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When I first discovered Pentrace one of my favourite pastimes was
reading the wonderful and interesting articles posted on Pentrace East.
The articles that I most enjoyed reading were those by Russ Stutler,
describing the various pen clinics he has attended in Japan. After
reading those articles I really wanted to attend one of these pen
clinics for myself. I had always assumed that if I were to ever attend
one of these pen clinics I would have to go to Japan but then last
June, quite by chance, I discovered that Mr Nagahara of Sailor Pens was
coming to the UK to hold a pen clinic at Websters Penshop at the
Bluewater shopping centre in Kent. I have to admit that when I first
discovered that Mr Nagahara was coming to the UK and that I would have
a chance to meet him I was as excited as a six-year old on Christmas
Eve. Once I had calmed down I realised that my wife and I had plans for
the weekend that Mr Nagahara was holding his clinic and that she would
be probably be very annoyed if I were to cancel them so that I could
attend a pen clinic. Luckily for me my wife is a very kind hearted
woman and after I explained how rare it was for Mr Nagahara to leave
Japan to hold a pen clinic and how I didn’t think he had ever held a
clinic in the UK before she agreed that I could go as long as I didn’t
expect her to go with me. Not wanting to travel for five hours on my
own and knowing that my mother and younger sister both wanted to go to
Bluewater (the largest shopping centre in Europe) I invited them to go
with me. On
the day itself my mother, my younger sister (16 years old at the time)
and I made our way to the Bluewater shopping centre in Kent. The
journey there was hell. The trip there took three and a half hours due
to delays on various trains and my mother and I were forced to listen
to my sister discuss the merits of various brands of “concealer” and
“foundation”. Eventually
we got to Bluewater and made our way to Websters. As we approached
Websters we could see some banners just within the shop with what I
assume was Japanese calligraphy on them. Once
outside the shop I saw a table set up with Mr Nagahara sitting behind
it. The table had a wide array of beautiful pens set out on it. On the
corner of the table closest to Mr Nagahara was a machine of some sort
and surrounding him were a variety of bags and boxes. As
I approached the table I was greeted by a very nice and extremely
polite Japanese gentleman who was a representative from Sailor Japan
(and whose name I am embarrassed to admit I have forgotten), Chris Reed
the General Manager of Sailor Pen Europe and a very friendly gentleman
who worked for Websters Penshop (and whose name I am also embarrassed
to have forgotten). Embarrassingly, the gentleman from Websters
immediately recognised my voice from my numerous telephone calls to
Websters asking about Parker Penman ink or, more recently, for details
of Mr Nagahara’s visit. After
I had been welcomed the gentleman from Sailor Japan asked me whether I
had any pens I wanted Mr Nagahara to adjust. I took out my pen cases
and showed him the pens I had brought. Mr Nagahara gently picked one up
unscrewed the cap and invited me to write with it. After I had written
a few lines with it he indicated that I was to give him the pen and
within a few second he had removed the nib and feed from the section
and was doing all sorts of things to the nib that I, frustratingly,
couldn’t see clearly due to the clutter on the table and the speed with
which his hands moved. After working on a pen Mr Nagahara would
reassemble the pen and pass it back to me. I was asked to try the pen
and Mr Nagahara would watch as I wrote with it. I was always very
impressed by the difference in how the nib worked after Mr Nagahara had
worked his magic but with two of my pens Mr Nagahara looked
dissatisfied with the line I produced with the pen and asked me to
return it to him so he could further adjust it. Watching Mr Nagahara at
work was a real treat and, having seen how fast he worked I couldn’t
believe that he is in his seventies. I was delighted when Mr Nagahara
adjusted many of my pens so that the line they produce changes
depending upon the angle at which they are used. The gentleman from
Sailor Japan was very interested in the pens I had brought and often
asked me where I had bought them and how I liked the Sailor brand. As
Mr Nagahara was adjusting working on my pens the gentleman from Sailor
Japan invited me to try a number of fountains pens that were set out on
the table. The barrels and caps of the pens themselves were made of
bamboo that I was told was at least one hundred years old. The colour
of the bamboo was lighter on one side than the other and I was told
this was because the bamboo was formerly used in the roofs of Japanese
houses. Apparently, the darker side faced in toward the house and was
exposed to smoke from the fires that burned within the house whilst the
lighter side faced outward and was bleached from exposure to sunlight.
The bamboo itself was really lovely but Sailor had applied maki-e to
the bamboo on many of the pens and these pens just looked amazing. Once
the cap was removed from each pen I saw that the nibs on the pens were
not your standard nibs but were in fact quite exotic. I got to see and
try the famed Sailor cross emperor nib, concord nib as well as many
others which I had not seen before and whose names, embarrassingly, I
can’t now remember. Later that day my sister told me that Chris Reed
had told her that many of the pens I was trying were worth many
thousands of pounds but that she was not tell me that until we got home
as I might be hesitatant about trying the pens if I knew how valuable
they were. After
Mr Nagahara had adjusted my pens and I had spent some time watching him
work on other pens Chris Reed invited me to join him by the Sailor
display cabinets and he showed me some more pens by Sailor including
some beautiful maki-e and we discussed pens for quite some time. After
speaking to Chris I spent some time taking photos and was even lucky
enough to get my photo taken with Mr Nagahara (it took more than ten
attempts to take the photo as my sister who insisted upon taking it
didn’t seem able to get my digital camera to work. I
had the most amazing time at Websters and what made it very special was
the warm and friendly reception my family and I received from the two
Sailor Representatives, Mr Nagahara and the staff at Websters Penshop. As I stated I had taken a few photos of the day I have set them out below. A photo of Websters 
A photo showing the banners with what I believe to be Japanese calligraphy 
Mr Nagahara at work 
Some of Mr Nagahara’s equipment 
The gentleman from Sailor Japan holding a bamboo pen 
The table and pens 
Some of the nibs I got to try 
Some pictures of the Sailor display cabinets 
Mr Nagahara and I shaking hands 
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