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Posted 12 February 2008 - 12:46 PM kamakura-pens

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A field guide to JapaneseNibs

I've been working on a little essay, and I thought I would share it here.The new people to Japanese pens may find this helpful, but I hope someof the veterans could help and point out if I am missing anythingobvious that should be in the essay.

Thanks for your time guys,

Stay Well

Dr. Ron Dutcherhttp://www.kamakurapens.com (http://www.kamakurapens.com)

No two writers are the same. That is a very simple self-evident sentence,but when it comes to pens it becomes very important. Pilot pensrealized this back in the 1920s as they tried to move the traditionalJapanese writer away from their brush pens to the new fountain pens.Brushes could be cut and shaped easily to fit each individual; pen nibswere not so easy. So Pilot created a spectrum of nibs, and soon theother pen makers followed their example.

Pilot today still carries many of these nib styles on their Custom line ofpens. These names and explanations are not easily understood in thewest, and as it turns out, many pen sellers in Japan also seemed a littleconfused. On the online pen forums and in my e-mail inbox, I regularlyfind questions about all of these nibs.

A while back I found a small collection of the Pilot Times, Pilotsinhouse publication used to educate their salesmen and distributors. Aseries of articles detailed the different types of nibs, how they differed,and what kind of writing was suitable for each nib. So going from thefinest to the broadest here is the spectrum of Japanese nibs.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Pilot and the other pen makersdid not always mark their nibs as what style they were. The distributor,or as most often the case, the stationary shop proprietor was originallysupposed to be trained so that he could identify the nib at just a glance,but inevitably confusion crept in, and the constant complaints forcedPilot to mark their nib points.

The Bookkeeper nib. Usually marked BK :This was a specialty nib designed for accountants and the charactersyou would expect to find slouched over a ledger in a Charles Dickens

Introduction

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novel. The nib was an extra fine point, extra long and extra stiff. Thenib blank was thicker than the regular nibs. What made it interesting isthat the iridium was ground into a perfect square shape. This made fornice sharp lines, and the writer could use it to make long thin ruledlines in a ledger, but you had to use a light touch and be careful whenwriting with this nib. One wrong move and the writer could twist thetines, ruining an expensive pen. Since the nib was so fragile, Pilot longago stopped manufacturing this design. I have only seen one example ofa Pilot Bookkeeper nib. It was on a 1926 Pilot Laconite pen. If anyonehas such a pen in their collection, I sure would like to see it.

The Posting nib.Pilot designed this nib especially for Japans early post office cards,hence the name. These postal cards were significantly cheaper to mailthan an official letter, and thus most business mail and informalcorrespondence was done on these cards. Even today, the postal cardtradition continues as the Japanese send nengajos (New Yearspostcards) to everyone they know during the holiday season. In the1920s these cards were made of a soft, loose fiber, paper that was idealfor brush pens, but not so easy for fountain pens to write on them, soPilot engineered its Posting nib. This nib has a long nib blank with afine or extra fine point, and with little flex. The iridium point isspecially ground to be super smooth. The interesting thing about thisnib is that it has a slight downward curved point that helped make adarker line on the soft paper. Pilot still makes this nib today and it isideal for people who write fast like journalists or university studentstaking notes, or people you like to use soft paper.

The Fine nib.The Japanese work horse nib. During the 1920s Pilot explained to itssalesmen that 90% of the pens in the West were made with Medium orBroad nibs. These were not suitable of writing the complicatedJapanese kanji characters. So 90% of all Japanese nibs were either fineor extra fine. Of course this was true, but the tone suggests that Pilotwas competing with the Waterman pens that the Japanese viewed assuperior, luxury pens. Pilot was the Chevy trucks of the 1920s Japanesepen world, while Waterman was the Mercedes Benz, and Pilot foughthard to change this image. Pilots fine nibs used a medium length nibblank with medium flexibility.

