I’m not sure why but it has taken me over a year to start putting the allegorical pen to paper for this fountain pen. In some respects the delays are due to having others to review, pens more relevant to a lot of my audience, but now I have finally pulled me finger out but with something a little different for me. Rather than an overly long post on the pen and the background I have decided to split it into two, starting with the company and the ordering process, then a follow up a bit further down then line on the pen itself.

Note I will use the western form for names here as the vast majority of the readers will be more used to that, so forename then surname, not the Japanese form which is the reverse.

Hakase is one of those pen makers many will not have heard of. Sure we all know Nakaya, the artisan arm of Platinum with some bespoke options and nib tuning, Namiki which is the higher end name for Pilot, and of course Sailor who use just the single brand but have a legacy of specialist nib meisters. Hakase however takes things up one step and with models that do not rival the other three makers. In fact not only can you get the option of a branded Sailor nib, but Hakase is also the only company Pilot will bespoke brand nibs for. It is also mainly a one man band. The pens are not only hand lathed (which itself is powered both by electricity, and pedals, with the latter being switched to for far finer control), but also the nibs are hand tuned to individual specifications. The only things Yamamoto-san does not does do is make the nibs, feeds, and converters, and do the urushi work.

A quick overview of the history, based on a number of pages on the company website. While fountain pen making can be traced back to the 1920s, it was not until 1982 that Harumi Tanaka started to make custom pens along with his future successor, Masaaki Yamamoto. 1996 Ryo Yamamoto began as an apprentice and started making pens in 2009 alongside Tanaka-san with the latter retiring in 2010. At the time of writing Yamamato-san has been hand making pens for 15 years.

Buying a Hakase was a nervous proposition for me. Not for the process in actually doing so, not for the prices (which are still good for what you get when compared to the Japanese ‘big boys’), not for the reputation of the end product, but because I would be spending a large amount of money (for me) on a pen I could not try until paid for, made, and delivered. One of my mantras is to see if you can try a pen/model before buying, especially if over your ‘not bothered’ level of cost. Here I would have to ignore my usual guidance.

So the whole process is a little time consuming but worth it (unless of course you can go to the shop like workshop in Tottori). You start off by downloading and completing two forms from this page, which also offers advice on how to fill them in. These need completing by hand, with the second one requiring you to film yourself from three different angles. You then attach these forms to the online form, including links to your videos (instructions given). Post submission you will then be contacted through email by Yamamoto-san, who will ask you some questions to confirm some things and to make sure you are happy to proceed (don’t worry his English is reasonable). Once this is sorted you will be asked for payment and then be placed on the production queue. The lead time is presently 15 months, with the urushi pens being 18. You then wait. Once made Yamamoto-san will then contact you again to confirm delivery.

Now before the above you can ask questions. I did so as I knew which model I fancied, but was not sure which of the two sizes would work best for me. Most come with the option of two nib sizes, ‘grade 10’ and the wider ‘grade 15’. The nib options differ depending on the size. The grade 15 comes with a Hakase branded Pilot #15 nib, the grade 10 comes with the option of a Pilot #10 or a comparable sized Sailor, again both Hakase branded and all 14k gold. Now for me I went with a grade 15 sized pen and a FM nib.

After DHL and your local customs office have done there bits, your pen will arrive. Below is the video from my unboxing post from over a year ago.

And the three videos I took for Yamamoto-san to use as a guide to the tuning for my nib:

So was it worth the cost and risk? Find out in a future post 🙂