Sailor Specialty Nib Comparison (Part 1): Naginata Nibs

Hi everyone! It's Daisy here. In today's video, we are going to be doing some writing samples with the Naginata nibs within the Sailor's Specialty nib collection. So we just did a video all about the Sailor's Specialty nibs, so if you don't know what they are, be sure to check that video out. But as a crash course, the Sailor's Specialty nibs consist of seven nibs. There's the Naginata set of nibs and the Cross Point set of nibs. So just to give you the names of the nibs, those are the Naginata Togi, the Naginata Fude Damanen, Naginata Concord, Naginata Emperor, that's four, and then on the Cross set of things, there's the Cross Point, the Cross Music, and the Cross Concord. So four nibs in the Naginata set and then three nibs that are considered the Cross nibs. Today's video will specifically be looking at writing samples from the Naginata four different nibs. We'll be writing with them. And if you haven't watched the video and you want to know what's so special about these nibs, well, I'll give you a little information on that. Sailor released these nibs back in 1991, specifically designed for Japanese character writing, kanji character writing, or Chinese character writing. So a lot of these nibs have very particular, unique grindings on their tippings to make them really, really suited for character writing. Another feature of a lot of these nibs is that these nibs can produce varying line widths depending on the angle at which you're holding the pen. So for today's video, instead of our typical nib log, which we use for a lot of our previous nib and line comparisons, these nibs are less so about their line width, about like nailing down, like whether this nib produces a 0.8 line width or a 1.0 millimeter line width. And they're really more about the lines that they produce at the different angles and specifically their ability to produce certain strokes that mimic brush strokes, which makes them very well suited for calligraphy writing, Japanese and Chinese calligraphy writing. So instead of using our nib log, we'll actually be writing with all of these pens using three different angles, a high angle, a mid angle, and a low angle to the paper. We'll be doing down strokes and cross strokes just to see if there's any variation between the line width on the down stroke versus the cross stroke. And I'll also be doing a harai stroke, which in Japanese harai means like a sweeping stroke. And it's one of the three types of strokes in Japanese calligraphy. One stroke is a full stop stroke. One stroke is this sweeping stroke. And another stroke is this kind of like check, kind of check mark, a little jump tick stroke. And a lot of these nibs, you can really tell the difference between these nibs versus a typical found pen nib, especially in the harai sweeping stroke. So what we're looking for there is kind of like a fixed start and an expressive start, and then characterized by like a very faint hairline line in the end of the stroke. So I'll show you all what that means. And just to warn you all, I have to say that I personally am not a calligrapher. I actually don't write Chinese. I don't write Japanese either. But in my research on these pens, I found that the harai stroke is really where these nibs come to shine and really differentiate themselves from other nibs. So I thought this nib comparison wouldn't quite be complete without at least my best attempt at a harai stroke. And I hope that you'll be able to see the difference. So let's get started with this video with a writing sample for the Naginata togi, which comes in three nib sizes. In today's video, we're going to be looking at the medium fine and the medium, but it does also come in a broad. Typically the broad is less popular because of just how broad and thick this nib is. So specifically for this video, we're just gonna be looking at medium fine and the medium. Okay, so I have my Naginata togi in a medium fine nib. I'm just going to start writing with it just to label it over here. This is empty paper. And for today's video, the ink that I'm using in all of these pens is just the sailor cartridge ink in either black color or blue black color in case you're wondering. And the first stroke that I'm going to do or the first line I'm going to do is holding the pen at essentially a 90 degree angle. This is considered a very high angle, not what you typically would hold a fountain pen at. So you can see here the Naginata togi produces this really thin, like extra fine line. And I don't know if you've heard the sound of the nib on the paper, but it is quite feedbacky. So it's not exactly pleasant to write at this really high angle, but the point is that this pen can achieve these extra fine lines if you need it to when the moment comes. So here I'm going to do a mid angle. Yeah, so you can definitely see there's an immediate difference in line width. And then I'm going to do a low angle here. So you can see I'm kind of like changing it up and now holding my pen very low to the surface of the paper. This is low. And yeah, you can definitely see a lot more ink is coming out. Next stroke I'm going to do is with an inverted nib here. I'm actually going to turn the nib on the other side and write with an inverse nib to see what that produces. This is like pretty feedbacky. It definitely catches the paper more and it's a very faint line. Okay, so you can see essentially