Fountain Pens of Japan book worth getting?

[PotbellyPig]

I don’t see too many in depth reviews of this book by Lambrou.  Is it predominantly for the high end Urushi and maki-e pens mainly?  I am mainly interested in Sailor and also their speciality nibs but not too much the over the top expensive limited editions.  I can read Japanese so if there is a better Japanese alternative, I could go that way as well..

[Barry Gabay]

Hello, Potbellypig,    Fountain Pens of Japan is a large book which is the most comprehensive book on Japanese pens I have encountered. The color photos are life size. Text covers a broad range of topics including early Japanese pens, materials, maki-e, major manufacturers, ltd eds, etc. It is well written and enormously informative. Needless to say, I'm a fan. Have owned my copy for nearly 10 years. If you are a serious student of Japanese fountain pens, this book is a must. 

[PotbellyPig]

24 minutes ago, Barry Gabay said:

Hello, Potbellypig,    Fountain Pens of Japan is a large book which is the most comprehensive book on Japanese pens I have encountered. The color photos are life size. Text covers a broad range of topics including early Japanese pens, materials, maki-e, major manufacturers, ltd eds, etc. It is well written and enormously informative. Needless to say, I'm a fan. Have owned my copy for nearly 10 years. If you are a serious student of Japanese fountain pens, this book is a must. 

Thanks for the info.  It is an expensive book so I am just making sure things won’t go over my head.  In the Sailor section, does it go into detail about the various custom Naginata nibs?

[Pen_Padawan]

12 hours ago, PotbellyPig said:

Thanks for the info.  It is an expensive book so I am just making sure things won’t go over my head.  In the Sailor section, does it go into detail about the various custom Naginata nibs?

Hi Potbelly pig, This is an amazing book, the most comprehensive book on Japanese pens.  But if you are just interested in Nagahara nibs the Sailor section focuses on the over all history of the company and pens not Nagahara nibs.  

[Barry Gabay]

There is a good section on "Domestic Nib Manufacture" in Japan. It contains numerous photos of old Japanese nibs. The section is primarily a historical survey of nib production during the past 100 years or so in Japan.  As Pen_Padawan mentioned, it does not contain extensive coverage Mr. Nagahara's remarkable nibs. There are some  photos of Nagahara nibs, but not a detailed analysis. 

 

[PotbellyPig]

6 hours ago, Pen_Padawan said:

Hi Potbelly pig, This is an amazing book, the most comprehensive book on Japanese pens.  But if you are just interested in Nagahara nibs the Sailor section focuses on the over all history of the company and pens not Nagahara nibs.  

 

5 hours ago, Barry Gabay said:

There is a good section on "Domestic Nib Manufacture" in Japan. It contains numerous photos of old Japanese nibs. The section is primarily a historical survey of nib production during the past 100 years or so in Japan.  As Pen_Padawan mentioned, it does not contain extensive coverage Mr. Nagahara's remarkable nibs. There are some  photos of Nagahara nibs, but not a detailed analysis. 

 

I may hold off on buying for now.  It just seems wrong in this day and age to pay hundreds of dollars for a paper book.  I hope that going forward, even collectible editions will also offer a premium ebook version that can cost more than normal ebooks but not in the hundreds of dollars range.  I’m sure the information in this book is great but I can buy a gold fountain pen at that price.  I also was really interested in the Nagahara nibs and not so much limited edition pens.  Thanks for all your input.

[Al-Bajaa]

I was contemplating purchasing this book but after further reflexion, I rather put that money towards another pen. There is a lot of valuable content and plenty of pen eye candy online, especially « Japanese Perfect Pens » on YouTube.

[Z man]

Fair enough; just, please, don't ask questions regarding Japanese pens where the answers can be found in the book.

[PithyProlix]

1 hour ago, Z man said:

Fair enough; just, please, don't ask questions regarding Japanese pens where the answers can be found in the book.

 

How about you ignore the questions, instead?

[MalcLee]

On 5/7/2022 at 5:47 AM, PotbellyPig said:

I also was really interested in the Nagahara nibs and not so much limited edition pens.  Thanks for all your input.

 

If you can track down a second-hand copy of the 52nd volume of the Japanese stationery magazine - "Shumi no Bungubako" on the various Japanese online marketplaces - there are 4 pages dedicated to just this topic in that edition.

 

[PithyProlix]

26 minutes ago, MalcLee said:

If you can track down a second-hand copy of the 52nd volume of the Japanese stationery magazine - "Shumi no Bungubako" on the various Japanese online marketplaces - there are 4 pages dedicated to just this topic in that edition.

