Mini Review: Atelier Musubi Pen Case

Edit 2 (July 29, 2018): The Musubi divider is here! It’s an easy removable strip in fabric that matches the case and slides in for the length of your pen. No more touching! New pictures to come.

Atelier Musubi is known for their handmade Tomoe River diaries. They recently released these two pen cases in two sizes, a large and a small. I bought a large for myself, and a smaller one for my mom for mother’s day (ssssh — good thing I know she doesn’t read any blogs!).

True to the Musubi description, the small one is a great size for short pens. The long, perfect for longer pens. The long comfortably fits Nakaya Decapods, a Newton Shinobi, an old style Paragon and my Montblanc 146. I’ve only had this for a couple days, so I haven’t tried too many pens!

I haven’t tried too many pens in either case yet, but most of my pens fit in the shorter size, but some, like the Montblanc 146, fit but make the flap slightly harder to close. The 3776 fits perfectly in the short case though!

Overall, I really like the case, it’s very well made and seems very sturdy. My one complaint is that the pens do touch each other in the case (no longer an issue, see my edit at the top of the review). The tab at the top keeps the two pens from touching at the top. In the small size, fatter pens (including Piccolos and the caps of the 3776 and MB 146) they do rub as you slide pens in and out. In the larger case, the above pens don’t rub, but do clatter against each other if you shake the case. I stuffed a small piece of cotton at the bottom of the long case with a bump in the middle, and it seems to hold the pens apart at the bottom too. (They might still rub a little, but at least they don’t clatter against each other when I shake the case)

It’s hard to photograph, but that’s a 3776 and Montblanc 146 in a large case… probably touching. (So use the supplied divider if you care!)

TLDR: Great cases, but not for you if you want a healthy space between all your pens at all times.

Edit: Musubi is rethinking their design to add a separator between pens. Keep an eye out on their social media for updates!

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