Toshiya Nakata, President of Nakaya

[Guest Denis Richard]

For the first profile in a series devoted to the people whose daily work is to keep the fountain pen legacy alive and running, we decided to learn more about Mr. Toshiya Nakata, president of the Nakaya corporation.

 

Founded in 1999, Nakaya is a relatively recent company in the fountain pen landscape, but is already recognized by many pen lovers as one of the finest makers of modern pens. Nakaya's "catch-lines", "The handmade fountain pen" and "for your hands only", reflect the philosophy and process at work in its workshop. Handmade, the pens are customized to each client's writing habit with the help of a chart filled when ordering. The underlying reason behind Nakaya's success and popularity inside the fountain pen community is the value of its craftsmen. Behind a short corporate history, Nakaya is built on a treasure of tradition. Its craftsmen are all retired employees from the Platinum Pen Company. With decades of practice of their trade, they bring to Nakaya pens what can be considered as the most extensive experience found amoung pen makers today. "Nakaya" was the original name of Platinum when it was founded in 1919. But the link between Nakaya and Platinum is not simply a corporate affair and it lies even deeper than their common craftsmen.

 

Toshiya Nakata is the son of Toshihiro Nakata, current president of Platinum, and the grand-son of Shunichi Nakata, its founder. The name of this pen dynasty is engraved on the Nakaya nibs. Coming from such a family, Toshiya Nakata has always been around pens : "I was given a fountain pen when I was a child (4 year old). In fact, I broke it, because the pleasure of writing was so strong, and I did not know how to use it." He really started using fountain pens at age 10 and at that time had a preference for a black leather rolled platinum pen. He is today a daily user and always uses blue-black ink. Because of the nature of his business, he confess that he "always stop writing after a while and think about that pen on an improvement point." In fact, most of the pens he uses are trial products that he is testing for balance and mechanism. When asked about his favorite pens, aside from Nakaya, he lists the Platinum 70th anniversary pens, Pelikans and 1950's Sheaffer Snorkel.

 

 

http://pagesperso.laposte.net/fpnet/Nakata2.jpg

Mr. Shunichi Nakaya, the founder of Platinum.

 

 

Even though he has many pens, he does not define himself as a collector. Mr Nakata comes across some many pens he likes, especially Nakaya Maki-e, that everytime he thinks : "This time, this brand new model is the best", only to find the next one even more lovable. He does not have a preference for either vintage or modern pens. In his words, "I do not care about this classification : Good products are good products. I love Classical music but I also love Rock, Jazz... On the other hand, I hate some musicians in Classical, Rock, Jazz,..."

 

Early, he naturally took on the family ambition : "I felt I had to be president of Platinum co., when I was a child." At his grand-father death, his father and third son of the founder, became his successor at the head of the family company. When he founded Nakaya corporation in 1999, he was paying tribute to his grand-father by using the family name. "Mr. Shunichi Nakaya, the founder of Platinum, started his fountain pen shop as "Nakaya seisakusho" and manufactured for other brands, such as departement stores, so the Nakaya brand was not famous. One day my grand-father made up his mind to establish his original brand and to distribute himself through an original channel. In order to catch-up with the brand makers, he put in place a mail-order system. It was the first in Japan." It was a succesful move and "dealers started to line-up in front of the old Platinum building, which is located in the very front of the Nakaya office now. Recently I realized that almost 50 years ago there were so many people lining-up to buy Platinum pens ; Now, there is no line in front of Nakaya, but there are so many customers in line on the Web. I made my grand-father's original name known, for him. I feel that I returned him a favor. But I always worry that customer's orders could stop suddenly in the future."

 

 

http://pagesperso.laposte.net/fpnet/Nakata1.jpg

Dealers in line in front of Platinum's old building.

 

 

The objective of T.Nakata is to establish Nakaya in the fountain pen community. One of his goal is to change the operating philosophy of the pen makers. He particularly felt a crisis concerning the small parts that Nakaya buys from other companies, a problem he believes to be general for pen manufacturers : "For band caps for instance, the minimum order quantity is 1000 pieces. For molded barrels, the minimum is 500 pieces to return the investment on the mold. In contrast, the anticipated amount of sales for a pen can be 300. So I asked some craftsmen and small companies to make the parts in small quantities, but of high quality at a higher price. At first they refused, because they were aiming at their main market where everybody competes for discounting on quantity delivery. The usual request is :"Give me a discount and I will buy many", but my requirement was the opposite : "Make the smallest quantity as possible, earn profit, but give me high quality, and I will find the customer who can evaluate a top quality product." Combined with the general decreasing sales of fountain pen, this is a concern for Mr. Nakata : "We fountain pen makers have to change the way of thinking to make this product, or we cannot manufacture the fountain pen in the futur." But he also has reasons to be optimistic : "Day by day, many craftsmen are coming toward Nakaya, who can not only work with their hands, but who can also operate the machines to make high quality parts. This is big news. For a long time, these machines did not move, but they are now re-starting."

 

Asked about any unusual requirements from his customers, Mr. Nakata answers that every one of them is a pleasure to deal with. The requests coming to him are normal Nakaya business : Pens coming in for the addition of artwork on the barrel or to be customized when they were given as a gift. Orders are coming from all over the world and even if he sees some tendencies by geographic area, "there are so many kinds of writing habits."

 

His advice to buyers and collectors is to enjoy the purchassing process and not to hesitate to try and ask questions to the seller. His final advice : "We Nakaya sell an experience of fountain pen. The paper is important too. Pen, nib and paper are a set of writing materials. Sometimes even the perspiration of the side of the hand influences the paper."

 

Mr. Toshiya Nakata was born in a family rich in history in the fountain pen community. He appears as a man aiming to build on his family past, dedicated to provide fine writing instruments and resolutely facing the challenges ahead of the pen making industry.

 

 

Nakaya can be found on-line at Nakaya.org.

Edited December 15, 2004 by Denis Richard

[PenHero]

Dear Denis,

 

Nice article, but the pictures are not coming through.

 

Cheers,

 

Jim Mamoulides

www.PenHero.com

[Guest Denis Richard]

Thanks Jim !

 

The pics should be visible now.

 

Denis.

[dava]

Interesting story and I have one tiny nit to pick in reference to dates mentioned.

 

[ In fact, most of the pens he uses are trial products that he is testing for balance and mechanism. When asked about his favorite pens, aside from Nakaya, he lists the Platinum 70th anniversary pens, Pelikans and 1940's Shaffer Snorkel.]

 

The snork didn't come out till the 1950s.

 

Or perhaps that 1940s snork really was a prototype. Either way, snorks are magnificient pens!

 

Dava

[Guest Denis Richard]

Thanks David,

 

you must be mistaking with the Sheaffer Snorkel, David. The one is the article is a "Shaffer" Snorkel...

 

Wrong date plus a typo, that you were too kind to point...

 

Denis.

Edited December 15, 2004 by Denis Richard

[PenHero]

Dear Denis,

 

As to the Snorkel, it was introduced in 1952. Missed that one reading the other very interesting tidbits in the article.

 

Cheers,

 

Jim Mamoulides

www.PenHero.com

[Guest Denis Richard]

Thank you Jim,

 

It was fun to communicate with Mr. Nakata, and to write that story. This was my first article, besides the reviews.

 

I'll post some more of the old "stuff" before I start looking for my next victims.

 

Denis.