, just curious, whoops, there goes another cat...

[Caboose]

The Kanshitsu grip is pleasant to use. It isn't rough in the slightest, it's burnished to a pretty smooth surface. It probably lends slightly more grip than the straight urushi, but not a lot. As shiny as the pen is, the urushi does not seem slippery, it seems to have a little resistance to it.

I have to admit, I was a little disappointed when I first uncapped the pen. The Kanshitsu appeared a little "plasticy" to me - at least as opposed to what I expected. The close-up shot above does a better job of showing the irregular nature of the urushi powder application used in Kanshitsu. It's growing on me now and I expect that as it ages, it's character will change and look less "artificial".

If I were to do it over again, I can't say at this point whether I would choose to have that treatment applied. I like that it adds a little more character, but the plain urushi is so pretty, it doesn't really need it. Totally a personal choice, but I wouldn't do it based only on grippability alone.

 

For reference, Phthalo has some beautiful pictures of a similar pen without the Kanshitsu grip. This might help you decide if it's something you would like. Do a search for "Nakaya" in the pen reviews section and look for her as the topic starter. I'm hoping she will pop in here when it's the right time in OZ to give her opinions as well.

 

Cheers, Dean

 

 

 

[Caboose]

Shelley,

It really is a very light pen. From the Nakya web-site, here are the dimensions:

Weight w/ cap = 20g

Weight w/o cap = 15g

Length capped = 128mm

Length uncapped = 116mm

length posted = 160mm (I'm typically a cap-poster, but will forego that habit with this pen)

Max. diameter = 15mm

 

The section seems to be about the same diameter as my Peilkan 625 - don't know if that reference helps. It's not a skinny pen, but the grip isn't that big and the pen is so light, it is a very comfortable writer.

 

Hope that helps, Dean

[FrankB]

The pen is lovely. Congrats.

 

I am saving for another Nakaya (I have only one). It will be my Christmas present this year. I am not sure the Piccolo size is for me as I usually like a larger pen. I like the finish, though. I already have a pen pillow, and I find it wonderfully practical as well as a nice aesthetic embellishment to my desk.