Review of the Namiki Emperor Murasaki Shikibu fountain pen (author of The Tale of Genji, 4K)

This Namiki Pilot Emperor Murasaki Shikibu Maki-e fountain pen was made by Shinsai in 2018. Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Tale of Genji, one of the world's first novels, around 1000 years ago. In this design she is depicted wearing a kimono and sitting next to a fabric partition, while she writes at a table with an unseen brush.
This Japanese urushi and maki-e pen was loaned to me for the review (so no writing with it), but to see how these pens write, please take a look at the Namiki Emperor writing sample video where I write with 3 pens:
• Namiki Emperor fountai... ​
Enjoy!

[@xiaobaozha]

Enjoying each of these detailed presentations. Thank you 🙏

[@JapansPerfectPens]

Most welcome! I'm just trying to get the balance between showing off each pen and not repeating 80% of the content each video! For that reason the videos are shorter than my first Emperor review (Goldfish) and there is more focus on the aesthetic and design for each pen :)

[@TheDarivan]

Great presentation, esquisite pice of art, thank you.

[@TheDarivan]

Ups! - *Piece

[@conceitedperson78]

This has always been my ultimate grail pen but I could never justify the expense on a pen that would be too large to ever use. Really envy large handed people lol

[@JapansPerfectPens]

My wife certainly wouldn't thank me if she had to write with an emperor for a week! Wonderful to look at but not for everyone in terms of size.

[@valkyrie3186]

What a nice pen!! Next time plz review namiki emperor owl

[@JapansPerfectPens]

Glad you like it! I've got two more Emperors from my first set to review which I'll put up first (slight difference in the way I did it so want to finish these last 2 before I move on to the others), I can make the Owl the third one I put up, so probably in about 2 weeks time :)

[@valkyrie3186]

@@JapansPerfectPensoh I see~ thank u! By the way I have a question. Are you a collector? Or are you running a Namiki shop? Your collection's amazing.

[@JapansPerfectPens]

@@valkyrie3186 Neither, although I have a few of my own, most of these are part of someone else's collection which I was given access to.

[@valkyrie3186]

@@JapansPerfectPens Oh~ I got it :)

[@nurmister]

Hi Richard, Nurmister from FPN here. Love your plan to cover Emperors and then YRs over the next year. I have to say about this pen, though: not a fan. Your observation about these strong colors being less common on an Emperor is interesting -- something about them make the maki-e look too much like silk screen printing to me. In my favorite Namiki pens, like the goldfish, the vibrant variety of colors is better integrated by giving these colors the general hue of the base of the pen, which is usually golden-black. What say you?

[@JapansPerfectPens]

Hi there Nurmister! There are a few that use bold colours in larger blocks, I'm thinking the Kirin, the Polar Bear, elements on the Shijin. Generally it is more reserved for the occasional highlights such as on the Rakucho Birds, Shoki, Treasure or Manekineko. While there is not a single Emperor that I don't have at least strong admiration for (even if the aesthetic isn't exactly what I like), like you I also prefer most of all the more muted or blended palettes such as in the Goldfish, Toryumon, and especially the Pavillion/Pagoda.

[@nurmister]

@@JapansPerfectPens It's funny that you mention the Polar Bear, when it's one of my favorites. I think perhaps what irks me about this pen is also that the image isn't as well-integrated with the stark black canvas than in the case of the Polar Bear. With the Kirin, the subject itself is sufficiently bold in providing "enough" for the pen. Looking forward to the rest of your videos -- I've considered Namikis like this before. I'm going to send you a PM on FPN too regarding the Hawk.