The annual Hakase event was held on the second floor of the Pow Wow coffee shop as usual. Since this is the only time the Hakase people take a break from their work and come from Tottori to Tokyo, a special get together of Hakase fans was held on Saturday night after the pen event at a restaurant called "Tensui" across the street from Pow Wow.

Hakase Craftsman Harumi Tanaka was not able to make it this time due to a minor head injury during the week, and he was sorely missed by his fans.

This year marks Hakase's 50th anniversary, and they have decided to produce a special 50th Anniversary Pen to mark the occassion. This special pen will have a rosewood barrel with Hakase's trademark gold band with the bump that keeps it from rolling off the table. This is a genuine limited edition pen; only 200 of these pens will be produced, and as of this writing, 70 percent have been snatched up. The price for one of these anniversary pens is 100,000 yen (roughly 806.00 USD at current exchange rates). If you want to try to order one of these pens while they are available, contact information is given below. Although you may have luck with placing an order in English, the preferred language is naturally Japanese!

Contact Information for Hakase Pens:
Hakase
605 Sakae-cho
Tottori-City 680-0831
Japan

Phone: +81-857-22-3630
Fax: +81-857-27-7714
e-mail: info@fp-hakase.com
Hakase Web Site (Japanese)

More photos from the Hakase get together:

Hakase president Masaaki Yamamoto receives flowers from supporters

Well known pen artist Furuyama-san giving the "kampai" speech

Fuente president "debeso" Nakatani closely inspects the Hakase 50th anniversary pen

The anniversary pen will come in this special carved wooden box

Russ Stutler