There are pens you can’t say no to, even if 1) you’ve already sworn not to buy another pen that month, and 2) even if you already have it in another finish.
The culprit, this time, is the Nakaya Dorsal Fin 2 in heki-tamenuri. Heki-tamenuri is brown over green urushi, and is one of the hardest finishes to photograph.
Having owned both the Dorsal Fin 1 and 2, I’ve decided the 2 is more to my taste. I enjoy the slight curve of the barrel; it’s not too obvious when writing, but it I feel the difference.
Many remark that the shape is reminiscent of a katana.
The pen looks warrior-fierce in hairline black, and qualifies as Nippon steampunk in heki-tamenuri. While its unique shape is meant to be functional – preventing the pen, both body and cap, from rolling off the desk – I can’t help but feel the artists just wanted to have a pen they could brandish in a fight.
Here it is in full warrior mode, with the 2014 knife from Blade Forums and a House of Targaryen-themed journal with a carved wood cover and leather spine from Alunsina Handbound Books.
I chose an elastic broad nib to go with the pen. Nakaya’s elastic nibs aren’t meant to “flex.” The shoulder cut-outs are there to deliver a bouncy feeling while writing or drawing, as if the nib were a brush.
Here’s a writing sample. Observe how the nib “bounces back” when the pressure eases on the upstroke.
