Est. 2026 · Price: FreeEditor-at-large: The Hedgehog

Stationery Times

Brand: Namiki

Namiki Aya Collection: 4 Maki-e Pens, No.30 Nib

Compiled from 7 sources; we haven't tested this product ourselves yet. How we research

Quick answer

The Namiki Aya Collection is four colored-lacquer fountain pens from Pilot's maki-e brand: Daybreak, Gale, Limpid Stream and Evergreen. Each has an 18K No.30 nib and a Togidashi maki-e pattern made by the Kokkokai artisan group. Namiki publishes no sizes or prices; we place it in our $$$$ band (over $75) by analogy with its other lines.

On this page11 sections
The four Namiki Aya pens lying one above the other: Daybreak red, Gale gray-violet, Limpid Stream navy with blue wave lines and Evergreen green
The four Aya pens, drawn by eye: Namiki publishes no sizes, and the body tints are our reading of its photos. Original illustration made for this guide. © Stationery Times.

Product facts

Product
Namiki Aya Collection Daybreak Fountain Pen (FNA-30M-AKA)
Brand
Namiki
Brand origin
Japan
Made in
Not stated*
Material
Colored lacquer finish with Togidashi maki-e, 18K gold nib (core body material not stated)
Price range
$$$$over $75 per pen (multi-packs divided by the count)
Colors

Daybreakred lacquer with darker patches and gold flecks (our reading of Namiki's photo)

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Notes on these facts
  • Made by Pilot Corporation (Namiki is Pilot's maki-e brand). Country of manufacture not stated: Namiki's Kokkokai page says its maki-e studio is inside Pilot's Hiratsuka plant in Kanagawa and that artisans make the lacquerware around the country, but no Aya page prints a country of manufacture. Check the box or the pen. Source.
  • Colors: names per Namiki, checked November 2, 2026. Namiki names the four pens by design, not by color. The tints are our reading of the studio photos on its product pages, representative only. Tints are representative, not measured. Shops stock different colors.
  • How we test and disclose samples: How we test stationery.
  • Price bands are typical US retail, checked October 2026.

Key takeaways

  • Namiki lists four Aya pens: Daybreak, Gale, Limpid Stream and Evergreen (FNA-30M-AKA, -HAY, -SER and -TOK), each in FM, M and B nib widths.
  • All four use an 18K No.30 nib and Togidashi maki-e, credited to the Kokkokai artisan group.
  • Namiki says 'Aya' means beautiful color, luster, shine and pattern, and that the bodies are finished in colored lacquer.
  • Namiki's pages give no dimensions, weight, filler or price, and we found no dealer price we could read on November 2, 2026.
  • No.30 sits between the No.20 of the Urushi and Yukari Royale lines and the No.50 of the Emperor line.

What is the Namiki Aya Collection?

It is the colored-lacquer line of Namiki, Pilot’s maki-e fountain pen brand. Namiki says “Aya” carries meanings such as beautiful color, luster, shine and pattern. It says the bodies are finished in colored lacquer and inscribed with patterns on different themes, so that the pen expresses a world of rich color, which it calls irodori. We read Namiki’s English site on November 2, 2026. For where the brand came from, see Pilot’s history.

Which four pens does Namiki list?

Daybreak, Gale, Limpid Stream and Evergreen.

Pen Article number Technique Nib Nib types
Daybreak FNA-30M-AKA Togidashi maki-e No.30, 18K FM, M, B
Gale FNA-30M-HAY Togidashi maki-e No.30, 18K FM, M, B
Limpid Stream FNA-30M-SER Togidashi maki-e No.30, 18K FM, M, B
Evergreen FNA-30M-TOK Togidashi maki-e No.30, 18K FM, M, B

Each page credits the artisans as Kokkokai, the maki-e artisan group Namiki says formed in 1931 around Gonroku Matsuda. Namiki names no individual artisan on the Aya pages.

How is Togidashi maki-e made?

The design is drawn in gold or silver powder, buried under lacquer, then burnished back to the surface with charcoal. Namiki’s technique page says Togidashi maki-e uses the flat-maki-e method to make the main design, then covers the whole body in lacquer and, once it dries, reveals the design by burnishing with charcoal. It says the four stages of lacquering, drawing, sprinkling and polishing are repeated many times: more than three months for a pen, and as many as 130 passes for some. Namiki doesn’t say how many passes an Aya pen takes.

