The Nakaya Fountain pen company is one of the best in the world, even though it was only started around 2001. Since then, the company has been causing quite the sensation in every country. Their motto “for your hand only” really means what it says. On their site, you can fill out a questionaire that will give the craftsmen information about your writing style. After they receive this information, they custom make a pen to suit your writing hand. Their craftsmen have more than 40 years experience each and worked for the Platinum Pen Company before joining in on this unique effort. The Nakaya Pen Company is actually run by Toshiya Nakata, the grandson of Platinum’s founder and son of the current president. The logo of the company, found on the nibs of the pens, actually is the name of the founder “Nakata” rather than the company name “Nakaya.” The Nakaya name was the original name of the Platinum Pen Company when it was first established in 1919. The craftsmen receive no salary, only commission, and are happy to be so busy that they have to work seven days a week.
The most popular pen the company has produced yet is the Wajima-nuri. Surprisingly, these are merely pens of hard rubber that have been coated with numerous layers of Japanese urushi, or lacquer. They are available in black, red, green and blue with the most sought after one being the tamenuri finish. This includes a basecoat of red covered in black or brown lacquer. The top coats become transparent and allow the undercoats to come through.
Interestingly, this pen was born when an important customer came to the Nakaya company looking for a pen with no clips and made only of hard rubber. The company made the pen, even though they were not yet fully in production, and sent it to him. The man, being in the urushi industry, then coated the hard rubber pen in several layers of urushi. When Nakata saw the pen, he was so impressed that he asked the customer if he could start producing pens in the same style.