Update: Yahoo Japan Auctions

On this page we present updates and commentary on the latest sales of interesting and rare pens sold at Yahoo Japan Auctions. Many are purchased for resale in America and usually show up on eBay, sellers websites, or shows, so we thought it a great idea to preview some you might soon see. It can also function as a resource to see what is happening in vintage Japanese pens in Japan and become aware of makes and models not encountered often in the West. We will attempt to update this page on a weekly basis.

Anyone can bid at Yahoo Japan Auctions through a proxy service such as Shopping Mall Japan, and others. Why pay a middleman when you can buy direct? We invite all of our readers to investigate these services. As at eBay, caveat emptor  should rule all of your purchases.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Lots of nice pens are sold over at Yahoo Japan each day however, we reserve this page for the different, unusual, and rare. In this regard, it has been unusually quiet this time of year. Some recently offered pens have been standouts.

Unusual 9kt gold short pen with telescoping section. Likely made by a jeweler.

For the hard rubber fans two choice handmade ebonite pens from the 1960s were sold for ¥20,505 and ¥13,501 respectively.

We also saw this very cool Pilot Delux with dragon motif. Note the artists signature. Went for ¥67,000.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

This week we saw the following Old Coins Design pen for ¥42,500, or about $480. Nice price for a great pen. Judging by the nib (note JIS mark) this could be a post war model but, we think it more likely prewar with replaced nib. Pen will need seal replaced.

This design was popular and shows in pen catalogues from the pre-war era. We see similar pens routinely and errantly attributed to the artist Ryosui, who did some work Platinum. This cannot be the case. In the Komura Pen Mfg. Co. pen catalogue we show two very similar pens on page 42. The catalogue is under the Postcards & Ephemera subheading.

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RYOJUSEN

霊鷲山