Posts filed under Nakaya

Nakaya Dorsal Fin 2 in Heki-Tamenuri: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

Nakaya pens are all grail pens in my opinion, but there’s one model, in particular, that has always captured my imagination: the Dorsal Fin 2. To me, the pen mimics the soft curve of a Samurai sword more than it does a dorsal fin. But I’ve never much liked the Dorsal Fin 1 model, even though it more obviously evokes a dorsal fin. Dorsal Fin models (especially the Dorsal Fin 2) are in high demand and are constantly on backorder. When nibs.com announced last summer that they were expecting a shipment to arrive in the fall, I preordered one immediately and received it in October.

Nakaya pens come packaged in a softwood box with a red velvet-like interior. Included with the pen are a box of cartridges and a kimono. The pen is also supplied with a converter.

Heki-Tamenuri is a lovely urushi with organic, earthy tones of brown and green.

One of the reasons I chose the Dorsal Fin is because the model’s unique lines show off the underlying green urushi so well.

When you uncap the pen, you see even more of the green in the threads and grip section.

This pen is pure zen. It is perfectly balanced capped and uncapped, and it feels absolutely luscious in the hand. Urushi warms to your body temperature, so the pen becomes an extension of you. Writing with it is a simple pleasure.

For this Nakaya, I chose a medium-soft nib with added flex, ground to a stub by John Mottishaw. The Nakaya branding on the nib is gorgeous and the nib performs exactly as I hoped it would.

You can see the flex of the tines in this photo.

I inked the pen with Iroshizuku Tsukushi. I’ve found that Nakaya pens work especially well with Iroshizuku inks. This nib is wet and smooth. It is bouncy when writing without flex and it offers good line variation when you flex the nib.

The Nakaya Dorsal Fin 2 retails at $1,500 plus additional charges if you want nib modifications like mine. It’s obviously one of those pens you think about long and hard before purchasing. I’m absolutely pleased with my purchase. Not only is this pen a piece of beautiful art, it is one of my best writers as well.

You can purchase the Nakaya Dorsal Fin 2 from nibs.com. The Dorsal Fin 2 comes in various colors, including Heki-Tamenuri, Kuro-Tamenuri, Aka-Tamenuri, Midori-Tamenuri, Toki-Tamenuri, and various Ishime colors.

(I purchased this pen with my own funds after selling several beloved pens so I could afford this one!)

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Posted on March 13, 2020 by Susan Pigott and filed under Nakaya, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Nakaya Long Cigar in Aka-Tamenuri with Kanji and a Gold Zogan: A Review

(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)

I’ve come to the conclusion that my all-time favorite fountain pens are Nakayas. I simply adore them. I love their simple aesthetic, balance in the hand, incredible nibs, and the way they sing when I write with them.

I found this Nakaya on the nibs.com “pre-owned” page and snapped it up. I don’t have a long cigar in my collection, nor do I have any Nakayas with Kanji or gold zogans.

Nakayas are packaged in a softwood box (Paulownia wood) with a red velveteen insert. Included are a kimono (not pictured) and a box of Nakaya cartridges. The pen comes with a Nakaya converter as well.

The Long Cigar is just that: long. It measures 165mm capped and 145mm uncapped. Nakayas aren’t really meant to be posted. Even so, it is not a heavy pen at all, weighing only 27 grams capped and 20 grams uncapped (with converter inked). The pen is perfectly balanced in the hand.

This Nakaya has the Aka-Tamenuri finish, which is a red urushi. You can best see the subtleties of the color when you look at the cap edges and the grip section (pictured below).

In addition, this Nakaya has two extra special touches: Kanji and a gold zogan. The kanji, ikemori means something like “guardian of the pond.” A friend on Instagram explained that it refers to a person in charge of irrigation ponds in medieval Japan. Since this is a pre-owned pen, I don’t know what the Kanji symbolized to the original owner, but I decided to think of the pond as my poetry and this pen as a guardian, since I write out my poetry long hand first.

The gold zogan inlay is a diamond shape, hand painted in 24k yellow gold. It adds an extra touch of zen-like beauty to the pen.

This is my second Nakaya with an elastic nib. I reviewed my first here. An elastic nib is a soft nib that has been modified with cutouts.

