Kamakura Pens

Daimaru Fountain Pen

Here is quite an unusual 1930's Koi - style celluloid pen from the Daimaru Department Store.

Daimaru is one of the most eminent department stores in Japan.Osaka has two branches of this department store; one is in; Shinsaibashi and another one is in Namba.The history of Daimaru traces back to O-Mojiya, a dry goods story in Kyoto which was established by Shimomura Hikoemon Masahiro in 1717.The name ‘Daimaru'was first used to name to store in Nagoya called Daimaruya and it was inaugurated in 1728.Daimaru was the greatest retailer in Japan for many years in the 1960s.

The cap and barrel of this pen are made of a lovely ruby red and rich gold colored celluloid. The section is made of hard rubber that was coated with Urushi lacquer. The clip, barrel imprint and the nib all have the name Daimaru. However, Daimaru is a department store, they never actually manufacture anything. I suspect that this pen was actually made by Pilot. The celluloid color, clip, lever and caprings all are identical to several 1930's Pilot celluloid pens that I have found in the past.

In Japan this style of celluloid was called Koi, which is also the name for the famous Japanese multi colored carp. These fish are popular in Japanese gardens, but can also be seen swiming in the rivers under the bridges. SInce the fish are highly resiliant and can survive in murky city rivers where few other fish can survive, these fish have come to represent strength.