A piece on the Japan Times site about pen-and-ink artist Hiroyuki Doi had an interesting little tidbit that caught our attention the other day. It was a mention of a Pilot Pen museum in Tokyo where he was having a showing.
Have you ever heard of this place? It’s called the Pen Station Museum & Cafe near the Kyobashi metro stop. It’s located on the bottom two floors of Pilot Pen’s corporate offices, according to Tokyo pen collector Russ Stutler.
Image Credit Crónicas Estilográficas
The first floor is a cafe that serves espresso, while the second floor serves as a gleaming tabernacle celebrating the history of writing instruments. The staircase leading from the cafe to the museum traces the history of Pilot Pen.
From the pen museum site:
The “Pen Station” is the sole writing instrument museum in Japan, showcasing a display of unique, fascinating pen and stationery from around the world, all of which was collected by the Pilot Corporation.
Our diverse exhibition includes the fascinating history of writing tools, a display of various Maki-e Fountain Pens, the epitome of aesthetic stationery design, and a look at the numerous uses and features of writing instruments.
By viewing this, we hope you will take home the “Message of Knowledge”, of which it is our exhibition’s aim to convey.
Image Credit Crónicas Estilográficas
While the museum does feature an exhibit on the mechanics of ballpoint pens, it seems to focus primarily on fountain pens. And, besides touring the museum, visitors can also bring Pilot/Namiki fountain pens for repairs.
Image Credit Dwayne Lively (Mere Blather)
Bruno at Cronicas Estilograficas has some examples of vintage Pilot fountain pen ink bottles on display in the museum. And a visitor from the Fountain Pen Network posted photos a few years ago of these Pilot Vanishing Point cutaway displays.
The museum is open Monday through Saturday, closed holidays. Admission is free.
If anyone has been there or plans to visit soon, let us know. We’d love to hear about the experience.
Editors Update Unfortunately Pilot closed the museum at the end of March 2016
