Bonkura

Bonkura talking about pen spinning at the PSAJ 1st General Assembly.

Toshikazu 'Bonkura' Nagai Japanese: 長井 俊和 (5 December 1985-13 September 2007) was a famous JEB spinner. He was one of the first spinners to be televised, along with the likes of SEVEN and RYO, and was vice chairman of Pen Spinning Association Japan, an organization aiming to teach and spread awareness of pen spinning. Competitively he took part in the Pen Spinning World Tournament 2007. He features in famous early Collaboration Videos such as JapEn 1st and JapEn 2nd.

Bonkura's influence on the hobby across many facets has resulted in him being considered one of the first 'legendary' spinners, and he consistently tops or ranks highly on lists of the greatest spinners of all time.

History

Toshikazu was born in Ōtsu, Shiga, Japan on December 5th, 1985. The handle 'Bonkura' is derived from a nickname he acquired in his first year of elementary school, translating to 'idiot' or 'dimwit'. He started spinning when he was 13 years old in 1998-1999, with at least 8 years of experience in the hobby by 2007.

He was studying Literature at the University of Kyoto's Faculty of Letters at the time of his death.

Spinning

Solo videos

1st Solo

First posted on UCPSB on June 15th, 2006. Notable for his 'Fan' combos.

2nd Solo

Released on August 15th, 2007. Revolutionary for its time, showing off new techniques with 1p2h, the I-Sonic and Bonkura trick as well as the use of a magnet and string in the combo.

Influential spinning

I-Sonic

See also: I-Sonic

Bonkura performs the improved I-Sonic, hiding the pen from sight.

Short for Invisible Sonic, Bonkura first showed off an I-Sonic in JapEn 1st and his first solo video as one of his 'fan' combos. It involved hiding the pen behind one of his fingers during a sonic. He performs it by balancing the pen on his pinky finger and holding the ring in front.

In the fan variation, it would then be made to disappear when a fan passed over it, then reappear once the fan passed again. Although well executed, this variant was not very convincing as the pen clearly had to be ditched behind the fan either onto his other hand or the floor. On the slomo he can be seen scooping the pen from behind the fan to continue afterwards, too.

The later, more impressive 'Bonkura I-Sonic' variation was performed in his second year solo. In the clip, he is spinning a relatively long white mod that appears to be a Comssa variant. His protruding ulnar styloid bone on his wrist can also be noted. Starting by performing the trick the traditional way, he surprises the viewer by opening his hand to show the pen has disappeared, with no fingers holding it in place before collecting it afterwards. There are numerous theories on how he accomplished this feat, but the most accepted explanation is that he wedged the pen between his ring finger and ulnar styloid on his wrist. This method has been used by multiple spinners afterwards to replicate the trick.

Officially, Bonkura only ever disclosed the trick's secret to one other person before his death, and it has not been shared.

Bonkura Trick

See also: Bonkura Trick

An advanced swivel variation showcased in the last clip of his second solo video. By modern standards it is considered to be a swivel reverse performed on the wrist joint, starting and ending in the palm.

String tricks

In his second solo, tricks involving using lengths of string were shown. These included hitting the pen with a loop to apply enough tension for an aerial, and catching the pens on loops of string through the use of what was presumably hooks on the tips of the pens.

Magnet tricks

Bonkura also showed methods of using a magnet in his second solo's 'Magnet Combo'. This involved using a horseshoe magnet to make the pen roll around the table and onto his hand, then wiggling it near the ends to make it spin on the hand.

2 Hands

An early adopter of two hand spinning, Bonkura demonstrated being able to perform symmetrical combos with a pen on each hand. With only one pen he used early variations of 1p2h twirls to transfer the mods between hands, and also used aerials caught in the other hand as finishers.

Continuous tricks

Bonkura was one of the earliest world record holders, after recording Tornado (Thumbaround extended) x103 in 2007.

Aerials

Toshikazu created one of the most pivotal aerial tricks in the hobby, which he had named 'Thumbaround to Air' and made a tutorial for. By modern definitions it is Thumbaround -> Index spread, and helped form the basis of much of the aerial tricks in the later Power technique of spinning.

Bonkura bakfall

In his second solo video, a more difficult bakfall variation was shown with 1.5 spins going back up the hand while the regular baks progressed down.

The modern notation is Index bak -> MiddleIndex bak 1.5 -> Middle bak -> RingMiddle bak 1.5 -> Ring bak -> PinkyRing bak 1.5 -> Pinky bak. Link to lordofjamaica performing the Bonkura Bakfall

Collaboration videos

See also: Collaboration Video

Bonkura performing an early wiper combo in JapEn 1st.

Bonkura most famously featured in both JapEn 1st and JapEn 2nd, as well as SPSL 4th. A list of all the CVs he was known to have participated in can be found below.

