Welcome to Ryojusen Pens, our website created to share information about vintage Japanese fountain pens and our other interests. On this front page we present information related to recent acquisitions, pens sold and prices realized, fixes, and any thing you have not thought about related to Japanese pens. We hope you enjoy our site and visit us often. Never hesitate to contact us with comments or just chat about pens.
Sunday, August 24, 2008:
As you look around you will see there are two new pages added under Japanese Pens: Hiramakie and Update: Yahoo Japan. We have a few hiramakie pens in our collection and thought a repoitory of images appropriate on a site with a focus on Japanese pens. We invite everyone with a vintage hiramakie pen to submit images for the page. You will be credited.
Update: Yahoo Japan is an important addition. It will highlight some of the better pens hammered down over there with commentary. Please check it out as some of these pens might soon be seen on the 'Bay.
Sunday, August 9,2008:
Recent Additions: The following pen will be happy to get together with its lost cousins. The maker is Marukin who made custom pens in the 1930s. There's some more about them elsewhere on this site. It's a little rough looking for now. When it arrives we'll restore it to its former glory. It's what we do! If you look closely you will see that the top half of the cap unscrews and comes off. Unusual! It's a little gem we discovered on Yahoo Japan.
Sailor Pens: We like Sailor as a brand for their quality and variety; they do some things no other Japanese pen company does. As collectors, some of their models remain high on our list.
Buying Sailor pens often places one in the eBay minefield of obfuscation and occasional deceit. Two concerns immediately come to mind. Many larger pens from the 1970s and early 1980s do not use modern Sailor converters and cartridges must be used. Sellers rarely make mention of this and you can find yourself searching for something that has not existed for thirty years and being forced to use cartridges. This might be fine with those who like to use syringes to refill used carts with their favorite ink but, the average user will soon move on to another pen.
The name Nagahara and reference to specialty nibs are often mentioned in descriptions of Sailor pens. Mr. Nagahara was with Sailor for many years and had a great impact on nib design. Please be aware his hand in developing specialty nibs did not show itself until the early 1990s. Often advertisements mention these specilty nibs such as the togi and others in relation to pens made in the 1960s through 1980s. This is ignorance if, not, outright deceit.
Prices!: We see some pens selling for over $100 when we know the same pens were purchased in Japan for resale for no more than $40-60. Be careful with your wallet. You can let this pen go by and get a better one for much less.
Sunday, August 3, 2008: Nothing new yet. However, we thought it cool to show off some bori. Usually, kamakura bori seen for sale on eBay have sort of a mundane regular diagonal pattern of scallops into the urushi. They're okay in and of themself and very desirable. Below are two pens with different designs. The third is your typical bori which was purchased by a prominent seller for about $180 on Yahoo Japan Auctions and may be on eBay soon.
Wednesday, July 29, 2008: Stewards of the Earth. We are often asked why our shipping costs are so low and the best answer we can give is that we are stewards of the earth. This, despite the fact we do not charge exorbitant shipping costs to eek out a few more of your bucks. We buy recycled envelopes in which to mail our pens because they cost less. Our labels are also recycled. We recycle as much of bubble pack we recieie as possible - the bubble pack you receive with your pen came from Japan as did the foam pretzels that may have filled your box. We do not buy boxes when free Postal Service boxes of recycled material will do. As such, we beleive we have the smallest carbon footprint of any similar seller on the planet.
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Sunday, July 27, 2008: The pen below is a recent arrival. Real gold flakes over black urushi is always one of our favorites. At 5" long, it is of typical size for many pre-/post-war Japanese pens. Nib is sweetand flexible. Printed on the nib is 14K GOLD PEN - this does not mean it is gold! Likely, just a sales ploy to make one think the plated nib is gold. As the nib has the JIS mark on it, this might mean it is from 1953 or after. But, the feed is a flat pre-war type! My bet is 1954 or 1955. A new pen, it is for sale. Please inquire.
RYOJUSEN
霊鷲山