Yukio Nagahara, Fountain Pen Nib Craftsman — "The Ideal Is When Your Mind and the Nib Move as One"

"Life & Pen" is a series where fountain pen lovers tell us how they first encountered these pens and what draws them in. For our 36th installment, we spoke with Yukio Nagahara, a fountain pen nib craftsman who holds pen clinics at stationery shops across Japan and at pen shows overseas.

【What is a pen clinic?】

A pen clinic adjusts a fountain pen's nib, fixing problems such as skipping, scratchiness, and poor ink flow. What sets Nagahara's pen clinics apart is that he doesn't just repair problems—he builds the nib to match the owner's writing style and preferences. He's also known for creating his own distinctive nib grinds, including the naginata-togi (long-blade grind) he inherited from his father, the first-generation craftsman, and the saibi-togi (fine-beauty grind) he developed himself.

Occupation: Fountain pen nib craftsman

Fountain pens owned: Too many to count

I learned the craft by watching

ーーーYou've gone independent as a fountain pen nib craftsman and founded "Pen Clinic (The Nib Shaper)," but before that you worked at Sailor Pen Co., Ltd. didn't you? Was that where you learned the craft from the first-generation pen clinic craftsman—your father, Nobuyoshi Nagahara?

"As it turned out, I did spend many years working alongside my father as a Sailor craftsman, but when I first joined the company I was in a completely different division. It was the Special Skills Division, and I mainly did sales for pachinko parlor prizes. That department doesn't exist anymore. One day, a pachinko parlor owner I was calling on said, 'Sailor has a craftsman with the same surname, Nagahara, right?' I said, 'That would be my father,' and he got a little annoyed with me: 'Then why on earth are you, his son, doing sales?!' Something suddenly switched on inside me. He said, 'If you live under the same roof, you can learn at home too,' and I thought, well, maybe I'll give it a try. After that, I did my regular job on weekdays, and from Friday nights I'd sit beside my father as he worked at home, watching his hands and starting to work on nibs myself. That's how I spent my weekends."

ーーーI see! I'd assumed you worked with your father from the very beginning.

"I'd been working on nibs at home for about two and a half years. Right around when I was starting to find it really interesting, the president of Sailor finally found out. He suddenly showed up in Hiroshima and asked, 'When can you start?' I said I had to hand over my current work, but he told me to do it in a month (laughs). And so I officially came to work under my father. That was in 2000."

ーーーSo after training at home, the transfer order came out of the blue.

"That's right. My father wasn't a teacher—he was a craftsman through and through. The 'watch and learn' type. There was no manual. It was like being told, 'The summit of Mt. Fuji is up there,' and asking, 'But how do I climb it? There are so many paths…'—and being told, 'Take whichever path you like.' You just keep heading upward. Because you climb your own way, the view from the summit ends up different from your father's. Things rarely go according to the plan you've built in your head. Even a year later I'll look at a nib I fixed and think, 'What a clumsy job,' and five years on I'll think, 'What was I even doing?!' Skill is like a thread you're constantly pulling taut—the moment it goes slack, you're finished. Even now, I face my customers feeling I still have room to grow."

ーーーFrom the time you decided to become a craftsman, through your training, were there hard periods?

"Oh no, it was fun. There's a puzzle-like challenge sitting right in front of you, and you work out how to crack it within the time you have. You get completely absorbed. And when you solve it and the customer's mouth turns up in a smile, there's nothing better. On top of that, I get paid for it—so it's nothing but fun."

Overseas experience led me to think about going independent

ーーーAfter you were assigned to the adjustment division at Sailor, what was the event where you first worked in front of customers?

"My first time was in 2002. I ended up as a last-minute stand-in at an event in Washington that my father was supposed to attend. A week before the event, he fell off a ladder and suffered a compression fracture in his spine, leaving him unable to move, so it was decided very suddenly. I can only speak broken standard Japanese and native Hiroshima dialect, so I went in with an interpreter. When we opened at 8 a.m., there were fountain pens and business cards already lined up—maintenance, maintenance, nothing but maintenance. Someone called out to me, and when I glanced at the clock to catch my breath, it was 3 p.m. I'd forgotten to go to the bathroom or even drink water; I was just face to face with the pens."

ーーーYour very first hands-on work was at an overseas event!

"Partly because I'd come in my father's place, the customers were tough on me. Every single one ordered a fine nib. I thought maybe fine nibs were in fashion, but really they were testing my skill. Fine nibs leave little room to cover mistakes, and on top of that, many Americans are left-handed. It's not straightforward at all."

ーーーWhat a debut—right there on the front lines.

