一位西方笔友关于日本博士笔的2篇文字

青山

这位笔友的博客地址  http://www.stutler.cc/pens/index.html    有很多日本笔的信息，看起来他对日本笔很感兴趣，去东京淘过笔，还写了Guide to Tokyo Pen shops

The Hakase Event 2003
[size=-1]October, 2003

An array of Hakase pens on display at the annual event.

Each year in October, the Hakase Fountain pen staff leave their busy work benches in Tottori prefecture, and head to Tokyo for their annual event. This year it was held on October from the 24th the 26th. As usual, and event was held on the second floor of the dimly lit Pow Wow coffee shop as usual. I mention "dimly lit" as an excuse for the quality of these photos! Without a tripod, most of my photos were ruined by the slightest heart beat, and my heart was certainly beating this day!

Here is the street the bustling street leading up the hill to Pow Wow. I've been in Tokyo so long, I sometimes forget the excitement of just standing on a street corner in Tokyo.

The front entrance to Pow wow with sign announcing the Hakase event inside.

As customers stream in, the staff members sit down with them at one of the tables and discuss pens over coffee. Many people take this opportunity to have their handwriting style analyzed and recorded in person, and then order their Hakase pen. As I have mentioned in a previous article, Hakase pens are handmade, and take a year to complete.

President Masaaki Yamamoto analyzing a customer's writing sample.

Hakase craftsman Harumi Tanaka

Hakase president Masaaki Yamamoto, his wife and son were in attendance as well as craftsman Harumi Tanaka. This year I met the newest staff member, Mr. Kitamura who is learning the the ropes to become Hakase's new pen craftsman along side Mr. Tanaka.

Young Mr. Kitamura with Mrs. Yamamoto

He and Ryo Yamamoto (son of the president) will assure that the tradition and craft of Hakase Pens will continue and flourish in the new century. Incidentally, Ryo Yamamoto is fluent in English, which will allow the small company to meet the needs of international customers who come to Hakase via the internet.

Young Mr. Yamamoto discussing pens with another Hakase fan.

Another new addition this year was the display of Private Reserve inks. Hakase has become Japan's first (and only) distributor of Private Reserve inks. Now, the Japanese fountain pen community does not have to have a command of English in order to purchase these inks, and a small Private Reserve "boom" has resulted in Japan. Mr. Yamamoto reports that the green inks are especially popular.

Private reserve Inks on display

With that famous Japanese ingenuity that takes a good product and makes it even better, Hakase has created wooden carrying racks for the ink bottles. These racks stack, and are perfect for those who need to keep stocked up om their personal rainbow of colors.

If this weren't enough, Hakakse has also created a stunning red and gold pen and ink carrying box done up in urushi and maki-e. The Hakase logo is not just painted on -- it's sprinkled gold dust (maki-e).

One more new creation on display were natural wood pen racks, which resembled pipe racks, and keep the pens in a vertical position when not in use, to allow the ink to drain away from the nib so it won't dry or clog. Since the shape of these racks depend on the natural shape of the tree, no two racks are alike. The pens rest on felt pads to prevent scratching.

All in all it was an exciting afternoon, and it was good to see the folks at Hakase continue to experiment with new innovative ideas!

青山

The

Pen Event in Tokyo
October, 2001


Pow Wow

The annual Hakase Pen pen lovers' get-together was held on the second floor of Pow Wow, a coffee shop in the Kagurazaka district of Tokyo. Compared with the pen clinics I have visited at department stores, this was a much more relaxed atmosphere set in an earthy room with lots of wood and shadows and the smell of coffee in the air. People could come with their sick pens, and sit back and enjoy coffee and pen conversation with Hakase pen experts Masaaki Yamamoto and Harumi Tanaka.



Hakase is a two person company located in Tottori prefecture that specializes in Hand-made custom order pens. They special order the barrels to their specifications, and do all the metal work themselves, even hammering out the gold bands and clips! Pens are available in ebonite, celluloid, tortoise shell, rose wood, Brazilian King wood and even Holland water buffalo! The catalog does not spell it out, but I assume they use only the horns, and not the entire water buffalo.





