I have received the pen and it is wonderful. It is absolutely beautiful,
perfectly made, and writes exactly as I had hoped. I am
extremely happy that I purchased this Urushi model from you.
I am also very pleased with the process you have for selling your
pens. The Web site works very well and your e-mails helped me feel
good about the entire purchase.
Thank you again for a beautifully made and elegant writing instrument.
Sincerely yours,
Mr. Francis DeRespinis
I have received my Nakaya pen. I have been able to use the pen for a few
days now and I am happy to tell you that I am very pleased. Having not
seen the pen prior to purchase other than the photograph I was a little
surprised by the size but find the pen a smooth and pleasant writer. I
think that it is a well executed design. It fits comfortably in my hand.
I hope to enjoy this pen for many years to come.
I have also been pleased with your help throughout the process. I think
that your idea to keep the art of penmaking active is very important and
encourage you to continue Nakaya's work.
Thank you once again.
Jack Abramson
Dear Nakata san,
I received my beautiful Nakaya pen yesterday. You should not have
worried -- it is truly an excellent pen. The fine stub is terrific -- but I
can see why Mr. Watanabe would have to take so much time. It is a very fine
nib. But the flexibility is wonderful, and the stub shape does give a
little different line if I draw up and down or across.
I posted my experience in receiving your package on Pentrace and
some other pen lists. I have reproduced it below. I hope you enjoy it, as
much as I enjoyed receiving the package and as much as I enjoy using my Nakaya
pen.
>
> Thank you very much!
Best regards,
Adam Frank
I got the email from Nakata san last Thursday that the pen was on
its way. The tracking number that he gave me allowed me to follow my
pen from Nakaya to Tokyo, thence to Kennedy Airport, where it cleared Customs
and the PO attempted delivery . . . on Sunday morning, to my office!
Needless to say, I wasn't there, and no one was available to sign for it.
I got to work this morning and called my mailroom -- Yes! It had been redelivered!
The mail cart came around 11:30. It was a relatively nondescript box. Oh,
yes, it said "Nakaya Fountain Pen -- For Your Hand Only", in Kanji and
English, but a plain white box otherwise. Nothing to announce the
beauty that lay inside. I kept the box unopened on my desk. The anticipation was heightened
with each passing minute. What would it look like? What would it write like? Would I like it?
I fairly skipped to get lunch, which I brought back to my desk. Ate.
Invited my one fountain pen-appreciating colleague in for the unveiling.
Cut the packing tape. The box opens easily. Inside -- packing material,
> then . . . the pen box and papers!
The outer box is beautiful -- made of textured cardboard with a random,
bark-like pattern. I open the papers, which came in a separate envelope --
Nakaya product fliers (entirely in Japanese), an order form, and a
Certificate of Ownership/letter from Toshiya Nakata, imploring me to
request adjustments if the pen does not suit my hand. The Certificate is
made from the same paper as the outer box, a very nice touch. "Some
people say that fountain pen users decrease in number year by year as
computers are more widely used, but we at Nakaya strongly support fountain pen
users and enthusiasts who love these long lasting and comfortable writing
instruments. FOR YOUR HAND ONLY" Followed by the chops of each
craftsman who had worked on my pen: Messrs. Watanabe, Matsubara, Maruyama and
Nakata.
I open the outer box. The inner box is a very light wood, both in color
and weight, with Kanji on the top -- Nakaya Pen Company For Your Hand Only,
my colleague (who conveniently reads Kanji) tells me. There is no
visible seam, no hinge -- now what?!?
I run my finger across the edge, and realize the box has a slip top
that fits absolutely perfectly -- no doubt crafted by the Nakaya
craftsmen. I wiggle the top off to reveal -- a converter, a box of carts, an
adaptor for European carts, and, resting on a bed of luxurious red velvet
(which, I discovered later, matched the color of the urushi lacquer), a
gorgeous blue pouch. I note that the inside of the box top is also lined with
sateen stuffed with some spongy material -- truly beautiful packaging.
The pen in its holder is held down by a velvet strap exactly in the
middle of the box. The pen is long, and difficult to get out, but by
angling it to a corner I pull the pouch out. The pouch is beautiful -- deep
blue, with gold woven through in a stardust pattern with larger squares
interspersed at random. A strap is wrapped around the top of the
pouch (which self closes by folding over), and a white (plastic? bone?)
toggle at the end of the strap is tucked into the 3 loops that the strap has
made as it's wrapped around the fold.
I undo the strap. At least one of the craftsmen must have been a
smoker (or the urushi has an odor similar to that of tobacco) -- the
package, and especially the pouch and box lining, smell like my grandfather's
sweaters used to, sweet with the remnants of tobacco smoke. I unwrap the
strap and unfold the pouch -- and notice that this pouch, too, is made by
Nakaya and bears their brand. Such attention to detail!
