The most gorgeous red - Nakaya Dorsal Fin

Personal Best of, Part 3

from left to right: Nakaya Portable, Danitrio Mikado, Nakaya Dorsal Fin, Danitrio Genkai. All red Urushi.

Sometimes when I look at this pen I need to suppress a giggle because I think that this would be the ultimate vampire's pen (yes, I admit, I've read those novels about vampires and stuff and found them entertaining) - and of course I'm not talking about it glittering in the sunlight. I have accumulated a modest collection of red Urushi pens by now - and you will probably get to see some of them over time -, but none is as radiant, as deep and clear in colour as this one. It's just in-your-face: I am a red pen, indeed! I can't help but love it.

2 slits: A Nakaya music nib.

Doesn't the lacquer look as if it's still wet, as if you might leave a smear when you touch it? But the finish is one of the most durable ever. It's hard to achieve and potentially bad for your health as well because the raw lacquer contains a substance called Urushiol which has effects similar to poison ivy. In the cured and dried lacquer, Urushiol is no longer present and the surface is remarkably robust against oils, acids and mechanical stress. One of the few things it doesn't like is excessive sunlight, which brings us back to the vampire thing.

If you order a custom made Nakaya, as I did with this one, the maki-e artists will offer you to personalize the pen with Kanji painted on the barrel. The kanji on this pen are in gold. They say "Writer" in an artistic sense. This should refer to me as well as the pen.

The golden insert in the grip section is called a "Zogan". It's made of a little gold plate then covered with clear Urushi.

Seen enough red pen? Well then. One last close-up of the nib.

Music nibs are very wet and broad writers with stubbish character. I'm going to add a writing sample when I feel like it (PS: Added it. Ha!). At the moment it's inked with Diamine Sargasso Sea, a deep blue with a red sheen - for the little vampire factor from within. 

Which of these reds is your personal favourite?