I learned about the Tachigawa holder and Nikko nibs through Philip Harris’ Domestika course about a year ago. The holder looked great and much much better than the ones I was using from the Manuscript Dip Pen Set so I bought it and a set of 5 Nikko Nibs from Amazon to try out. Together, they became the only things I wrote or drew with for a while. If you’re interested, I explain why I love this holder compared to the two in the Manuscript set in my previous post.

The Tachigawa T40

I really enjoy the feeling of writing with dip pens, and while I don’t use them very often, when I do, it is always fun. The Tachigawa dip pen made a massive difference to me wanting to use dip pens for the following reasons:

1. It has a cap! I mean this is such a genius feature, I don’t know why more holders don’t come with a cap. With the cap, I can take it outdoors with me, and I have used it while travelling. I can keep a nib in it and use it straight out of my pencil case without injuring myself by jabbing myself on sharp nibs. I also don’t have to fumble about for the nib I want, insert it then start drawing. I know I know, it is such a small thing, but really when I’m sketching outdoors, the easier it is to get started, the better. Making it as quick and easy as possible makes me actually sketch and paint outdoors.

2. It has a double-ring structure that means I can use both tubular/‘crows’ quill’ nibs and standard nibs in the same holder. I don’t have to have two holders just to be able to use the tubular nibs. Sure I could just not bring my ‘crow’s quill’ nib and commit to the standard ones, but I really do love the maru nib that comes in the set of 5 Nikko nibs especially. It is a really thin (fine) scratchy pen and I love using pens and nibs like that on smooth paper. Some of my favourite pens to write with are the Uniball Signo 0.38 or 0.28 and previously I also loved the Pilot G-Tec C4 0.4 pens. These are scratchier than the average pen, and the tactile feel of the maru nib is even more satisfying, so having it with me and being able to use it gives me more options and makes me quite happy.

3. It has a rubber grip for comfort. Again, genius. I almost always place a lot of pressure on my finger when writing, and I sometimes do the same when drawing as well. Using other holders without a grib/cushioning becomes quite uncomfortable after a while. I find this a lot more comfortable to use for longer periods.

Sure, not all nibs fit this holder, but the 5 Nikko nibs I bought did straight out of the box. The Leonardt nibs that came in the Manuscript set didn’t (except the Hiro nib - that worked fine). With slight adjustments however, all the nibs in that set fit and work just fine too.

The 5 Nikko Nibs

The set I bought on Amazon came with 5 different types of nibs: the G Nib, Maru Nib, School Nib, Nipponji Nib (or Japanese Nib) and the Saji Nib (or Spoon Nib). In it, there were 3 of each of the standard nibs (G, School, Nipponji and Saji) and 2 of the Maru nib, which is a tubular/’crows’ quill’ nib.

On the Amazon listing (not an affiliate link), the names listed are the Japanese names. For two of the nibs (Nipponji and Saji) the names on the packets that arrived were the English translations - Japanese and Spoon. Either way, they’re the same. In my mark making exercise sheets, I’ve used the names that came on the packet.

There’s really not a ton to say about the nibs themselves other than they work well. The set is great and allowed me to try a variety of nibs. I generally found myself enjoying these more than the Manuscript nibs but I can’t really tell you why. I am no expert in dip pens and ink. I enjoy using them for sketching and writing, and have fun with them, but which nib I like using really depends on what I’m doing and feeling like.

Instead, I’ve scanned the marks I made with them so you can see what they are capable of (in my hands at least), and hopefully that will help if you’re looking for information on these nibs. At the end of this post, I’ve also shared a couple of recent sketches using some of these nibs.

The ones I’ve used the most are the Spoon and Japanese nibs just because they’ve been in the holder so when I just wanted to sketch quickly, whatever was in the holder was what I used. For writing, I really enjoyed using the Maru nib on smooth paper but the experience was less pleasurable on even slightly textured paper.

The Scans

Below are scans of the marks I was able to achieve with some pen and ink exercises with the nibs.

The Japanese Nib is also called the Nipponji nib.

Recent Sketches