Sailor Kiwaguro Nano Carbon Ink

[Neill78]

Here's my handwritten (Lamy 2000 EF) review of this fantastic black ink. I bought it at Tokyu Hands, Nagoya, Japan for 1575 yen; a bit more than double the price of regular Sailor ink. I've heard you can get it at some import shops online for the sky high price of $30. I was happy to pay 1575 yen because "normal" ink here in Canada is usually about $12, but $30 is a bit steep, IMO.

 

 

This should give you an idea of the crispness this ink gives, even on this highly textured paper. It's pretty amazing! One thing some people may not like is that this ink has a very matte finish and reflects light the same way as India ink, Chinese ink, or Japanese sumi ink. Thus, although it is probably as black as you can possibly get, in some lighting it looks pale. Personally I kind of like how it seems to meld with the paper.

 

 

The ink sticks to my Lamy 2000's nib. It looks like nib creep, but it's worse. You may be able to see the ink stuck at the base of the nib near the hood. The good news is that it washes off easily when rinsing out the pen, but I can never seem to get it all off with a tissue or Q-tip. I usually end up pulling more out! I dipped a couple other pens with steel nibs in this ink and it didn't stick like this at all.

 

 

Here's a smudge test - a good hard rub with a Q-tip. By 15 seconds the smudging is barely noticeable.

 

 

The box makes four claims (well, actually six, but they inexplicably combine some):

1. Waterproof
2. Won't clog, makes a sharp line
3. Won't bleed or show through
4. The best for official documents

After using this ink, I'd say they're all true. You can get some bleeding on certain very fibrous papers -- the kind that also clog your nib with paper bits, which you're unlikely to be writing on with a fountain pen in the first place. There's very little show-through even on very thin paper. As for clogging, I have been using Kiwaguro in my Lamy 2000 for 3 months straight now without flushing out my pen. No problems at all (except for my dirty looking nib). As I mentioned in the hand-written portion of this review, Kiwaguro really lubricates a nib. My Lamy 2000 was already super smooth, and the first time I filled it with Kiwaguro I couldn't control my pen. You might notice that some of my lines look a little shaky at the start of the review -- that's because I haven't used it for a few days and it takes me a minute to get a handle on the slipperiness.

 

One interesting and nice thing about this ink is that it doesn't stick to plastic at all. It won't get trapped at the top of a converter and it moves quickly around in the Lamy 2000 so I can actually get some use out of the minute ink window. When it flows it leaves no trail behind, and I am positive there is no danger of staining.

 

This ink smells basically the same as India ink. It reminds me of art classes, and the smell of the charcoal sticks, ink, and drawing paper. It's not very strong unless you put your nose near the bottle while filling.

 

Here's the water test. I ran the paper (HP 32#) under lukewarm water for 30 seconds. The initial splash pushed off a fair bit of black, but it didn't lighten the words at all. There is a fair bit of ghosting around the letters but they are still perfectly legible. For comparison I used Shaeffer Skrip black which looks like a shadow of its former self, with only blue-grey undertones remaining.

 

 

The bottle is a typical Sailor bottle, which is kind of cute but too shallow.

 

 

THE END!

Edited August 22, 2008 by Neill78

[DwarvenChef]

Now thats an interesting looking ink Just what I need... a search for rare ink I'd be interested in finding a bottle

Edited August 22, 2008 by DwarvenChef

[Phthalo]

The Ujuku Store has it - great ink, I love it for pen and ink sketching.

[Robert]

This ink is available in San Francisco (at MaiDo), but I've been reluctant to try it in a normal nib, for fear the carbon bits might cause some damage over the long run. Am I being too cautious?

[DwarvenChef]

Think MaiDo in Santana Row will have it? No clue about the carbon particules... I'm a carbon steel junkie so I kind of latched onto this by namesake

Edited August 22, 2008 by DwarvenChef

[RLTodd]

From "just what I read in the papers"......................

 

I thought I read that carbon particle clogging was an issue in fountain pens. Further I thought Platinum, who sold a carbon black ink, had a special Carbon Ink Model that had a wider than normal feed channel to prevent clogging.

 

Since AIR this all came from a source selling Platinum, it could all be sales hype and ignorable. Just thought I would throw it in incase it has validity............

 

Carry on.............

 

[Neill78]

  Robert said:

This ink is available in San Francisco (at MaiDo), but I've been reluctant to try it in a normal nib, for fear the carbon bits might cause some damage over the long run. Am I being too cautious?