This makes the nib separate from the feed in such a way that it feels like you’re writing with a paintbrush. The elastic modification does not provide flex, so you won’t see much line variation with this nib. But, the elastic nib is my favorite nib to write with. It is bouncy, soft, and forces you to maintain a consistent, flowing rhythm as you write.

*The ink used here is* *Kyo-no-oto Adzuki-iro*

I realize that Nakaya pens aren’t for everyone. They are quite expensive, especially when you add features like Kanji, a zogan inlay, and a specialty nib. But, these pens speak to me like no others. The urushi warms to your hand and the smooth lines and earthy colors evoke peace.

(I purchased this Nakaya with my own funds.)

Membership starts at just $5/month, with a discounted annual option available. To find out more about membership click here and join us!

Posted on August 2, 2019 by Susan Pigott and filed under Nakaya, Fountain Pens, Pen Reviews.

Nakaya Portable Cigar Ishime-Kanshitsu Midori: A Review

One of the pens on my “holy grail” list was a Nakaya in the Ishime-Kanshitsu Midori finish. I finally purchased one in June 2018 from Nibs.com and chose the Nakaya Portable Cigar model. I can honestly say this is one of the most beautiful pens I own.

Ishime-Kanshitsu is a special process that creates a stone-like texture on an ebonite pen. “Ishi” means “stone” in Japanese and “Kanshitsu” is the layering process. Creating an Ishime-Kanshitsu surface takes three months. Urushi powder is sprinkled on the body of the pen to create the texture. Charcoal is rubbed over the surface to sharpen the Urushi grains. Then, layers of lacquer are applied to harden the body. Finally, a silver lacquer is applied (Source: Nibs.com). The results are extraordinary--just look at the various colors and details in the picture below.

Obviously, this time-intensive process creates a writing instrument that is also a work of art. The Ishime-Kanshitsu texture feels wonderful on one’s fingers and it is extraordinarily beautiful in person.

I chose the Nakaya Portable Cigar model because I didn’t have another Nakaya in this model and because the simple cigar shape shows off the textured surface well. This is a large pen (5.9 inches/150mm capped, which is just a tiny bit longer than a Montblanc 149, and 5.1 inches/130mm uncapped), but the ebonite and Urushi composition means that it weighs very little. This pen is not meant to be posted.

I chose a 14K medium-soft Nakaya nib and had it modified by John Mottishaw into an elastic nib. An elastic nib is different from a flex nib. It is a very soft nib with special cut outs that allow the nib to curve up from the feed like a paintbrush on paper (see the photos below).

The tines don’t really separate much, but you can get a bit of line variation with this nib.

I enjoy writing with this nib more than any other nib I own. It is remarkably smooth, and writing each letter is like painting a tiny picture. Writing with an elastic nib is a soothing experience because you must write more slowly since you are essentially painting words. It’s unlike any other nib I’ve ever used, and it’s very zen-like.

That said, I initially had some difficulties with my nib. It seemed starved for ink. Writing (even with my preferred Iroshizuku inks) felt dry, and I encountered lots of hard starts and skipping. I sent the pen back to nibs.com and they worked some magic on the feed and the nib. When it came back, the nib wrote much better. It produces a lovely, wet line and it no longer skips. I do still experience some hard starts on down strokes, but overall the nib functions quite well.

One of the main weaknesses of any Nakaya pen is the converter (it is the same as the Platinum converter). I don’t know why Nakaya insists on this tiny converter that works properly only when it’s mostly full. Once you use half the ink, a huge bubble develops in the converter and you have to manually push the ink down to continue writing. They could, at least, insert a ball into the converter to prevent this from happening (in fact, I’m thinking about doing this myself using a ball from an unused cartridge I own). What would be better is if they would create a superior converter.

I’m quite happy with my Nakaya Ishime-Kanshitsu Midori pen. I love the texture, shape, balance, and nib on this pen. It is simply a joy to use. Of course, such beauty comes with a steep price. I paid $1,280 for this model with an elastic nib. As always, the question of whether or not a pen is “worth it” is dependent upon the person who uses the pen. I feel this pen is worth every penny because of its unparalleled beauty and because the elastic nib is so wonderful to write with (now that it’s been properly adjusted).

Here are a few more pictures of this beauty for you to enjoy. I must say, it is one of my most photogenic pens!