Sailor Naginata Togi Specialty Nibs

An unexpected delight for us: we’re now carrying Sailor Naginata Togi Specialty Nibs.

These unique nibs, made only by Sailor, developed through their exceptional craftsmanship, have taken on mythical status. Along with their legendary writing experience, this is at least in small part due to their scarcity: the labour and time each of these nibs take to produce limits how many can be produced in any given season, and for a while, sale of them was on hold.

But they are back, and we are so tremendously honoured to be carrying this line in our shop. They’ve currently been released in two 1911L finishes: black with gold trim and black with silver trim. I’m pinching myself a little these days.

We are only allowed to sell these in store, and we will only have these at the main shop.

While I completely understand that this can be frustrating for those of you who don’t live in Toronto or close by, know that something core to Sailor’s philosophy is valuing the experience of trying out pens in store, and the importance of brick and mortar shops in allowing customers to hold pens and see inks in person, and the relationships these shops have with their communities. We, at the shop, are doing our best to honour the values and philosophies of all the companies we carry, and we trying our best to demonstrate our appreciation of their craftsmanship, knowledge, skill and generations of history of Sailor.

Perhaps a good excuse to make your way down to our shop? You really have to come and try out these nibs, they are some of the nicest nibs I’ve ever written with, and as someone who works in a pen shop, I’ve written with my share of nibs.

The nibs are really the whole point of these pens: the bodies are clean, simple and elegant, with the entire experience about the nib. There is no other way to put it in words, it’s just an experience. The nibs are quite wet, smooth while also being very tactile (so not super buttery glassy smooth), and the balance of the entire pen is great in the hand.

These nibs write a bit like an architect nib, slightly wider on the horizontal strokes, and thinner on the vertical strokes, the opposite of an italic nib. I tried to take a few close-ups of the nib to give you an idea of the shape.

The nibs also provide some line variation with the angle of the nib to paper. The more upright you hold the pen, the thinner the line; the lower the angle, flattening out more, the broader the stroke on the page. While in practice this may or may not be something you use a ton, the flexibility is great in case you want to write a smaller note in a margin or on a line in your agenda—and it also gives the pen a huge sweet spot.

The medium-fine and the medium are closer to each other in size, while the broad is extremely broad and extremely wet. That nib, let me tell you, is a lot of fun.

After some negotiations involving needing all three, I went with the medium fine, with the intention that it will be a bit more practical for daily writing, but that broad is calling my name. There is a lot of tipping on even the medium-fine—it is definitely broader on the horizontal stroke than the standard medium-fine. There are writing samples below.

We will always have all three nib options available at the main shop for you to try—and these pens are a true joy to write with. Sailor has made their name in the craftsmanship of their nibs, and their nibs are something else.

I’m not sure my writing gives full justice to these nibs—a lot of people with more angular writing show off the line variation more sharply. But they are beautiful to write with, the feeling and wetness of the nib.