I got this pen today

[Misfit]

I received what I think is the Levenger True Writer Kyoto today. I woke up once, looked at the iPhone to see the time, and saw the delivery notice of the True Writer. I went back to sleep. I had three dreams about the pen. 

The first dream, the pen was two colors, and see through. Maybe in a chevron pattern. The next dream I think it was a frankenpen. The last dream the cap looked like it was made of clay or some material that could get misshapen. I decided to get up, and open the package and see the pen. It looks like the Kyoto I see in blog reviews, but no converter in the pen or box. For now, I’ll have to borrow one from a clean True Writer. 
 

Later I’ll attempt to take a photo. There is a bright LED light fixture in the basement that should help. A laundry detergent cap helped hold the pen to show the other colors. I’m 95% sure it’s the Kyoto. 
 

 

[Penguincollector]

We both got pretty pens today, @Misfit! I love the colors on yours!

[Misfit]

Thank you @Penguincollector I appreciate that. I am so lucky to have found so many nice people on FPN. It should be said more.  

[Prof Drew]

8 hours ago, Misfit said:

Levenger True Writer Kyoto

Congratulations @Misfit on the cool pen acquisition. Kyoto is one of my favorite cities in the world. It is a city with many cafés, bookstores, universities, that would be home a true writer.

[Misfit]

@Prof Drew that’s nice to know. I have never been there, but when searching for the Kyoto Travelers Notebook and True Writer pens, I’ve run across other topics. So I’ve learned a bit about the city. A few months ago I realized that Tokyo and Kyoto use the exact same letters.

[DilettanteG]

@misfit I so happy for you that you got your grail pen! It's lovely. Now you get to start the quest for the perfect ink pairing.

 

I didn't know until very recently that Kyoto is just Tokyo with the syllables reversed. There must be a story there,

[Prof Drew]

Aloha @Misfit and @DilettanteG

Japanese write in Kanji (Chinese characters) so it is more complex.

https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-linguistic-reason-Japan-s-old-capital-is-Kyoto-and-the-current-one-is-Tokyo-same-letter-but-with-the-syllables-reversed

 

Have a good week!

[inkstainedruth]

@Prof Drew That's one of the things I love about FPN -- I almost ALWAYS learn something when I log in (and not just pen-related stuff at that)!

Thanks for teaching me something today!

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Prof Drew]

Thanks @inkstainedruth. I am really enjoying that aspect of FPN as well...

My favorite way of collecting is to learn a bit about the place, people, culture... when learning about a place.

 

If you are interested in learning about Tokyo, I really recommend Edward Seidensticker's A History of Tokyo 1867-1989 (or the earlier High City: Low City) as it's a great social history by a translator and scholar.

 

I was trying to think of a good book on Kyoto, but haven't read the Oxford short history. It was the capitol so long. If you are interested a fun way of learning the history is watching historical dramas produced by Japan's BBC (NHK), especially the Taiga Dramas. Kamakura (near Yokohama) was a capitol for a short time, and was the subject of a 48 episode (each 50 min long) series called Kamakura dono which you can screen for free with subtitles on the website Dramacool. It's a lot of fun by an all star cast even though it was produced during C19.

[inkstainedruth]

Are those shows available easily on FIOS?  Because I don't have any streaming services.  (I'm still grumpy that FIOS dropped AXS TV recently, even though their schedule seemed to have a AWFUL lot of repeats...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Misfit]

Thank you for the link @Prof Drew I wondered what the names looked like in the Japanese language. I  have to admit I didn’t see anything beyond them being anagrams of each other. Now it makes sense why the spellings for us have those same letters, and what they mean. In the past reading, I did see Kyoto had been the capitol. But I didn’t realize how long, or that Tokyo was relatively recent as the capitol. 
 

Another member here confirmed my pen is the Kyoto version. Levenger makes/made a golden tortoise version. The Kyoto version differs with some blue and purple or pink elements in the material. 

[Prof Drew]

@inkstainedruth If you click on the link I gave, it will take you to a free website called Dramacool (Watchasian). It has a number of films and TV shows for free. Just click on the first episode. You might have some spam popup at first, but if you can get past that all...

If the download speed is too slow, you can switch servers. Be sure to follow the link I gave as there are clone sites that might have spamware.

 

It will take you to TV shows and films from Japan, China, India, and especially Korea. Shows are listed as RAW (without subtitles) or SUB (for ones with fan subtitles). Some of the subtitles for some shows is very amateur or perhaps even partly done automatically, but the ones for Kamakura Dono are quite good. You can read a bit about the series (full name in English is "The 13 Lords of the Shogun" on Wikipedia [link]. You don't need an ap or to log in. There also are no adverts. It is kind of grey level regarding IP.  The newest of these NHK Taiga Dramas (just being released this year and slowly being uploaded to Dramacool) is about the world's first novelist -- a woman who wrote "The Tale of Genji."

 

@Misfit, congrats on getting your grail pen. I also like tortoise-shell like with silver / chrome/ rhodium clips / nips. I have a true writer too, which I got from another FPN member, but over ebay. It is a quite good writer. Levenger always made me dream when I would get the catalog. So many cool pens, bags, and funky bookcases. I loved visiting their shop when I had a conference in Boston. I think they closed the shop, but still have some cool "Boston Public Library" and NYPL swag that I keep eyeing.

 

Have a good week!

[Jayebird]

I got this pen on Monday. The funny thing is that I didn't know my dad ordered the same pen ("Be Brave" pen from Gourmet Pens) and his arrived the same day. So we have matching pens now. Pretty sure he just put blue ink, and not shimmer ink, in his though.

 

[Misfit]

@Jayebird how wonderful you and your Dad ordered the same pen. Treasure memories like this. 

[Misfit]

1 hour ago, Prof Drew said:

Levenger always made me dream when I would get the catalog. So many cool pens, bags, and funky bookcases

Oh I know exactly what you mean. In my dream den or library room, I’d have one of their tables where there is no room for a table between two chairs. The Cubi could be on a desk.  It would have built in book shelves in two walls.  Yes I’ve really thought about this. There would be cabinets under one wall of book cases.  Books on the shelves, plus inks and pens in those wood cases with glass lids. If only….

[Penguincollector]

Lookit! 

[Misfit]

Whoa, now that’s a very Penguin, very cool pen. And right down to the Penguin on the nib. It’s the perfect Penguin pen. And the Penguin is writing on the barrel. That is so sweet. 

[Penguincollector]

The TWSBI also showed up today: 

[Penguincollector]

1 minute ago, Misfit said:

Whoa, now that’s a very Penguin, very cool pen. And right down to the Penguin on the nib. It’s the perfect Penguin pen. And the Penguin is writing on the barrel. That is so sweet. 

  Thank you! I love it. I rinsed it out, although it was clear,  and now the penguins are drying off on a towel. The TWSBI is also clean now. 
 

  I didn’t know that the Kyoto was a grail of yours-🙌🏽

[AmandaW]

27 minutes ago, Penguincollector said:

Lookit! 

Well that definitely has your name on it.