This year, the Tokyo International Pen Show was held in Japan from October 28-30. Here comes our on-site report!
I could say that I had been preparing for it for months, but in reality, it was my wife who noticed that the Kuretake was also represented, so she asked me if I was going to the event. And in my usual rush, I didn't check that I should have bought a ticket online, and anyway, all of them were already sold out. So, when I arrived at Hamamacucsó after an hour of subway riding, at the Tokyo Portcity Takeshiba „tiny” office building, I quickly became quite in a bad mood... but I wasn't a journalist once to be kicked out of some event. We agreed that I would get 15 minutes to take photos, and a big PRESS wristband... and you can see the results below. Unfortunately, there wasn't time for in-depth interviews.
Hamamatsucho (Hamamatsucho) is Tokyo's business/office district, with many large buildings:
not a few train tracks:
and all kinds of underpasses and overpasses:
Fortunately, there are a few parks in the area, otherwise it would really be a concrete jungle:
and the Tokyo Portcity Takeshiba itself is not considered a low building:
On its fourth floor, if I understand correctly, for the fifth time, the largest edition so far of the Tokyo International Pen Showwas held.
A little Japanese pen exhibition guide
In Japan, many exhibitions and trade fairs were held in the past. I personally got to know the brush-ink-brush pen-brush marker, etc. manufacturer Kuretake at the ISOT (International Stationery & Office Products Fair) event back in 2009. So, I had to attend all kinds of huge IT fairs anyway. The Tokyo Big Sight The wise organizers of the event center did it in such a way that it didn't matter if you came only for the IT security fair held in the eastern halls B and C, your ticket was valid not only for the cloud storage fair held simultaneously in the rest of the eastern hall but also for the baby food, stationery, and sewing machine fair held in the western hall. The place is a bit large, so let's make use of it.
This exhibition, as far as I could find out, is not like that. This is a grassroots organization, by true pen enthusiasts, and it hasn't been around for very long. The first one was in 2018: 52 manufacturers, 60 tables, with a total of about 1600 visitors over two days. Here you can read a report about it. (If someone is not familiar with the Stylographic Chronicles blog, I highly recommend it. There are very beautiful and interesting pens on it, especially Japanese brands). It was a huge success, and far from just the usual target group members – middle-aged men – attended. The main reason for this was that this is not a completely „classic” pen exhibition (Understand: not almost exclusively fountain pens and a lot of vintage pens), but quite a few other stationery, paper, and pen holder vendors were also represented. However, it was indeed a very successful exhibition. A year later, it became even more successful with 2000 visitors, of which about 200 were foreigners, 71 exhibitors, at 86 tables. Then came COVID, and the growth slowed down, but by 2021 the event had already become three days long.
Please do not misunderstand, this exhibition is not the largest stationery fair in Japan. The Bungujoshi-haku held this November lasts for four days and attracts about 35,000 visitors. The ISOT is a larger event. And then there is also the Kamihaku, or the Inkunabula named ink parade... Let's say this is the country where a store can thrive by selling nothing but inks.
The Tokyo International Pen Show 2022
Here, they primarily tried to focus on fountain pens and related products, so there were indeed quite a few fountain pens. For example, local manufacturers who turn all kinds of beautiful pens from wood:
Those who originally were silver craftsmen, but about ten years ago got interested in making fountain pens:
Young metalworkers, full of modern ideas:
And of course, there are also outrageously expensive handmade pens (Yes, 450,000 yen each, which is nearly 1.3 million forints):
Among the „big” Japanese fountain pen manufacturers, only Sailor was represented, and that with just a modest stand, and not even with their most expensive pens:
Pilot and Platinum did not appear at all. Foreigners mostly came through stores, although I did see distinctly Kaweco and TWSBI flags.
There were many dealers/stores as well, with pens:
and inks, quite a few of them:
A Kuretake showcasing new versions of their mixable inks (ink cafe):
There were some who specialized specifically in dip pens:
There were many companies selling paper goods, notebooks, pads, and unique papers:
And there was a leather vendor as well, with very nice pencil cases:
Not many, but some came from abroad, for example from America the The Pen Family:
And I saved a treat for the end. Nagahara Jukio He worked for 20 years at a large Japanese writing instrument manufacturer’s fountain pen factory, and in February 2020 he started his own business, the The Nib Shaper. Of course, he also repairs pens, but the real interest is that he grinds custom nibs for left-handers and those interested in special nibs. We could see this live here:
This is how much I could fit into the quarter (well, rather three-quarters) of an hour available to me. The next Pen Show, as I mentioned, will be the four-day Bungujoshi-haku at the end of the month. I won’t forget to buy a ticket for this and I will have more time to browse. Are you curious about that too?