 

This one? https://bookwalker.jp/de6de224dc-1a68-4875-99f1-64f63ad95f25/

[MalcLee]

7 minutes ago, PithyProlix said:

 

This one? https://bookwalker.jp/de6de224dc-1a68-4875-99f1-64f63ad95f25/

 

Yes. It is this volume.

 

[Linger]

Oooh, is that a magazine entirely about stationary? Is it available as pdf somewhere somehow?
 

I do have the interest, but I don’t have the patience to learn Japanese, but I love their magazines. The ones on Red Wing Shoes are phenomenal. And this one seems great too.

[PithyProlix]

1 hour ago, Linger said:

Oooh, is that a magazine entirely about stationary? Is it available as pdf somewhere somehow?
 

I do have the interest, but I don’t have the patience to learn Japanese, but I love their magazines. The ones on Red Wing Shoes are phenomenal. And this one seems great too.

 

Go here https://www.amazon.co.jp/s?k=趣味の文具箱 and click on some of the Kindle versions. You can click on the cover picture, 'look inside', and see a few sample pages for at least some of them. Even if you can't read Japanese there's plenty of beautiful eye candy ...

[Linger]

Cool. Thanks.
 

It still baffles me that Japanese brands don't tap into the global reach of whatever they are doing by offering “it” also in English. Especially for an digital product like a kindle version of a magazine. English is the number one language in the world, it even surpasses Mandarin. To translate these magazines has a cost, obviously, and then some more costs for marketing, but the global potential is ten times the domestic potential.

[PotbellyPig]

6 hours ago, MalcLee said:

 

If you can track down a second-hand copy of the 52nd volume of the Japanese stationery magazine - "Shumi no Bungubako" on the various Japanese online marketplaces - there are 4 pages dedicated to just this topic in that edition.

 

Thank you!  I happen to be able to read Japanese so I will get this particular issue.  I have read a few issues of this magazine already.  It is really an excellent publication.  But I don’t think there is a summarized index anywhere so that you can easily find which issue has the content you are looking for.  Something like Consumer Reports has where you can look up “Vacuum Cleaners” and find the issue that reports on it.  I was also thinking of buying a Japanese language based book on fountain pens in general but I don’t know of one that is as good as the one mentioned in the topic.  

[jandrese]

On 5/6/2022 at 3:44 PM, Al-Bajaa said:

I was contemplating purchasing this book but after further reflexion, I rather put that money towards another pen. There is a lot of valuable content and plenty of pen eye candy online, especially « Japanese Perfect Pens » on YouTube.

There is no substitute for this book. Online content pales in comparison to the book either photos or prose. I have hundreds of Japanese pens, mostly urushi and maki-e but my collection is nothing compared to what is shown in the book. The more I collect the more valuable the book becomes. 

 

There is a saying in Japanese sword collecting that one should first spend their money on books. Most don't until they have bought a few swords and realized they should have bought the books in the first place. Japanese pens and the book about them are the same way.

[PotbellyPig]

30 minutes ago, jandrese said:

There is no substitute for this book. Online content pales in comparison to the book either photos or prose. I have hundreds of Japanese pens, mostly urushi and maki-e but my collection is nothing compared to what is shown in the book. The more I collect the more valuable the book becomes. 

 

There is a saying in Japanese sword collecting that one should first spend their money on books. Most don't until they have bought a few swords and realized they should have bought the books in the first place. Japanese pens and the book about them are the same way.

But is the book as useful for someone is mostly into regular editions (no maki-e or urushi)?  I don’t usually buy limited editions or pens with artwork.  I guess It can’t hurt to learn about them though although I have no plans to buy.

[jandrese]

25 minutes ago, PotbellyPig said:

But is the book as useful for someone is mostly into regular editions (no maki-e or urushi)?  I don’t usually buy limited editions or pens with artwork.  I guess It can’t hurt to learn about them though although I have no plans to buy.

It's about Japanese pens and the companies that make them. Urushi and maki-e are a part of it but not all. Keep in mind the publishing date. For stuff in the past decade you will have to search the internet.

[PotbellyPig]

17 minutes ago, jandrese said:

It's about Japanese pens and the companies that make them. Urushi and maki-e are a part of it but not all. Keep in mind the publishing date. For stuff in the past decade you will have to search the internet.

I guess it can’t hurt to learn about the artisan pens.  But you are, right I am more into current editions and the book was written about 10 years ago.  The only custom pens I am looking into and plan to buy are the ones with the Nagihara nibs.