Above is a magnified view of the Mikaeri Bijin showing all the hand finished detail.
Above is a Japanese Postal First Day Cover that shows the Mikaeri Bijin.
In Kyoto there is a Ukiyo-e museum. In the courtyard the have a statue
that features the Mikaeri Bijin.
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Each Pen is hand signed with the artist's Kamakura Pens Signature Mark. |
This year we are doing something a little different with our Limited Edition pens. Instead of offering 200 pens in just one design choice, we are offering 200 pens in two different designs. The first design is the President Grant, and the second design is this Mikaeri bijin.
The image of the edo erra Geisha girl on our pen is a true Japanese National Treasure.
| The original ukiyo-e (Japanese wood block print) of this image was created in 1670 by Hishikawa Moronobu. |  |
Moronobu is often refered to as the father of ukiyo-e. He started his career as an embroiderer, however he made the move to printer around 1653 with the publication of a collection of his prints. Many of his early works were in black in white and depicted the Geisha Quarters in Kyoto. Slowly, as his technique improved he began creating some colorful masterpieces. These works inspired a whole new art industry in Japan. This art style began to be noticed in the west when certain tea and silk merchants would use ukiyo-e prints for labels on their products. Several famous westren artists were inspired by these prints, such as Claude Monet.
In Japanese culture, subtle beauty is often prefered to out right beauty. This idea is represented here with the Mikaeri Bijin, which translates as the lovely girl looking back.
The pen itself is a Platinum 3776 with the famous three tined music nib.
The 3776 is Platinum's longest selling line of pens, which was first released in 1978 and is still in production today.
The pen was originally planned by a group of designers lead by the late Mr. Umeda. They put together several prototypes, and gave them to 30 famous Japanese writers; people who typically wrote for 30 pages or more with their pens every day. From these writers' feed back, Platinum was able to learn several of their golden rules for the 3776. Rule #1 was have a thick barrel: The diameter of the barrel is 13mm. The length with the cap at the end of the barrel should be a little less than 160mm. Length of the nib 22mm. The balance point is in the rear, at the point of 56~57%.
Rule #2 Was the nib should be big. A big 14K gold nib is durable and highly suitable for heavy writing.
The nib on this Pen is Platinum's large 14k 3776 Music Pen nibs. Music pens are named as such because they are designed to make an extra broad Down stroke and a fine side stroke, which is needed for writing musical staffs and notes. However, few of my customers in the past bought these pens to write music. Instead they bought them for italic style calligraphy or simply because they wanted an extra broad nib with some great line variation. Three tines are needed to ensure a constant flow over such a broad nib.
The lacquer work was done in Wajima, Japan at one of the greatest studios known for gold leaf maki-e. The sprinkled gold dust on the cap and barrel as well as the golden highlites on the kimono are 14K and 18K gold. Each pen takes over three months to complete.
Be sure to keep an eyeout for the next update of Stylophiles.com for a review of this pen. Certainly Bill Ripel will be able to offer far better images than I have.
The Pen's come with the Kamakura Box and papers.
The suggested retail price was $1,200 but the Kamakura Pens price is $695. This is the same price as the President Grant pen, however a little more work goes into producing these pens.
To place an order or to reserve a pen send an e-mail to KPLE@kamakurapens.com
Though the maki-e design is different, the base pen is the same as the 2002 pen, so I would like to share two reviews of the earlier pen.
