I've been in Japan for the last week or so and today was the first chance I've had to get out and do something on my own for a while. I'm in Okinawa and I decided to drive down to Naha and visit the Toguchi Fountain Pen Company. Mr. Toguchi's family has been in the fountain pen business in Okinawa for 82 years. For many years, they manufactured their own pens and, until the 70s, they had several stores across the island. Their pens have been out of production for a while, and there is only one shop now. It's an amazing place, filled with new and classic pens. I thought it would be fun to go and see what there was to see--I haven't been there for a couple of years. The last time I visited, I came away with a Pilot Custom 74 at a very good price, and Mr. Toguchi engraved it with a facsimile of my signature too.
As all the fountain pen geeks probably know, the Japanese characters for fountain pen read "mannen hitsu" or "Ten-Thousand Year Brush." Kind of cool, isn't it? Well, Mr. Toguri's shop is in his own building--the Mannen Biru or "Ten-Thousand Year Building."
I went up to the second floor (there's a convenience store on the first) and found him in the shop. I read somewhere that his shop looks like a detective's office from a noir movie. It does a little. He had lots of pens, both old and new, in cases around the outside wall. He also has a big collection of catalogs and brochures--all kinds of pen related stuff. Plus there's two displace cases of ink and his engraving machine. Then, in the middle of the store, he has his desk and guest chairs.
When I came in, he remembered me from the last time I visited. He went to his bookshelf and found a collection of signatures he keeps--when you buy a pen from him, he has you sign a log with your name and address. Then, he writes in information about your purchase and adds anything else that might be pertinent (like your business card). He asked me how my pen worked out for me, then had me sit down. We talked for quite a while--not just about pens, but about history, current events and the other things that he's interested in. Born a couple of years before WWII, he's seen a lot and always has fascinating stories to tell.
After that, we got up and looked around. Some of the pens that his family made before the war had been in the news. They're very popular with Japanese collectors. This isn't a very good shot, but he has some of the old and damaged ones on display in a case, along with a number of other pens.
In the middle of his little sticky, you can see the symbol of his company: a mountain range with the Japanese figure for "to" under it--the first syllable of his name.
As we looked at pens, I had the chance to write with a Pilot Custom 742 with the Falcon nib. To say it was flexible was an understatement. If this is the kind of nib you're looking for, I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed. I was also briefly tempted to buy a Platinum 3776 Bourgogne. It's a steal in Japan--at today's exchange rate it lists for $99, as opposed to $175 or so in the US. However, he only had it in EF. The pen is really beautiful--I think that the translucent burgundy is very cool--but it writes like a stereo needle. So I passed. What did I end up buying?
A Sailor Profit Fude DE Mannen Pen, that's what! Not an actual brush pen and not the Sailor pen that looks like a brush pen with a nib. This one has the torpedo shape of a classic Sailor pen, but has a strange, bent nib (at 55 degrees, according to the Sailor propaganda) that lets it function like a brush. By turning the nib at different angles, you can get significant line variation. It's kind of a cool little gadget. Not a very hefty pen--nobody is going to mistake it for the King of Pens--but it's an interesting addition to my collection and I'm sure I'll get some use out of it every now and then.
Here are a couple of shots of the pen from one available on Rakuten. I paid about $18 for it.
Mr. Toguchi also gave me one of his company appointment books as I was leaving. They're small, pocket-sized notebooks, but they're full of interesting information. I'll definitely use it for the rest of the year.
I had to be getting back to work, so I thanked Mr. Toguchi for everything and headed out. I hope I have another trip back here before too long--who knows what interesting things he'll have out by then. Always a fun visit.
As all the fountain pen geeks probably know, the Japanese characters for fountain pen read "mannen hitsu" or "Ten-Thousand Year Brush." Kind of cool, isn't it? Well, Mr. Toguri's shop is in his own building--the Mannen Biru or "Ten-Thousand Year Building."
I went up to the second floor (there's a convenience store on the first) and found him in the shop. I read somewhere that his shop looks like a detective's office from a noir movie. It does a little. He had lots of pens, both old and new, in cases around the outside wall. He also has a big collection of catalogs and brochures--all kinds of pen related stuff. Plus there's two displace cases of ink and his engraving machine. Then, in the middle of the store, he has his desk and guest chairs.
When I came in, he remembered me from the last time I visited. He went to his bookshelf and found a collection of signatures he keeps--when you buy a pen from him, he has you sign a log with your name and address. Then, he writes in information about your purchase and adds anything else that might be pertinent (like your business card). He asked me how my pen worked out for me, then had me sit down. We talked for quite a while--not just about pens, but about history, current events and the other things that he's interested in. Born a couple of years before WWII, he's seen a lot and always has fascinating stories to tell.
After that, we got up and looked around. Some of the pens that his family made before the war had been in the news. They're very popular with Japanese collectors. This isn't a very good shot, but he has some of the old and damaged ones on display in a case, along with a number of other pens.
In the middle of his little sticky, you can see the symbol of his company: a mountain range with the Japanese figure for "to" under it--the first syllable of his name.
As we looked at pens, I had the chance to write with a Pilot Custom 742 with the Falcon nib. To say it was flexible was an understatement. If this is the kind of nib you're looking for, I'm pretty sure you won't be disappointed. I was also briefly tempted to buy a Platinum 3776 Bourgogne. It's a steal in Japan--at today's exchange rate it lists for $99, as opposed to $175 or so in the US. However, he only had it in EF. The pen is really beautiful--I think that the translucent burgundy is very cool--but it writes like a stereo needle. So I passed. What did I end up buying?
A Sailor Profit Fude DE Mannen Pen, that's what! Not an actual brush pen and not the Sailor pen that looks like a brush pen with a nib. This one has the torpedo shape of a classic Sailor pen, but has a strange, bent nib (at 55 degrees, according to the Sailor propaganda) that lets it function like a brush. By turning the nib at different angles, you can get significant line variation. It's kind of a cool little gadget. Not a very hefty pen--nobody is going to mistake it for the King of Pens--but it's an interesting addition to my collection and I'm sure I'll get some use out of it every now and then.
Here are a couple of shots of the pen from one available on Rakuten. I paid about $18 for it.
Mr. Toguchi also gave me one of his company appointment books as I was leaving. They're small, pocket-sized notebooks, but they're full of interesting information. I'll definitely use it for the rest of the year.
I had to be getting back to work, so I thanked Mr. Toguchi for everything and headed out. I hope I have another trip back here before too long--who knows what interesting things he'll have out by then. Always a fun visit.
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