Eurobox in Tokyo

[chibimie]

I just returned from a quick visit to Tokyo, and managed to find the vintage pen shop, Eurobox, on one of its rare open days (generally Thursday, Sat, and Sun, but it varies quite a bit). What a treat it was! The building that houses it seems to date from the Taisho period (early twentieth century), which is likely, as this area of Tokyo escaped the intense carpet bombings of 1945. The elevator is an old one that requires you to wrestle with two doors manually--the shop has relocated to suite 407 in the building. You might expect to see a gumshoe private detective agency stuck in the back of one of its dark corridors here! In fact, there seem to be all manner of interesting little one-room specialty shops for the afficianado tucked away off of the dark and labyrinthine hallways of this building.

 

Eurobox is a one-room store, jammed with display cases filled with vintage pens, antique ink bottles along the top of the cases, old pen publications, and all manner of fascinating pen paraphernalia that range far back in time and over a wide range of manufacturers. It's owner and skilled pen craftsman, Mr. Fujii, sits at a table at one end, regrinding nibs, making repairs (a four-month wait, he says, though he also seems willing to make some adjustments on the spot), and waiting on customers. During my short visit there early mid-day on a Thursday, there were up to six of us jammed into the store, politely yielding and weaving our way in front of the display cases. When I rushed back thirty minutes later, it was nearly empty. I asked to see two interesting Onoto's, an old Waterman, and some old Parkers, but even in my very rushed stay there, I could see how wide-ranging his collection was; as the name suggests, it's holdings of Euro-American pens seems especially rich, though he had some nice vintage Japanese ones as well.

 

I too hastily purchased a beautiful Parker Duofold centennial pen (I say too hastily because the place invites savoring its pen-stocked ambiance, and I was rushed to avoid 'detection' by my wife who does not know the extent of my pen addiction); the pen was an EF, and he quickly and deftly reground it into something approaching a Japanese M point as we spoke. The buying experience was wonderful--he was unhurried, attentive, extremely knowledgeable, and a highly skilled (and regarded) nib craftsman in Japan. We spoke in Japanese, but I know his English is very good (and he shared a story from his youth about trying to emigrate to Canada in the 1970s). When I saw the Parker that I would end up buying, I quickly ran off to nearby Itoya (on Chuo dori in Ginza), saw it's price several hundred dollars higher, ran back to Eurobox, inspected the mint condition pen (used briefly by its previous owner, I was informed), and bought the pen and had it reground on the spot.

 

This has to be a must-see pen stop for FPN members going to Tokyo.

 

 

 

 

[Taki]

Thanks for sharing your experience, chibimie! I've never been there yet but if I get a chance to visit Tokyo, I would like to.

 

If anyone is interested their web page is

 

http://www.euro-box.com/

Edited December 29, 2007 by Taki

[greencobra]

Yes, thanks for sharing. Interesting experience. I've yet to find a place like that hidden away in my area. There's got to be one!

[hari317]

I would like to share an excellent experience with EuroBox.

 

My sister was visiting Tokyo in Nov, 2006 and I had sent along a Parker Sonnet and a Sheaffer Imperial whose nibs needed fixing in the hope that the pen clinic at Pilot pen station or sailor pen clinic nib experts will be able to do that. At the Pilot pen station my sister was informed that the pen clinics were now discontinued and only pilot pens were accepted for repair. But the clerk at the counter was very kind and she personally talked to Mr Eizo Fujii to ask if he would fix the pens. She even accompanied my sister to Eurobox. Despite that particular day being an off day (not open for visitors) for Mr. Fujii, he agreed to repair the nibs as my sister waited and he did an excellent job. This experience to me speaks volumes about the Japanese culture and services of Eurobox.

 

Regards,

Hari

 

 

[Phthalo]

Thank you for the write-up! What a treat it is to read about places that still operate like this! I can almost picture it...