Opinion: A Pen That Sums Up Japanese Pens?

[GranTorino25]

I do quite like the look of the Platinum 3776, and I am a fan of softer nibs (around about the fine region)! Still open to suggestions and ideas though

[mke]

→Suitable for very tiny characters, or in my case, tiny cross-hatching.

 

Then you also need the 1mm-square Japanese notebooks.😁

[AmandaW]

→Suitable for very tiny characters, or in my case, tiny cross-hatching.

 

Then you also need the 1mm-square Japanese notebooks.

 

A what? Sounds good. :-)

[jar]

 

Yeah, but what makes that distinctly Japanese if its design is (correct me if I'm wrong since I very well might be) borrowed from Montblanc

But remember Montblanc borrowed their design from the Sheaffer Balance.

[jar]

Sailor & Pilot side by side as a reference.

 

http://www.fototime.com/EC47F74AE4DC550/medium800.jpg

Sailor, Pilot & Platinum side by side as a reference.

 

http://www.fototime.com/C6171DD1A2820B2/medium800.jpg

[mke]

Have a (more expensive) cigar - if you plan to adjust your budget

LINK

LINK

LINK

 

(from http://kobe-nagasawa.co.jp/yomoyama/yomoyama-fountainday/)

 

Sailor Kingprofit

Montblanc 149

Namiki (Pilot) 20

Namiki (Pilot) 30

Namiki (Pilot) 50 is missing

Pilot Custom Urushi

Pilot Custom 845

Pelikan 1000

[mke]

Or a bit cheaper

 

left to right

Pilot Custom 74

Sailor Profit

Sailor Profit21

Pilot Custom 743

Pilot Custom 845

Wingsung 590

Jinhao 159

 

on my wishlist

Sailor ProfessionalGear

Sailor ProfessionalGear21

Sailor Kingprofit

 

 

[GranTorino25]

Thank you for the photos and comparisons

 

Definitely going to keep looking into this, a SF nib on a Pilot or Platinum would tick the box I think (Sailor would probably be my preference, but very difficult to find from South Australia!)

[Pensei]

As others have said, you have good choices from Pilot, Platinum, and Sailor, although the latter will take some searching to stay within your budget. I'd get a Pilot Custom Heritage 91 or 92, but that's just one person's opinion. I happen to think the Pilot #5 nib, for the price, is one of the masterpieces of the pen world.

[GranTorino25]

Oooo, I do like the look of the Pilot 91! Might have to figure out how to get one in Australia, it doesn't look easy unfortunately

[mke]

Doesn't amazon JP or US ship to you?

Or ask Pilot for places to buy.

[GranTorino25]

The amazon site I came across doesn't ship that pen to Aus (often there are specific things that can't be sent). I'll look at JP though, I'd go Goulet but they don't stock it!

[deacondavid]

If my research into what models are available in the US is accurate, Goulet does not have the Custom 91 available because Pilot US does not offer it. Any US company that has the Custom 91 available is getting them from a source outside of the US ("gray market").

 

I don't have information on what is offered in the Australian market, but I would not be surprised if a similar situation exists there.

 

You might try amazon.jp and see what can be done. I have found that using Google's Chrome browser is dangerously useful in ordering from the site (it offers to do translation on the fly - it's not always elegant, but it's good enough to place an order!).

[FOUR X FOUR]

+1 because it's so different. Unfortunately they're more like AU$250+

 

Within stated budget (from Japan): Platinum #3776 - choice of colours, soft nib option and the slip/seal cap. Any pen that puts so much effort into not drying out is a plus in this country!

The black plastic Falcon is only 150. You're thinking of the metal Falcon. If I'm Wrong, please accept my apologies. The Twisbi Vac 700 is a decent pen but it doesn't have a gold nib. However, you can get a pilot custom heritage 92 from jet pens for less than 150 dollars.

Allan😀😀

[AmandaW]

The black plastic Falcon is only 150. You're thinking of the metal Falcon. If I'm Wrong, please accept my apologies. The Twisbi Vac 700 is a decent pen but it doesn't have a gold nib. However, you can get a pilot custom heritage 92 from jet pens for less than 150 dollars.

Allan😀😀

 

I thought the OP was thinking in terms of AUS$ budget. (I could be wrong, wouldn't be unusual.)

 

That US$150 plus $20 for shipping, times the exchange rate, makes it about AUS$220. That shipping is untracked and 'up to 45 days'. Tracked shipping is an extra US$25.

 

The one from an Australian store one was metal for $259 including shipping. And has been the best I could find. I've been looking for one I could afford for months, so I've been trying to stay up to date on what's out there and the exchange rates. I had kinda given up.

[thiagojp]

Depends on what you want. In terms of writing, the best EF and F are Sailors, followed closely by Platinum, especially the SF nib. Pilot F and EF are not very good, too much feedback and too dry. However, Sailors M and B are not so good, but Platinum and Pilot are great. Especially pilots SFM, one of my favourites. Aesthetics wise most of them are rather bland, but spending a bit more can get you some locely materials, especially platinum.

[GranTorino25]

The F Sailor nib you refer to, is that the 21kt, 14kt, steel?

[KLscribbler]

Mm, I'll join in with a slightly left-field suggestion.

 

Uniquely Japanese fountain pen? My proposal: any one of the long cap/short body Japanese pocket pens. Quite a distinctive design rarely seen outside of Japan.

 

There are many to choose from - the big three (Pilot, Sailor, Platinum) all made lots of pocket pens that range widely in price point and build, but always with that distinctive streamlined long cap and short body that makes the petite pen become full-size in use.

 

If you buy vintage/used, there are dozens of models you could choose from, going from the student budget range (e.g. Pilot Vortex) to solid midrange pens that would serve well as a daily writer (e.g. Pilot Volex , not to be confused with the Vortex which is from a much later era), all the way up to more upscale pens like the many wonderful gold-nibbed Pilot Elites. The famous Pilot Myu is also a pocket pen of this type, although a Myu will probably blow your budget right out of the water in current times.

 

If you don't want a vintage pen and prefer a new/modern one, the Pilot E95S (the current iteration in the Pilot Elite line) is the one to get. It is, IIRC, the only long cap/short body Japanese pocket pen of the classic type to still be in production today. Depending on where you live, it may or may not exceed your budget a little, but there's always the option of ordering direct from Japan, if you are ok with that. If ordered from Japan, it will definitely be within your budget.

 

Whether vintage or modern, for frequent usage, the Pilot pocket pens are somewhat more useful, because they all accept converters. Sailor and Platinum pocket pens do not. (Apparently they used to have dedicated types of converters, however those are no longer made by Sailor and Platinum, which makes them effectively cartridge-only.)

 

Depending on the era of production, a Pilot pocket pen might need a CON-20 / CON-40 converter (the latter has superseded the former but will fit any pen the former fits), or a CON-W converter. Pilot still manufactures both of those, so you'll be able to find the right one in any case.

[Inkling13]

I wouldn't say that there is any one pen that is an example of all Japanese pens, but I do have one quality, and that is consistency. I have found that pen to pen of the same model tend to be very identical. Like how Yamaha pianos of the same model all sound identical, or how their guitars are all identical. Not that that's a bad thing. You don't need to play the pen lotto, like how some Visconti's have QC issues right out of the box, or how some Lamys and MB's have misaligned tines. From what I have seen, even the most basic pens are uniform across the board coming from Japan.

[sdbruder]

I’ve just bought from Japan in Ebay 2 sailors, a 1911 Large and a Life Time one, waiting (not so) patiently them to arrive. #anxious