I have already been working together with Lucas Mahoney from Hanabi Glass Sudio for a while now. We have been creating several glass pen designs that are very close to my heart, and we are very proud to present you our newest one, the Kodama Glass Pen.
This design is called “Kodama”, which means “orb” in Japanese. In daylight, the pen shows a body with a clear, earthy shade of green with glitter, representing the color of the forest of Yakushima covered in wet moss. The big "kodama" sphere on the back of the nib is a slightly translucent white marbled glass that resembles the spiritual light of kodamas.
At the end of the pen, we can appreciate the three spheres of opal stones representing little kodamas, which are playfully flying across the sky and over the forest. Under blue light, you can see the trails of these little kodamas, made with silver powder, as well as the big kodama sphere glowing gorgeously.
This is a concept that's very memorable to me, as it tells the story of a special experience I've had in Yakushima, a small island in the south of Japan that is designated as a World Heritage Site.
When I visited the island for the first time, I thought something was wrong with my camera, as some light spheres appeared in many of my photos. I cleaned the lenses and tried to find out what the problem was. But, some locals told me that there nothing was wrong with my camera. Instead, I was just capturing "kodamas" in my photographs. My first reaction was to think about the Ghibli movie "Princess Mononoke", where you can see some small creatures called Kodama. But they told me that since the olden times, many Japanese have seen Kodama and they believe them to be the souls of trees, protecting the forest and the people who visit it.
Even if you believe this concept or not, I thought it was really beautiful and romantic. The souls of the thousand year-old Yakusugi cedar trees in the island protecting the forest sounded like a charming fairy tale dream.
Yakushima has a very special place in my heart, and I wanted to share with you its magic though this glass pen. I truly hope you enjoy this special design made with so much love.
Check the Kodama Glass Pen out here.