Nakaya
Nakaya Long Writer Ascending Dragon Ao-tamenuri
Nakaya Long Writer Ascending Dragon Ao-tamenuri
Previously known as the Blue Dragon, the Nakaya Long Writer Ascending Dragon Ao-tamenuri is handcrafted in a process requiring up to a year. Each hand-finished pen is then fitted with your choice of 14k solid gold nib.
Our complimentary nib tuning adjusts optimum pressure and ink flow to your own personal preferences, and our optional nib customizations can add to the character of your writing on the page.
The Nakaya Long Writer Tame-sukashi Ascending Dragon Ao-tamenuri fountain pen is handcrafted from ebonite and Urushi lacquer. It comes with your choice of solid gold 14k nib.
With its intricate dragon motif and striking blue-green finish, the Nakaya Long Writer Ascending Dragon Ao-tamenuri takes fountain pens to a whole new level.
The nature of this color material is such that the longer the pen is used, the more the motif ""ascends"", becoming more and more evident. This gives double meaning to the ""ascending"" dragon, which also climbs up the pen in pursuit of the flaming pears, seen on the gripping section.
The Nakaya Long Writer is not a pen you would keep in a shirt pocket unless your pockets are particularly deep, yet it maintains excellent balance in the hand. The rhodium-plated clip shown here functions as a built-in roll stopper and allows the pen to be attached for practical reasons.
Nakaya pens can be filled with bottled fountain pen ink using the provided converter, and can also use Platinum brand ink cartridges. Hand-painted Maki-e converters are also available.
Nakaya 14k nibs are well-suited to customizations including Stub, Cursive Italic, and Left Oblique, as well as the modification for added flex - see our nib customizations page for more information.
Though the entire range of Nakaya nibs is made available, the rhodium-plated nib pictured here matches the cool color scheme of the finish on the Ascending Dragon Ao-tamenuri.
The heavy decorative rice paper, simple solid softwood shipping box, and fabric pen pouch make a lovely presentation for these Nakaya Urushi pens. Sensible and elegant packaging has long been a hallmark of the Nakaya brand.
Nakaya pens are individually handcrafted in a process that requires a minimum of three to six months and often much longer.
Unless requested otherwise, each pen or nib you purchase from us will be carefully examined, tested, and optimized for your personal writing characteristics before it ships.
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Customization Guide
Stub
 
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Above is the same size nib after a regrind to Stub. A regrind to Stub is often a good place to start for your first customization. Â A Stub nib provides broad down-strokes and narrow cross-strokes while writing, and is less position-sensitive on the paper than the crisper and slightly more demanding cursive italic.
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Cursive Italic
 
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More demanding, but also providing crisper edges and more line-width variation, is the very popular customization to Cursive Italic. This also provides broad down-strokes and narrow cross-strokes, but is also more position-sensitive in terms of how the pen is held and requires more skill on the part of the user. This is a common customization for artists and calligraphers, but is still smooth enough to make for a good everyday writer.
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Formal Italic
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Formal Italic is an even crisper and more demanding customization than either cursive italic or left oblique, and is usually utilized for calligraphy and by the most experienced users. This provides broad down-strokes and narrow cross-strokes, with even crisper corners and edges than a cursive italic - this is an extremely position-sensitive customization.
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Left Oblique
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 Commonly used for signatures and correspondence, the Left Oblique customization provides broad diagonal strokes and narrow cross-strokes, and like a cursive italic, is more position-sensitive and demanding than a stub. The whole pen must be rotated to the left in order to write smoothly, without skipping. The "Left" in Left Oblique refers to the cut of the nib itself, and does not refer to the handedness of the writer. |
Architect's Point (Also for Arabic and Hebraic writing)
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A more exotic regrind is that to Architect’s Point. Named after the style of writing used by Frank Lloyd Wright, this regrind is the opposite of cursive italic, and provides for broad cross-strokes and narrow down-strokes. This also tends to be a particularly useful customization for those practicing Arabic or Hebraic calligraphy. |
Spencerian
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Perhaps our most popular customization, but also one of the most advanced, the Mottishaw Spencerian Customization has gained special attention from being featured in a customer's YouTube video which has now received over twelve million views! The Spencerian starts from a semi-soft 14k nib and adds additional flex and a regrind to needlepoint to create a specialized writing point used for copperplate calligraphy. For more details, visit our special Spencerian page.. |