The Stenographer nib. Usually marked STENOBefore tape recorders, copy machines, and typewriters became popularand affordable, the occupation of stenographer was commonplace.These office people did nothing but make copies, take dictation andwrite letters. A pen was in their hand all day long. To make their jobseasier, various shorthand languages were developed and pensmithsdesigned nibs just for them. The Stenographers pen usually utilized alonger barrel than usual, to hold more ink, and often the barrel wasthinner since stenographers were often women and thus had smallerhands. The nibs had to be made so that the stenographer could write asquickly as possible. At the same time, Japanese business writingpreferred sharp line characters. Pilots stenographer nib utilized a longnib blank with medium fine point and with very little flex. The iridiumwas ground to make it smooth, but still a little square. These nibs had alittle tooth to them, but not enough to slow down the writing speed.

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Interestingly, most of the Steno marked Pilot pens that I have foundwere the war-time shiro nibs. I also find a lot of 1950s Pilot Supers anda few early Pilot Elites with this nib. Today, Pilot makes a Fine Mediumnib, that is stiff and smooth, and this is about as close as you can findthat compares with the old Steno nibs. If you get the chance try writingwith one of these nibs. It is an interesting experience.

Script Nib. In the late 1950s Pilot phased out the Stenographer nib andreplaced it with their Script nib. This nib was very similar to theStenographers nib, but with a rounder grind on a larger ball of iridium.They were designed for people who had to write quickly for long periodsof time.

The Medium Nib.This nib is like the fine, only a little broader. In 1926, these pens werepopularly placed in the fancier Pilot overlay pens. They were not oftenused for every day writing, but more for everyday signing. Think of apen that a lawyer or a businessman would like to use to sign every daychecks and contracts. Pilots medium nib used a medium nib blankwith a medium smooth point with medium flex.

The Falcon NibWhen writing Japanese calligraphy with a brush it is easy to vary theline width by how much of the brush tip you allow to touch the paper.With a gold nib this is not the case. A flexible nib allows for linevariation by how much pressure you give the nib, which spreads thetines apart. It is easy to make a nib more flexible by making the tineslonger, but this leads to a common problem. If you flex the nib andoverextend the tines, the ink flow to the paper breaks. The Falcon nibsolves this problem. Pilot took a Medium length nib blank and cut outcrescents on each side of the nib. The nib looked something like a birdsbeak, hence the name. This design creates a nib that can make amedium line with no flex to a very broad line with more pressure andsince the tines are shorter, there is no flow problem by overextension.One of my most prized Pilot Namiki pens is a 1926 lever filler with aFalcon nib. I have found a lot of Falcon nibs on 1950s Pilot Supers andone some of the early Elites, but this is a rather rare nib. If the Japanesewere going to write in their elegant school-learned calligraphy, it onlyseemed proper to use their brush pens. Writing old-style with a modernfountain pen just felt a little out of place. Pilot makes a falcon nib today,but I havent tried using one yet.

The Manifold Nib.Back in the days before typewriters and copy machines, offices tried tobecome more efficient by using manifold books. These were books withleaves of alternating carbon and writing paper. A writer could make twoor even three or four copies of a page at once by writing in one thesebooks. However you needed to press down very hard with a pen to makethe bottom pages legible. For this purpose, Pilot introduced theManifold nib. The nib consisted of medium length blank with a mediumsmooth point with a little larger ball of iridium than the other nibs. Thetines were short and the nib was made as stiff as possible with virtuallyno flex at all. With one of these nibs you could press down on the paperas hard as you liked and you couldnt harm the nib. The desk mightbreak before the nib gave way. Even though no one uses fountain pens

for carbon paper anymore the Manifold nib has continued to bepopular. And Pilot still offers this nib today. I often keep one of thesewith me as a lender. It is an ideal nib for the newbie to start with.

