Here’s the heki-tame!

Brown urushi over light turquoise becomes the popular heki-tame finish. I picked the Neo Standard form, one of Nakaya’s 2009 releases along with the Decapod Piccolo and the Equilibrium Piccolo. Mrs. Tan removed the matte gold clip and replaced it with the dragon stopper I’d been wanting for ages.

Hello, heki-tame
Hello, heki-tame

The Neo Standard gently tapers along its body down to the end, unlike the Aesthetic Bay proprietary Long Piccolo which is straight. It’s a subtle difference. Many fans of Japanese pens are also fans of subtlety, so having these choices available can only be a good thing.

Dragon stopper and nib
Dragon stopper and nib

The dragon stopper is not meant to be a tight clip. In fact, the metal is not springy, but on the soft side.

Peeking at urushi layers
Peeking at urushi layers

I like the way the underlying urushi color shows on the edges. The dragon seems to be snorting in approval.

The nib, a flexible medium
The nib, a flexible medium

Mr. Yoshida replaced the feed and fitted it very well to the nib, as I explained like that the other pens, I would be using this one for calligraphy, not just daily note-taking.

Writing sample with Pilot Iroshizuku yama-budo
Writing sample with Pilot Iroshizuku yama-budo

On the same sheet, you’ll see writing samples from the nibs he adjusted.

Four Nakayas
Four Nakayas

After rehoming two Nakayas and buying the heki-tame, I now have four. (This advanced method of computation, which can also power spacecraft, is called nakayamathics.)