Nanala Design x Nomado Store Yubokumin Pen Case (5 colours)

The Yubokumin Planner was one of our first collaborations with Nanala Designs, a thing of beauty, each one is hand made in minute quantities by master craftsman Kato-san in the Okayama Prefecture in Japan from the highest quality locally-sourced vegetable-tanned leather. 

Read our Blog article for full details on the Yubokumin project.

The Yubokumin

(literally "nomad", “traveller” or “explorer” in Japanese) is a hard act to follow and we knew that the next design we would work on with Nanala would have to be special. Rather than just rescale the existing product and offer a smaller version, we decided to design a zipped pen case.  

The case had to be instantly recognisable as being part of the Yubokumin family and based on the same or similar design criteria.

Design Brief Summary :

- Handcrafted in Japan: we've been working for the past 5 years with Japanese craftsmen.

- Made of high quality leather. Nanala use the same Himeji leather as for the TN insert. This very high quality material is strong and supple, but robust and has an interesting lightly textured finish which gives it an organic feel. The coloured leathers are hand dyed, with the exception of the dark brown version, which is made from Italian Buttero leather.

- Very practical without being over-the-top (i.e. sufficient storage without being too large or complicated).

- Compatible with most fountain pens on the market  

- Refined finish (rounded angles, neat detailing, hand stamped sunflower logo and fitted sunflower concho, etc.).

- Zip closure, to keep your precious pens from falling out.

- Reversed pen slots to avoid the pen caps scratching each other

- Compact dimensions

The sunflower pattern is painstakingly hand stamped, millimetre by millimetre. The sunflower concho is entirely hand made in Nanala's workshop.

Note: the leather may seem stiff in the beginning, it will soften and stretch slightly with use. When filled, the shape of the pen case will adapt to the pens, especially larger ones.

Specifications:

• Materials: vegetable-tanned leather, (Himeji or Buttero), metal.
• Storage: 2 reversed pen slots
• .Nanala hand stamped logo and fitted concho
• Cotton dust pouch
• Nomado Store "Lucky Turtle" logo
• "Yubokumin" in Katakana script discreetly stamped on front cover
• Handmade in Japan
• Dimensions (closed & empty.): 90 x 200 x 20mm. Pen compartments (2): 70 x 85mm (170mm available height)
• Available in natural, black, green, dark brown (outside) with natural leather interior and Japanese yellow with black interior.
• Coloured versions are hand dyed.

Note: the natural leather is untreated and undyed, we recommend giving it a thin coat of Smith's Leather Balm before use if you wish to avoid staining. Don't bother if you want it to acquire as much character as possible though!