this is like an ultra extra fine, like a needle point, an extra fine, a medium and like maybe like a broad or something. So that's like what this pen is capable of. And I think that's really cool. Now we're going to do just some cross strokes and down strokes. So here it is at a very high angle. Not much variation there in the down stroke versus the cross stroke. And at a mid angle, let's see. Okay, there you go. And then at a low angle. Okay, so you can see that for the mid angle and the low angle here, you have a very different stroke when you're bringing the nib down in a down stroke versus across the page in a cross stroke. So this is kind of similar to an architect grind that in that you get these like thin strokes going down and these thick strokes going across the paper. Now I'm going to do those sweeping hadai strokes or at least my best shot. Please don't like come at me if you're a Japanese calligrapher. But you can see I think this really illustrates it well that this nib is super expressive in this hadai stroke because it starts off thin and then it gets thicker and then it ends really, really thin. I previously prepared a little writing sample of a zoom nib, which if you're familiar with sailor nibs, you may know that the zoom nib has a lot of the same properties as a naginata. So you're able to supposedly write with a zoom nib at different angles in the inverse. And it's supposed to be made for Japanese characters. But you can see specifically in the hadai stroke, how expressive this nib is in the naginata togi and how you get those really thin lines here at the end of the stroke, that sweeping stroke, it really captures the essence of that sweeping stroke versus here on the zoom nib, because its tip is more circular, you really get the same width from the beginning to the end, even if you're trying to angle the nib a little bit to produce a sweeping stroke. Okay, so that was the naginata medium fine. And next up, we are going to look at this nib, which is the naginata medium, just to see how different they are. Okay, this is like immediately just so much more wet and like more pleasant to write with. I would say it's just a lot smoother. And if you're going to go for a nib like this, like which is round and such a special nib, you should go with the medium because it's just more expressive, you get more fun. And then on a mid-angle, wow, such a difference. Okay, and then at a low angle, okay. Yeah, I do want to say that like a lot of these nibs are just so fun to write with. I highly recommend people try them out, even if like they're not really something that interests you. I think if you're interested in fountain pens, you should try these out. That's not the writing on the inverse there. It's a little scratchy. So they're not made to be comfortable on the inverse, but they're there for an emergency if you need that. Okay. Okay, no variation. I'm expecting the same as we saw last time, some variation. And then, there you go, more variation. And this is so wet, like I can see how shiny the ink is, how much ink is coming off, and then we'll do some brush strokes. Okay, wow, it's like really satisfying when you're doing those strokes there. I can see how this nib was designed for specifically character writing because this is the angle that it really makes the best contact with the paper, and it just feels so good when you're in full contact with the paper. Okay, here's a side by side of the Naginata Medium Fine versus the Medium. You see a huge difference here in the line width, starting from just the highest angle of the pen right here. You really get very different. And then on the low angle, you get these really thick lines here that you're not able to quite get with the low angle on the Medium Fine. Next up, we're going to be looking at the Naginata Concord, which is a nib that's bent like this. You can see on the paper, it's bent like a bird's beak. So what that does is it gives you a consistent line width on writing with it with the you typically would, but when you flip it, this surface, that angled surface of the bird's beak nib makes full contact with the paper and allows you to write really, really thick lines. The specialist who ground this nib was actually designing this nib for sketching purposes. If we have any sketchers, you'll have to let me know what you think of this. Okay, so this one it makes the same lines no matter what angle you hold it. So let's see a high angle. Okay, it's not the most pleasant to write with at a high angle here. It just feels like the nib is really scratching the paper, but it's quite nice to write with it at a mid angle, which I'll do next. That's really nice. And it feels really stiff because it's like you can feel like the body of the nib move a little bit because of the softness of the gold. If you apply a little pressure, but for the most part, it's a very stiff nib and I'll do a low angle now just to just to show you like there's really no difference here because of how this nib is ground. Yeah, so like high, mid, low, really identical. Probably like a standard Japanese F nib over here. And then I'm going to write on the inverse. This is going to be interesting. So you can see here, there's very broad lines here. It's like too broad. It's very interesting. My letters are blurring together. So this, I find this one kind of pretty hard to write with on the inverse. The way that it's ground, it is really best