• 研究室PV2nd - Link
  • This was his famous 'Book combo' involving spinning a book on top of the fingers and opening it to reveal a pen
• PSN 2nd - Link
• PSN 3rd - Link
• PSN 4th - Link
• PSIC 1st - Link
• Shiga off 1st - Link
• kUzu and Sekiyu 2nd - Link
• JapEn 1st - Link
• JapEn 2nd - Link
• SPSL 4th - Link

Community involvement

Bonkura was a registered member on the JEB forums and also on UCPSB since December 26, 2006. He took part in trading pens and mods internationally and also helped advise on the creation of the Pen Spinning World Tournament 2007 with CrAsH, suggesting the prize system and the idea of a CV featuring the top spinners in the tournament.

Pen Mods

The three Bonkura KTs.

See also: Pen Modding

Toshikazu created both the Ballsign Mod and the Bonkura Comssa. Additionally, he was known for his Dr. KT variations, which included a full black mod with a CT body and Dr. Grip grips as well as two Miffy & Melanie KTs in both pink with skyblue, and green with orange.

These are commonly referred to as the 'Bonkura KTs', although the M&M KTs were in fact traded to him from an anonymous spinner who made them, as confessed in an e-mail to Samuirai from GPC.

In JaPen 2nd he used a variation of his black KT with a ballsign body and what appears to be white tape on the Dr. Grip grips. This mod is referred to as the Ballsign KT and the legitimate construction of it is unknown.

After his death, the Bonkura PENZGEAR commercial mod was distributed at the Pen Spinning Tournament Japan 2008 in his memory.

Vice Chairmanship of PSAJ

Two of the Bonkura PENZGEARs made in his memory thanks to PSAJ's collaboration.

The Pen Spinning Association Japan was founded in July 2007 by Masaki Tsukada as chairman, and Toshikazu Nagai, Iwafune and Akihiro Nakamata as vice chairmen. The organization had multiple goals relating to advancing and spreading pen spinning throughout Japan, with intentions of scaling up.

The first, founding event held by PSAJ was the 1st PSAJ General Assembly on July 15th, 2007 held at the 5th meeting room of the Tsukishima Ward Community Center in Chuo City, Tokyo. Typhoon Man-yi (2007) had disrupted 108 high-speed rail lines that were suspended. In spite of this, the turnout was about 100 people, exceeding all expectations with members turning up even from remote areas such as Shiga, Kyoto and Niigata.

Bonkura appeared on TV with members of PSAJ covering the topic of pen spinning.

After his death, PSAJ worked with Japanese toy maker TAKARATOMY Co. to create the PENZGEAR commercial mod. In his honor, a version called 'Bonkura PENZGEAR' was made in his memory with a logo bearing his name. This version of the pen was distributed only to the top 200 people in the Pen Spinning Tournament Japan 2008 and 300 of the spectators randomly selected, making it one of the rarest and most valuable pens in the pen spinning world. The spinners who placed 1st to 3rd were also presented with a "Bonkura award" also in his memory.

On the 21st of September 2008, one year after Toshikazu's death, the 2nd PSAJ General Assembly was held. After an initial greeting, a memorial service with words to honor Mr. Nagai was held by chairman Masaki Tsukada.

Competitive Spinning

World Tournament 2007

See also: Pen Spinning World Tournament 2007

Round 1

Versus Nanna. The stall was considered extremely difficult and surprising for the time, which led to the combo sometimes being labeled as one of the greatest combos of all time.

Round 2

Versus Daft System.

Round 3

Versus Mizm.

Round 4

Versus Eriror.

In the media

Bonkura performing a triangle pass for Fuji TV

Bonkura made at least two appearances on television in Japan. Below is a list of his known TV appearances.

• Aired 7th of July 2007, a panel show discussing pen spinning with Toshikazu on Fuji TV - Link
• Aired 20th of August 2007, report at Kyoto University with PSAJ members including Bonkura featured - Link unknown.
• Reported on UCPSB 8th of September 2007, featuring Bonkura on Fuji TV as well as CrAsH from the UK - Link, missing audio

The PSAJ website lists many additional appearances of the organization in media, but it is difficult to track down the articles and recordings to determine which he was involved in.

Death

It was reported that Bonkura died of cardiac failure on the 13th of September 2007, aged 21. The news was announced to the pen spinning community on the 21st of September 2007, with a eulogy of his contributions to PSAJ and the pen spinning community as a whole.

Many of the boards made threads spreading the news, including UCPSB and the newly created UPSB V3, with much of the spinning community expressing grief for his death.

Legacy

Toshikazu's contributions were integral to the development of pen spinning into what it is today. Particularly in Japan, his influence on the media and formation of PSAJ helped turn JEB into one of the largest and strongest pen spinning communities in the world. Tributes and unofficial solo videos are made at a constant rate for him, long after his death and he is remembered ahead of all other great spinners of his era.

By 2009, his 'Thumbaround to Air' trick had been developed into the first aerial power tricks, such as the Aerial Hai Tua and Aerial Palmspin to FL TA. In 2009 these derivatives were used by Spinnerpeem in his successful run at the Pen Spinning World Tournament 2009.

Bonkura had also heavily influenced another former world champion, S777, who won the Pen Spinning World Tournament 2011. S777 had borrowed heavily from Toshikazu's style of spinning and frequently referenced him in videos, so much so that he was popularly considered to be Toshikazu's successor.

External Links

• List of Bonkura's CV contributions and breakdowns of the combos in Japanese