Just as things were getting interesting for me I found out that I might have to most likely leave the country(Japan )at the end of this year.
Although it was a lot of fun and I spent a lot of time and money on this hobby, I realised I failed as a collector. In the sense that I never planned things out or saved and bought the pencils which were worth spending/investing in. Instead I ended up with a lot of boring colour variations and entry level models. Only as I dove deeper in this forum and the reddit, I realised there is so much more I could have done had I read and researched early enough.
At the moment I am stuck with nothing too spectacular in my collection and maybe upwards of 500 items.
Anyways now that I will be leaving soon, here are some things I plan on getting without completely destroying my wallet.
A few .4 pilot s10s
Orenz Nero .2 and .5
What I wish I should have bought in the last two years-
Mechanica atleast 2 or 3 units
Hi uni 2030 or 3030 atleast one unit
Pentel pmg series
Pentel PG2003 PG1804 PG1505
Few nice Newmanâs including the wooden barrel and the super2
Rotring 700
Staedtler micromatric
Atleast one tk matic or alpha matic
And atleast one Uchida sharp
Pilot shaker the early one with satin silver tip
A couple of stabilised wooden shaft noegi or luddite customs.
The sad part is the total amount I spent during my time here easily surpasses the sum of atleast half the ones mentioned above.
But once I know my next assignment and location I wonât waste time and set up my proxy and resume the the collection.
Hindsight is 2020
I think all of us have some kind of regret from early days: spending too much on inconsequential designs, not being ready to leap across some arbitrary price point, not knowing what we didnât know then, etcâŚ
I hope you wonât dwell on it and think about the fun youâre having
Man, i also have a lot of mid range & even entry level pencils, but I donât regret many of them. I may be chasing different models now, but at some point, those cheaper ones were pretty exciting to me, and I coveted them just as much; so theyâre still significant.
I wouldnât think of those pencils as a waste of time or money; rather, a reminder of how far youâve come and how much youâve learned.
Every one of us here has regrets. Except perhaps Damdeok! His collection is out of this world. And perhaps Xiao, who has gotten nearly every desirable mechanical pencil ever made, at least in Japan/Germany.
Some of what youâve listed are still obtainable. Granted, your time in Japan is growing short and you might not be able to obtain what you want in the time allotted. But a large number of what youâve listed has been bought by many of us here, living in the USA, Europe, etc. And they still come up for auction.
The good thing is, youâve enjoyed living in Japan for a few years. Not many people get to do that, who arenât born/raised in Japan. Itâs a tricky place to live. Japan has many great people, but culturally there is a certain xenophobia often present. Iâd read an article about a white guy from America who loved Japan deeply, learned the language well, then went there to work a job. And while he made a few friends, he couldnât shake that feeling of being an âoutsider.â It would always come up in subtle ways, with people outside of his small circle of friends. It was even more glaring when he started dating a Japanese girl. The hostility vibes he felt from Japanese men his age was visceral. So, in time, after enjoy a few years there, he left and came back to the USA. He really wanted to make a life in Japan, but there were too many nuances that nullified his wishes.
Sorry for the segue. Live each day as if itâs your last week. Make sure you see all the sights youâve thought about but havenât gone to see!
Enjoy the journey of this hobby. I bought several pencils when I started collecting that are rarely used and I would rather sell. But by having used them, I understood what I liked or disliked about a pencil. I lost several auctions and listings, but that is also part of life, you might not have everything you want and it is up to us to be serene with this.
The collection hobby is not the destination, itâs the journey. Wabi-sabi (äžĺŻ)
Actually I have downloaded and made a folder of all the pictures which were uploaded on this forum from Damdeokâs collection, it might sound like a crazy thing to do but I was totally swept away by what I saw.
Goes without saying I will keep hunting the ones I mentioned above from wherever I end up next. Just might be a bit slower given the proxy delivery schedule and the extra charges.
What you pointed about foreigners being treated as an outsider, is true to a certain extent, and particularly if oneâs japanese language capabilities are not up to the mark, itâs very easy to feel excluded. So yeah I did experience a fair amount of that. And might I add things seem even further complicated for people from India for various reasons, including work and social treatment. But yeah this topic is discussed again and again on several subreddits specific to foreigners staying here. But despite of all the hurdles, itâs still one of the more convenient countries I have stayed in. Also the kind of work I have been involved in is very very interesting. I think Iâll miss this place.
I donât think you should regret your decisions so much. There probably was a reason you bought what you bought, and that reason probably still stands today. Knowing now of many vintage models doesnât invalidate that the pencils you have now are what drove your passion and what brought you to this point.
Keep in mind, Damdeokâs collection is like the cream of the crop, with a great many that are difficult to obtain. Itâll all rest on your passion for collecting and the depth of your discretionary income!
Speaking of language capabilities being up to the mark, did you find that living there gave a significant boost to your language skill? Also, do you have to speak Japanese at work, or is English spoken?
Fascinating to hear youâre involved with design of components related to transportation. As drifand mentioned, thereâs this small motorcycle outfit that designs components for motocycle modification. Araki F Machine. And the chief designer made a side project to design a pen, the MechaSEA B1-000. Itâs a beautiful thing, not just the pen, but the case it comes in.
Lastly, when you head back home are you returning to India? What city?
Damdeok and that YouTube guy from Japan have certainly the creamiest of the crops.
My listening capabilities definitely improved over the two years. I was also taking language lessons but it was very slow and sort of casual. Not putting in the extra hours for learning conversational Japanese is definitely one big mistake on my part.
At work I communicate with my bosses and team members directly in English but 90% of all the meetings happen in the main language. It isnât easy. But everyone is very accommodating sometimes they even translate for me in real-time.
Wow I remember seeing that unique looking pen but did not know it originated in Japan.
Will read up more on it. Thank you for the links.
At the moment I plan to return in late December, but if I find another gig here before that then I might extend my stay. As for returning to India if that happens a city called Pune is my hometown.