maybe for sketching or for coloring in. The thin lines are nice for like line drawing, but for writing, I find this one difficult. Yeah, the way this is ground, there's not going to be any variation in the down strokes versus the cross strokes. And this one is less about the calligraphy. But we'll do the hot eye stroke going on the inverse as well. Yeah, I would say this one is kind of like, you need some getting used to. Like I was saying, this is very interesting. It was designed for sketching, not so much for Japanese calligraphy. This one, it's definitely takes a little bit of getting used to. It's like a very stiff nib, and I quite like writing with it regularly, just like words. There's something nice about how little the tines spread, even though the actual nib, like you can feel the nib is really soft and you do feel a little bit of give when you apply pressure, but it's not in between the tines, which is really interesting because the tines are bent down and ground to be bent down like that. There's no give at all in the line width when you're pressing down, but you feel it in the nib. It's soft and it's stiff at the same time, which is so interesting. And I don't know, I think this is like a fascinating nib for anybody who's like super into fountain pen nibs. This might be just something for you to try, for you to play around with. I would recommend the experience of writing with one. That was the Naginata Concord. And next up we are going to write with the Naginata Fude Demanen. This nib is bent in the opposite direction. You can see here it has an upturned nib, so instead of being bent down like the Concord was, this one is bent upwards. And in particular, this Fude Demanen pen is so expressive for calligraphy. Because of how it's bent, you're able to start a stroke off with the thickest, broadest stroke, and then lift the pen a little bit, curling it on its edge, and really produce that sweeping brush stroke. Naginata Fude. Okay, so here it is, this pen at a high angle. And then here it is at a mid-angle. Definitely a little more juice there. Okay, and then I'm going to do a low angle now. And this is going to be fun. Whoa, look at that. This nib is so fun to write with. Honestly, all of these nibs, I have so much respect for all of these nibs, and just how unique they are. And I don't even know what it took to conceptualize these. So this is on the inverse. This nib writes well on the inverse. It writes smoother than the other ones on the inverse. And then some high angle cross strokes and down strokes, mid-angle down strokes and cross strokes, and then low angle down strokes and cross strokes. I'd say the increase in broadness is not gradual for this one. On your low stroke, you really get a very shocking increase there. And check out this brush stroke. Like, this hatai stroke is so fun. Like, it makes it, I mean, makes it look like I know what I'm doing. I don't know what I'm doing. This is the Fude Damanen. I will compare that to the Naginata Togi medium, because that's the thicker of the Naginatas. And just check out how thick those brush strokes are, and how thick you get some of these strokes to be with the Fude Damanen. I love this pen. It is so much fun. And it's soft too, because of the 21 karat gold. So you get so much ink flow, and you feel the tines opening up a little bit with a little bit of pressure, which is so good for this brush stroke specifically. It just, it's so fun. You feel, you feel like the nib is really, like, there with you. So yeah, you can see even between the Fude Damanen and the Naginata Togi, there's a very visible difference. And I would argue that the Fude Damanen is even better for the character writing than the Naginata Togi. All right, next up, I'm writing with an Emperor, a Naginata Emperor in medium fine. Just like the Naginata Togis, the Naginata Emperors come in medium fine, medium, and broad. We are just going to be comparing the medium fine and the mediums today, because the broad is a little bit too broad. But I think, like, you know, you'll get the sense of, like, where the broad is going if you look at the medium. And what's special about these Emperors is that they have this golden tab, gold tab on top of the nib. And this acts as a feed on top of the nib. So it brings an extra supply of ink to the nib from the top. And that's in addition to the supply of ink you get from the feed, which you get in every single fountain pen. So essentially, there's two supplies of ink to the nib here, which makes a very juicy, wet writing experience when you are writing with the Emperors. A note about the Emperors is that when they were first developed, they were actually developed with the intention of writing on Japanese traditional paper. So because these are for Japanese calligraphy, these pens are often used with very, very absorbent Japanese calligraphy paper, traditional paper. So the extra feed acts as a way of making sure that the line and the stroke has a consistent amount of ink flow as you're writing. Even those really fast Japanese calligraphy strokes, you'll still have a healthy and equal consistent amount of ink flow to the nib, which you need for beautiful calligraphy. Okay, so let's write with this one and see. So this is Nada Emperor MF. So here is a high angle. Okay, next we're gonna do a mid angle, an immediate difference there, and a low angle. Cool. Okay, now we're gonna flip the nib on its head and write in