"The people who came to trust me came back all three days of the event. Some even brought out a serious pen, different from the one they'd handed me to test my skill. In my Sailor days most events were domestic, but I took part in many overseas events too and gained a lot of experience."

ーーーWas there anything different about working abroad versus in Japan?

"We took part in events as Sailor, so basically the adjustment was free. But in America, I learned that being a fountain pen nib craftsman is an established profession—people make a living traveling all over the country. That's when it really hit me that my skill could be a livelihood."

ーーーIt doesn't seem like a major profession in Japan.

"Back then, I don't think anyone made a living from it in Japan. There are shops that do maintenance and aftercare on the side when they sell pens, but independent craftsmen are rare."

ーーーWhen did you start thinking about going independent?

"Around 50, I think. I vaguely began to feel it might work as a business in Japan too, and by 55 I was taking more concrete steps."

ーーーAnd then you founded your business in 2020. Despite all your preparation, the pandemic hit right after you went independent—that was unlucky…

"I retired in February 2020 and was planning to launch in March—and then it happened. Even so, there was a stationery shop that held a paid pen clinic for me, and I was able to make a proper start as a sole proprietor. I'm grateful to every customer who came."

Whether ¥100,000 or a few thousand yen, if it matters to the customer, it's the same to me

ーーーAre there trends in the fountain pens customers bring in?

"They really vary. Lately there have been a lot of Capless pens, and a lot of foreign-made ones too. Once, someone brought in a fountain pen that had come as a magazine freebie. Pens from the major makers are fairly quick to adjust, but a freebie is a pen I'm seeing for the first time, and that's genuinely difficult. Still, a freebie pen and, say, a ¥100,000 pen—both matter just as much to their owner. If there's an attachment to it, I simply adjust it the same way."

ーーーBecause it's something they're attached to, I imagine many people specifically want you to be the one to adjust it.

"People bring me their pens carrying all kinds of feelings. One person told me a pen was a keepsake from their father—an old one, with no parts even available from the maker. I took everything apart, replaced the deteriorated rubber, and managed to fix it. Watching that, the customer just broke down in tears. When I push through a tough job, fix it, and the customer tells me it was worth more than what I charged, I think: this is why I do this. It makes me happy."

ーーーIt sounds almost like a life consultation.

"Especially with older products, the maker sometimes can't fix them—production has ended, or there's no stock, so there's no replacement. Or they'll quote you an amount that could buy three new pens. So I'd like to be a bridge between the customer and the maker. For instance, even if you can't fill it with ink, you can still use it by dipping the nib. If the pen can be kept as it is, I want to explore the possibilities together. If someone wants to buy a fountain pen but worries about what they'd do if something went wrong, I want to ease that worry even a little. If the nib is just bent, I can fix it, so it's fine—that's the position I want to be in."

ーーーThere's a certain number of people who carry worries—what if the ink clogs, am I even using it right, and so on.

"Exactly. It's not a cheap purchase, after all. But I want to bring them to the point where writing is fun. What you think in your head becomes words just as they are. Not the sensation of 'writing,' but your mind and the nib moving as if directly connected—that's the ideal. That's the joy of a fountain pen, the fun of writing."

ーーーWe often hear people say, 'I want Nagahara-san to be the one to adjust mine.'

"I'm grateful to hear that. Our job is to make the customer sitting in front of us smile. The best moment is when they say, 'It's changed this much!' or 'Now I can draw exactly the line I wanted.' When you're told there's no replacement, or you're thinking of just buying a new one, I want you to remember me. If you come to me, we might just find a way to keep the fountain pen you're attached to."

A favorite pen: Sailor Pen / Not for sale

This is a pen I made during my Sailor days by gathering defective parts. Parts that don't make the grade are normally all discarded, but I collected them and completed this. It's a completely original, one-of-a-kind pen—the only one in the world.

A favorite pen: The Nib Shaper NAGAHARA MODEL #1 (Nib Shaper original fountain pen)

This is our original fountain pen, finally completed after many years of development from the initial concept. It features an 18k gold nib with rounded tipping. I also offer nib adjustments, so I can tune the nib to suit each customer's preferences. It has already sold out, so please look forward to #2.

PROFILE

Yukio Nagahara

Even during his time at Sailor, Nagahara held pen clinics across Japan as a fountain pen nib craftsman. In 2020 he went independent and launched "Pen Clinic (The Nib Shaper)." He answers fountain pen troubles arriving not only from within Japan but from around the world. Besides adjustments at events, requests by mail are also accepted.

Website: Pen Clinic (The Nib Shaper)

Words & editing / Natsumi Nakayama 　Photography / Shinnosuke Nagaoka