Hello everyone, this is Shindo from MITUBACI.
This time, I would like to talk about a very personal obsession: writing instruments.
With the new year, MITUBACI further celebrates its 10th anniversary on January 11, 2021.
The spread of coronavirus infection is still causing people to refrain from going out and eating out.
I decided to buy a new pen to see if I could motivate myself towards something new.
These are ballpoint and fountain pens from Kaweco, a German manufacturer of writing instruments that I have been very interested in for some time.
https://www.kaweco-pen.com/en/
Kaweco" is pronounced "kaveko" in Japanese.
The pen is precision crafted from machined aluminum, but I also like the antique look of the case.
The clip is not included as standard. If you need it, you will need to purchase it separately, but you can choose the shape and color of just the clip, so you can customize it to your liking. I really enjoy being able to change the look and feel of the product.
I heard that 0.7mm is normal for both ballpoint and mechanical pencils overseas.
It does not seem to need to be thin since it writes Roman characters.
Japanese also has Kanji characters, so a thin ballpoint pen is preferred for writing fine characters in notebooks and the like.
These days, there are pens as fine as 0.28 mm.
I prefer a ballpoint pen that is clear black, has good flow, and can write fine characters, so I decided to use a 0.5 mm refill (ink cartridge) from a Japanese manufacturer.
The standard ink was 0.7 mm.
For the fountain pen, I chose a Japanese PILOT "Peacock" color ink.
https://www.pilot.co.jp/products/pen/fountain/ink/iroshizuku/
The color is like a darkened version of the gemstone Paraiba tourmaline.
Fountain pens, especially light colors, give a very warm feeling to the letters when written in shades of gray.
The ability to change the color of the ink to your preferred ink color is also a unique way to enjoy fountain pens.
Cartridges are available, but when you want to use your favorite ink, you can inject ink by attaching a dropper-like part called a "converter.
◆I honestly don't think fountain pens are ever easy to use.
The ink in my handwriting does not dry well.
Ink tends to bleed with water.
The nib dries out after a short period of inactivity, making it impossible to write with it.
Individual differences in the finish of the nib
The nib must be kept up or it will leak ink.
Most of them are cap type, so they can't be taken out and used quickly.
Hands get very dirty when injecting ink.
But I think this difficulty in handling them leads to attachment to them.
I feel that the short time between removing the cap and writing is an important moment to switch to "writing" and "drawing.
The feeling of being able to write easily and with little effort, which you cannot experience with mechanical pencils or ballpoint pens, is truly addictive.
I also made my own pen case out of leather.
Writing instruments must be comfortable to write on and free of ink scum.
It is very disappointing to be handed a pen that is difficult to write with or has blurred ink in a store.
In such cases, I sometimes take out my own pen and write.
When signing an important signature, we want to write it with an important pen, and we want to have it written.
Although we often use computers to type, we recommend that you have a favorite writing instrument to reaffirm the joy and importance of writing.
If you've read all the way to the end, thank you for sticking with me on this personal hobby of mine!