The Waverly Nib.For left handed people or people who needed to write on very roughpaper, Pilot developed a medium length, medium point pen. The tineswere curved in a wave shape to increase the smoothness. Pilot officiallynamed this the Waverly nib. However, to everyone who worked for Pilotthe nib was known as the Mantis Tummy, because the curved roundedshape resembled that part of the insect. The pen is a medium to broadnib point with a unique curvature and an extra large ball of iridiumthat is ground to be perfectly smooth. The nib is similar to theWaterman Yellow Nib. This nib type was more expensive than theothers, and I have never seen one on a vintage pen except for those inearly Pilot advertisements. Pilot makes this nib available for theirmodern Custom pens, but I havent tried it yet.

The Coarse nibI often see people confused about this nib. It is basically what we thinkof as a Broad Nib. In the 1920s Pilot only offered a Coarse nib withmedium length tines and a little flex, named after the coarse brushesthat writers would use for large writing. In the 1950s Pilot offeredBroad and Coarse points, and the coarse points were more of an extrabroad.

The Half Stub NibIn the 1920s, Pilot offered a pen point marked HS. I found one of thesea while back and it was this nib that made me interested in researchingthis article. As it turned out, the pen was a Half Stub. A Coarse pointwith medium short tines and a little flex.

The Signature Nib:This was what we would think of as a triple broad point nib. TheJapanese couldnt write their kanji characters at standard size with thispen, but it made a nice big, bold signature. These nibs were typicallyplaced in the early Pilot overlay pens and in some of the maki-e pens.These were not everyday writing pens, but something you would like touse to sign your name at a wedding, or signing an important contract.Again, these are very rare in the vintage pens, but I can occasionallyfind them on 1950s and later pens.

The StubAs you would suspect, a broad point with short tines, and no flex. Not avery popular point in Japan, and quite rare on the vintage pens. If youspot one, grab it.

The ObliqueThese nibs are stubs with a diagonally cut points, and used for italicstyle writing Though Pilot made these nibs as early as 1920, I havenever seen one in a vintage pen or heard from a collector who had seenone.. Before the war, there was a large community of Europeans livingin Yokohama, and I suspect this nib was made mainly for this nichemarket.

Posted 12 February 2008 - 12:53 PM chibimie

Posted 12 February 2008 - 10:00 PM EyeZ

Posted 12 February 2008 - 10:42 PM penburg

Posted 12 February 2008 - 11:10 PM jsonewald

The Music Nib:In recent years, this nib has become rather popular. Basically it is atriple broad stub with three tines to assure an even flow across thatbroad point. The point is ground into a square shape. The original ideawas that you could use this nib to write musical staffs and notes. Thenib makes a very broad stroke on a down stroke and a fine point on ahorizontal stroke. By holding the nib diagonally you can create linevariations and even do italic style calligraphy. I have seen one of thesein a pre-war pen, and a few in 1950s and 60s pens, but they are hardto find. Pilot and Platinum make three tined Music nibs in theirmodern pens, and Sailor offers a broad stub pen with a square shapedpoint that they call a Music pen, but it only has the usual two tines.These are very fun pens to write with, and if you havent tried one, youought to add one to your daily rotation.

The Duopoint.Pilot claims they made this nib and that it was popular in the 1930s,but I have never seen one. On the other hand I have found a lot of1930s, 40s and 50s Sailors with this nib style. The nib is ground sothat it may be used on both its top and bottom. The top side is a finepoint, and the writer could flip the pen over and write with the bottomedge of the nib to make a broad line.

What a great service to us all! I love the way daily custom is integratedto explain the production of nibs. Thank you.

Thank you very much for the nice and instructive reading. I lovejapanese pens.Is it possible to see a picture of the Falcon nib of your Pilot/Namiki penfrom 1926 ?

Regards,Dimiter

Thank you very much, this is such valuable information!

A really great post; entertaining and educational. Thanks.

Posted 12 February 2008 - 11:24 PM FrankB

Posted 13 February 2008 - 12:49 AM lalindsay225

Posted 13 February 2008 - 01:44 AM AJP

Posted 13 February 2008 - 01:55 AM stan

This is a great contribution, Ron. Thank you so much.