Three cross-sections of a pen body: gold powder on black lacquer, covered with colored lacquer, then burnished flush
Togidashi maki-e in three steps, thicknesses exaggerated: powder, a covering coat of lacquer, then burnishing down to the design. Original illustration made for this guide. © Stationery Times.

What colors are the four pens?

Namiki names them by design and doesn’t list colors, so ours is a reading of its photos. Daybreak looks red with darker patches, Gale gray-violet with diagonal bands, Limpid Stream dark navy with blue wave lines, and Evergreen dark green. The tints on this page are representative, not measured, and the patterns in our drawing stand in for the real artwork.

What is the nib like?

An 18K gold No.30 nib in FM, M or B. Namiki gives no flex or feel notes. Pilot also calls the nib on its regular Custom Urushi a No. 30, but Namiki doesn’t compare the two and gives no millimetre size for either, so we can’t say how they match. For the larger and smaller nib sizes in the range, see the No.50 Emperor and the No.20 Urushi lines.

How big is it, and how does it fill?

Namiki doesn’t say. None of the four pages gives a length, diameter, weight or filling system. The Urushi and Emperor pages mention an ink-stopping function, but the Aya pages don’t, so we won’t assume the Aya has it.

What does it cost?

Namiki lists no prices, and we have no dealer price we can quote. Yoseka, our usual US source, put up a bot check on November 2, 2026, and we did not work around it. Our $$$$ band (over $75) rests only on the prices we read for other Namiki lines on October 31, so confirm the price with an authorized dealer.

Where is it made?

Namiki’s pages don’t print a country. Its Kokkokai page says the maki-e studio is in Pilot’s Hiratsuka plant in Kanagawa, in a brick building from the late Taisho era (1912 to 1926) that was first used by the former Second Navy Ammunitions Arsenal. It also says artisans from inside and outside the company make lacquerware around the country. We list the origin as not stated.

Frequently asked questions

How many pens are in the Namiki Aya Collection?

Four on Namiki's English site: Daybreak, Gale, Limpid Stream and Evergreen. All four are listed with the same technique, nib size and nib types.

What do the Aya article numbers mean?

Namiki prints FNA-30M-AKA, FNA-30M-HAY, FNA-30M-SER and FNA-30M-TOK. The shared FNA-30M part appears on all four, and the last letters differ by design. Namiki doesn't explain the codes.

Which nib widths does the Aya come in?

Namiki lists FM, M and B for every Aya pen, with an 18K No.30 nib.

What is Togidashi maki-e?

Namiki describes it as drawing the design with gold or silver powder on lacquer, covering the whole body with more lacquer, then burnishing with charcoal until the design shows through. The Aya pens use that technique.

How big is a Namiki Aya pen?

Namiki gives no dimensions or weight for any Aya pen, and we found no dealer page we could read that does. We can't give a length.

How is the Aya different from the Namiki Urushi pens?

The Urushi pens are plain black or vermilion lacquer with no picture and come in No.20 and No.50 nib sizes. The Aya pens carry a maki-e pattern under colored lacquer and have a No.30 nib.

How much does a Namiki Aya pen cost?

Namiki lists no prices and we found no dealer price for the Aya pens that we could quote. We put it in our $$$$ band (over $75) only because every other Namiki line we priced on October 31, 2026 sat far above $75; this is not a quote for Aya.

Sources (7)

  1. Namiki: Aya Collection (four pens, nib size, name meaning, technique; read November 2, 2026)
  2. Namiki: Aya Daybreak (technique, article number, nib size and types, artisan group; read November 2, 2026)
  3. Namiki: Aya Gale (article number; read November 2, 2026)
  4. Namiki: Aya Limpid Stream (article number; read November 2, 2026)
  5. Namiki: Aya Evergreen (article number; read November 2, 2026)
  6. Namiki: Techniques supporting Namiki (Togidashi maki-e and the lacquer, draw, sprinkle, polish cycle; read November 2, 2026)
  7. Namiki: People who make Namiki, Kokkokai (the artisan group and the Hiratsuka studio; read November 2, 2026)

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