Slowly, I inch the pen out of its pouch. It is *spectacular*! And
huge -- fully 6-1/2" long, and about 5/8" wide. And beautiful -- shiny
lacquer, dark brown, almost black, where the natural urushi has been applied
over the red, which peeks through at the joint of the cap and barrel. As
I turn the pen in the light, I notice that it seems almost translucent -- I
can see the red lacquer through the brown, especially at the end of the
barrel and cap. Gorgeous! (My colleague agrees.)
I unscrew the cap. One twist and it's off! to reveal a long
section and a
> beautiful plain gold nib. I ordered the fine soft stub -- a fine
flexible nib. Nakata san has expressed reservations about their ability to
create a stub from a fine nib -- not enough iridium, he says, and he is
worried that the pen will not live up to my expectations. But -- even before I
put nib to paper, I notice more red lacquer peeking out by the threads on
the section, and at the flared end of the section. My pen *glows* with
readiness to write. So I oblige, and put pen to paper. And joy!
the pen is inked, and the nib glides effortlessly, barely touching the paper
but leaving a clear, very thin line. I had forgotten -- they tested the
pen by writing with it, as I requested, and they have left the cartridge in
the pen! The balance of this pen is perfect, and because it's made of
ebonite it is exceptionally light for its size. As I write, I notice that,
indeed,
the fine line is even a little finer on the sidestrokes and just a
bit broader on the downstrokes -- truly a fine stub! But there's
more -- it's also truly flexible, and just a little pressure is enough to spread
the tines to 3x normal before they spring back to true. And what a
beautiful, saturated line -- the flow is perfect, able to handle every twist and turn.
I wrote with the pen all afternoon, when I wasn't just admiring it.
My hand never tired, and the pen felt like an extension of my arm.
Truly, this pen was made "for my hand only". It barely fits in my Piquadro
case -- I'll just have to carry it in its beautiful handmade pouch.
Frankly, after all the hype on Pentrace and elsewhere,
I *was* a bit concerned that the pen wouldn't live up to my expectations.
I needn't have been, and neither should Nakata san.
Truly, the craftsmen at Nakata are working in the very best traditions of the master pen makers
who went before them, and I owe them my thanks.
Adam
I want to thank you and the Nakaya craftsmen for the care
and attention you gave to the creation of my latest
Nakaya, the "tamenuri" black and red lacquer pen.
The finish is beautiful, especially when I hold it up to the light,
and the nice warmth of the hard black rubber still radiates through all
those coatings of laquer.
Also, the fine soft nib is about as close as I can expect to come to old
fashioned flex in a modern pen.
What I love about this and my celluloid Nakaya pen is that there is no other pen
in the world exactly like them.
The brag factor alone makes these pens worth every penny!
In an era when the whole world is using mass produced ball points,
roller balls, and nylon tips, it is a miracle to find a group of craftsmen
still turning out hand made fountain pens one by one.
Thanks for keeping this tradition and craft alive!
(male age:40's New york)
"Dear NAKAYA:
After I enjoyed the wonderful box and packaging of my hand made pen,
I took out my first ever custom pen.
The light briar wood cap and barrel are indeed a work of art.
The cap fits snugly whether capping the nib or posted to the end of the barrel for writing.
The nib is a separate work of art.
Mine is done in a sharp stub worked from an extra broad point,
which writes as smooth as butter (right from the box) with very good line variation.
Compared to other custom pen makers, your prices are quite reasonable for the very high quality
of materials and the professional Japanese craftsmanship.
I am very pleased, and I am saving my nickels and dimes for a second custom pen.
Perhaps I shall try a "music nib" on the next round."
Good luck.
(male age:50's Texas)
I ordered "NAKAYA Wajima-nuri -Tamenuri- RED $460" fine nib.
3 weeks later,I recieved the pen.
It is beautiful and day by day, I could recognize underlying red urushi appearing.
However, nib was a little scratchy for me, so I asked NAKAYA to adjust again.
NAKAYA answered me that "Please pay only delivery cost from Switzerland to Japan, and
Nakaya also has a fine flexible nib, do you agree with using that nib instead fine nib?"
I agreed with that point, so I sent my NAKAYA pen back to Japan, and after 10 days, NAKAYA sent it again to me.
The pen was improved remarkably.
I think Nakaya pen is a little expensive, but they accept re-adjustment every time by free.
So I am satisfied with that point and feel secure.
(female Age;30 Switzerland)
Many Nakaya pen owners kindly sent an impression about
Nakaya on the famous fountain pen guestbook.