the inverse. Okay, very light. Okay, I'm gonna stop there. That's not, that's not the best. Not the most fun inverse writing experience for me. Okay, here, a right, and then low. Okay, so you can see here that there's no variation in the cross stroke and the down stroke at a high angle, and some variation in the mid angle and low angle cross strokes and down strokes. And let's do some sweeping strokes here. There you go. It's hard to say whether there's a perceived difference in wetness here between the Naginata Togi and the Naginata Emperor if they're in the same nib size. Let's see if we can see like side by side if there's any visual difference between these. I don't know if there is, to be honest. I don't know if there's a visual difference in ink flow between the Naginata Emperor, which has that extra bold tab supply of ink, versus the Naginata Togi. But we'll do a test later on with some more absorbent paper just to see if we can feel the difference then, since that is the paper that it's designed for. All right, the next nib is the Emperor, the Naginata Emperor in medium, which once again has that tab. Whoa. Okay, this one feels wetter. Medium. Okay, here's a high angle. Okay, a mid angle. That's fun. That's fun to write with. And a low angle. That's very wet. Wow. Okay. And then on the inverse. The inverse on all of these are all the same, or like on the Naginatas are all just like a UEF needle point. Okay. And then low. About the same as the mid. Okay, let's do some brush strokes. And let's have a look side by side again at the Naginata Togi medium versus the Naginata Emperor medium. You know, I do see a difference in the mediums, actually. So the very low angle is significantly broader for the Emperor, which does have that extra supply of ink. And the mid angle too is significantly broader. And the letters, the characters really just stand out. They're a little bit bolder on the Emperor because of that extra supply of ink. So that's interesting. So next up, I've actually, I thought it would be fun because these Emperor nibs were designed to write on some very traditional Japanese paper. I searched our warehouse for some traditional, very textured paper. And I came up with this notepad. It's very cute. But I picked it because of the very textured paper. And we're going to be doing a little writing sample with the Naginata Togi nibs and the Naginata Emperor nibs and see if the wetness or we're going to see if the wetness or the ink flow is actually visually perceivably different between the two pens. Okay, so don't mind this, like, adorably cute. It's so cute. Here's my testing. And yeah, let's grab our Naginata Medium Fine, which is here. And I'll just be using the mid angle here. It's like the most standard I feel like. This pad is so stinking cute. Okay. And then just run. Okay, so that's pretty absorbent, actually, this paper. And then I'm gonna grab a Naginata Emperor Medium Fine. And right here, Naginata Emperor Medium Fine. Okay, I would say the tab doesn't make a huge difference in these, which maybe is consistent to what we saw in our writing sample. Let's try the medium nibs just for fun. So here's the Naginata Togi Medium. Okay, definitely a little more wet. And then let's try the Naginata Emperor Medium. I'll tell you right now, this is feeling so much wetter on this very absorbent paper than you would expect because this paper is so absorbent. Imagine, you see how much the ink smeared? Imagine writing on like a paper towel or something, like the ink would just get sucked up right away. But you can really feel it on this Naginata Emperor Medium that the ink flow of this pen, because of that tab on the surface, is really keeping up with how absorbent this paper is. And that's what this pen was designed to do. So the tab is really doing its job there on the medium. Not so much on the medium fine, I would say, maybe just because of how fine it is, but definitely on the medium. And it's a perceivable difference in wetness on this paper, which is super absorbent. So there you have it. Today we wrote with a bunch of different Naginata nibs within Sailor's Specialty Nib Collection, which also consists of some crosspoint pens. But today's video is specifically looking at the Naginata pens. Watch a future video because we're going to work on another one for the crosspoint series if you're curious about those. Hopefully this video gave you a good idea of how these pens write and just how well suited they are for character writing and for Japanese calligraphy, which was their intended purpose. These pens have really come to be very embraced even in the Western world of fountain pen lovers because of how unique their grinds are. And I think that they are just so fun to write with. Out of the ones we tried today, my favorite probably has to be the Fude de Monin, which is so satisfying to write with when you're writing with it on that bent angle. But I would highly recommend any fountain pen lovers to definitely try to get your hands on one of these to at least test out. There are a few retailers in the U.S. that actually have these pens. We're only allowed to have them in-store, in a brick-and-mortar store. We have them inked up, and I feel like if you're a fountain pen lover, you should definitely come by and ask to check them out. I hope you enjoyed this video, and let us know if you have any questions, comments, or anything else down below. Thanks for watching. Bye!