I am afraid I am one of those people who wants "to use" knowledge. If Iwere to use the information from this article to order a custom nib,would a Japanese firm understand my nib preference if I used English?For example, if I wanted my next Nakaya custom pen with a "HalfStub" and I asked for that nib type by name in English, is thatnomenclature intelligible to the Japanese?

Thank you, Ron! It's not easy to find information on Japanese pens (inEnglish) -- your essay is very helpful.

Lisa

Ron:

Great post thanks! Very informative.

I would love to try one of those posting nibs. I write fast when takingnotes and love thin points. Anyone have any suggestions on who mightcarry them?

Thanks!!!

Alex

QUOTE(AJP @ Feb 12 2008, 09:44 AM) (http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&section=findpost&pid=511921)Ron:

Great post thanks! Very informative.

I would love to try one of those posting nibs. I write fast when takingnotes and love thin points. Anyone have any suggestions on who mightcarry them?

Thanks!!!

Alex

Posted 13 February 2008 - 04:45 AM yumbo

Posted 14 February 2008 - 11:17 PM Rapt

Posted 14 February 2008 - 11:52 PM hunter186

Posted 15 February 2008 - 12:34 AM rogerb

Posted 15 February 2008 - 04:20 PM kamakura-pens

Pens by Pilot with POSTING nibs were common into the 1960s andshow up on Yahoo Japan Auctions all the time.

Wow. Great reading.

Can the mods "pin" this article? I think it belongs in the referencesection.

Sincerely,

Yumbo

The posting nib, the falcon and the waverly (mantis tummy ) nibs allsound fascinating. I think it's would be neat to have pictures showingthe details of these nibs as they are described.

All in all a great read!

Thanks for such a great post. I'd love to try some of these, especially theposting nib.

I agree with Yumbo; this would be a good article to pin somewhere.

It's disappointing that they don't appear to make any sort of 'edged' nibwith which one can get width variation(italic-type) ?

QUOTE(FrankB @ Feb 12 2008, 07:24 AM) (http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&section=findpost&pid=511799)This is a great contribution, Ron. Thank you so much.

I am afraid I am one of those people who wants "to use" knowledge. If Iwere to use the information from this article to order a custom nib,would a Japanese firm understand my nib preference if I used English?

Posted 17 February 2008 - 02:27 AM Skyppere

Posted 17 February 2008 - 02:53 AM kamakura-pens

For example, if I wanted my next Nakaya custom pen with a "HalfStub" and I asked for that nib type by name in English, is thatnomenclature intelligible to the Japanese?

The Nakaya guys should know what a half stub is. I am working onsome scans and images for this essay, so hold on. If you have the image,it would help you clear up any miscomunication with the Japanesemanufacturers.

Stay Well,

rd@kamakurapens.com

Isn't there something called an "emporer nib?" I THINK it's like a nibwith a piggy back nib on top? I'm not being very clear. I've not seen onein person, only pictureson the internet... Is that a variation of one of the nibs in your greatdiscriptions above?Maybe it's one that Pilot never made?

cheersskyp

This post has been edited by Skyppere: 17 February 2008 - 02:29 AM

QUOTE(Skyppere @ Feb 16 2008, 10:27 AM) (http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?app=forums&module=forums&section=findpost&pid=516334)Isn't there something called an "emporer nib?" I THINK it's like a nibwith a piggy back nib on top? I'm not being very clear. I've not seen onein person, only pictureson the internet... Is that a variation of one of the nibs in your greatdiscriptions above?Maybe it's one that Pilot never made?

cheersskyp

You are refering to Sailors Cross Emperor nib.

Sailor has quite a collection of unique specialized nibs, and you couldwrite a feild guide just for Sailors line. I have not tried them all ofSailors nibs yet, but those who have swear by them.

Pilot makes a large oversized lacquer pen that they call the Emperor,with a huge gold nib.

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