Hakase president Masaaki Yamamoto examines a pen for visitor

Mr. Yamamoto, the president of Hakase Pens, handed me one of their pens and had me write my address on a special form while he watched. Then he handed me another pen and asked me to write my address again. He then handed me yet another pen and asked me to write again. Finally, I wrote with my favorite pen which I had brought with me--my super flex Waterman number seven red ripple. He made notations on the angle I held the pen, the angle of my arm in relation to my body, the pressure I used, the angle of the nib in relation to the paper, and my preferred nib size. Now that my particular writing quirks are on record, they can create a customized pen for me any time I contact them. They can even make me a flex nib to a certain extent. Mr. Yamamoto pointed out that Japanese prefer a stiffer nib for Japanese characters. I can understand this--my kanji goes out of control when I try it with a flex nib! By the way, My. Yamamoto is also a vintage pen buff. He recognized my Waterman as soon as he saw it.





An original "Doctor" Pen and case

The Hakase pen company was started in 1934 by Mr. Yamamoto's father. Back then, the company name was "Doctor." When the son took over, he changed the name to Hakase, which is Japanese for doctor. Mr. Yamamoto and Mr. Tanaka create each pen carefully by hand, and are only able to produce one pen per day. This is the main reason they only hold one pen event a year, and only in Tokyo--they can't get away for any more! Right now there is a waiting period of one year after the order is placed.





Pen master Harumi Tanaka examines a sick pen as the anxious owner looks on

Hakase does take orders from overseas, and have many regular customers in various countries. Simply contact them at the address below, and request a catalog. They will send you a form to take a writing sample. Then--presumably after a bit of correspondence--they can begin to create the perfect pen for you. However, Mr. Yamamoto cautions that there can be problems with overseas orders due to distance and language barriers. They do not speak English, and use a dictionary to decipher English orders. If you have a Japanese friend, or have some Japanese ability, the whole thing will go much smoother, especially since the catalogue is all in Japanese as well. Also, if you are not completely satisfied with the pen and have to have it sent back more than a few times for tweaking, the postage and insurance costs could be a nightmare. Also, if you are living in America, don't even think about ordering the the tortoise shell pens--there's a law prohibiting their export to America. I don't know about other countries.



The price for the pens in the Hakase catalogue ranged from roughly 400 dollars up to two thousand! I did not order a pen on the spot, but I left with a definite craving for one. No doubt, after I have saved up a bit of money--or simply have a moment of insanity--I will pick up the phone and give them the go-ahead to make that perfect pen. And then I will sit back and wait a year.





Contact Information for Hakase Pens:
Hakase
605 Sakae-cho
Tottori-City 680-0831
Japan
Phone: +81-857-22-3630
Fax: +81-857-27-7714
e-mail: info@fp-hakase.com
Hakase Web Site (Japanese)




More photos:


Some Hakase pens made of ebonite, tortoise shell, and water buffalo horns



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More ebonite pens in red, blue, black and yellow, a wood pen, and some celluloid jade green and mixed color pens



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This woodgrain ebonite pen has a gold band with a "bump" to keep the pen from rolling off the desk

青山

我外语水平不佳，只能知道日本博士的规模不大，主要是定制业务，价格很高。要是外语好的笔友翻译一下就好了，呵呵

lacsylle

The catalog does not spell it out, but I assume they use only the horns, and not the entire water buffalo.

哈哈这句搞笑，作者假扮天然呆卖萌啊。

Edinburgh

墨水笔箱很漂亮

pathway921

我也喜欢绿色的墨水 呵呵 原来 绿色的墨水是卖得最好的一款呀

zyqwolf

狗日的日本子的做工确实精细，细节非常考究，尤其是那个rack，让fountain pen直立，很有意思的想法，并且在底部做了个felt pad，防止擦伤，这恐怕很多人都想不到。

伊凡雷帝也爱笔

英文，看不懂！

伊凡雷帝也爱笔

抵制英文！

夕阳草0104

先留个名，慢慢看

maslow_clie

图片中那位捲袖子的仁兄蛮帥的!

mensun

日本人做东西还是比较到位的。

御风行

日本的钢笔也没有别的奥妙，就是做得用心和严谨，在用心和严谨上恐怕无人能比。但也有过度紧张和挣扎的竞争意识导致的缺乏一种洒脱、隽永的感觉。

sally6100

有时间了再看，为什么作者不直接翻译成中文给大家介绍呢
？