 

Yes, you're being too cautious. This ink is specifically designed for fountain pens. The carbon particles are supposed to be so small that they will never clog your pen. Like I said, I haven't had any problems and I haven't flushed for 3 months. I've left it sitting for 2 weeks one time and there was no problem either. It's actually one of the best, most predictable inks I've ever used.

 

Neill

[Neill78]

  RLTodd said:

From "just what I read in the papers"......................

 

I thought I read that carbon particle clogging was an issue in fountain pens. Further I thought Platinum, who sold a carbon black ink, had a special Carbon Ink Model that had a wider than normal feed channel to prevent clogging.

 

Since AIR this all came from a source selling Platinum, it could all be sales hype and ignorable. Just thought I would throw it in incase it has validity............

 

Carry on.............

 

I've never used Platinum's carbon ink, so I can't say anything about it, but this ink is supposed to work in any fountain pen. Like I said, it doesn't stick to plastic at all, and doesn't leave any residue in the piston as the level goes down. It rinses off the pen and nib much more easily than regular ink, so I'd be surprised if it would get caught in the feed. It's pretty amazing stuff.

 

I know there are several people here on FPN (thanks for posting, Phthalo!) so I hope they will chime in with their experiences.

 

Neill

[njwbert]

I saw this for sale in my local Kinokuniya but I was being cautions as it was sold in the same area as the dip pens. NOW I am sure this is safe for fountain pens. Many thanks for the helpful review! Now I have a new ink to buy. :clap1:

[Siv]

This is my preferred ink but I buy it in carts to use in my Sailor Pro Gear. Where else can you get a nice black waterproof ink in carts?

[scratchy]

Initially I was cautious about this ink because of the worry of it clogging but I have now been using it for about a month in my Sailor Sapporo F nib and Professional Gear B nib. No problems and like Neill78 says, very smooth. My previous favourite black has been Herbin Perle Noire but I think this Kiwagura is better because of its being waterproof - means I can use it at work to label parcels (yay! rescued from ballpoints!). I find the packaging very attractive and something I have noticed is the paleness that Neill78 mentions seems to be a kind of gold sheen. So far it is a very 'satisfying' ink!

[njwbert]

I went out to buy this ink today after reading this review 3 days ago. Fantastic stuff. Love it! My new "go-to" waterproof black.

[Neill78]

  njwbert said:

I went out to buy this ink today after reading this review 3 days ago. Fantastic stuff. Love it! My new "go-to" waterproof black.

 

Thank you for reading my review and my condolences to your pocketbook.

 

Neill

[Neill78]

Just a small update:

 

I've noticed this ink called "Kiwagura" in several places now and couldn't figure out why, since it's clearly written "kiwaguro" on the box (albeit in Japanese). Just now I was looking at Ujuku's ebay site and noticed that they have it spelled wrong... aha!

 

極 "kiwa" means "extremely/the most/sublimely" and 黒　"kuro" is the word for "black" in Japanese. "Kuro" becomes "guro" after certain vowels.

 

So if you are shopping around, it'd be best to search for both "kiwaguro" and "kiwagura" if you want to find the best price.

 

Neill

[njwbert]

  Neill78 said:

Thank you for reading my review and my condolences to your pocketbook.

 

Neill

 

I got it for about US$17 locally, which is not too bad. Just a little over the 1575 yen listed price. Should have got it when I was in Japan recently for a holiday, but I bought inks from the Iroshizoku range instead as that was not available locally.

[blopplop]

I Just purchased a bottle through The Ujuku Store. But it was still 28.75 with shipping. Yikes!!

Looking forward to using it.

 

Dave

[ProfMike]

  blopplop said:

I Just purchased a bottle through The Ujuku Store. But it was still 28.75 with shipping. Yikes!!

Looking forward to using it.

 

Dave

 

Hi Dave,

 

I was searching on Ujuku's site and I wasn't able to click to buy the Kiwaguro ink. I went to the Sailor page and then clicked the "consumables" button, but there was nothing there. Am I missing something obvious or is this just the cosmos telling me that I don't need any more ink!?!? :roflmho:

 

Thanks for your ideas!

 

Mike

[blopplop]

  ProfMike said:

  blopplop said:

I Just purchased a bottle through The Ujuku Store. But it was still 28.75 with shipping. Yikes!!

Looking forward to using it.

 

Dave

 

Hi Dave,

 

I was searching on Ujuku's site and I wasn't able to click to buy the Kiwaguro ink. I went to the Sailor page and then clicked the "consumables" button, but there was nothing there. Am I missing something obvious or is this just the cosmos telling me that I don't need any more ink!?!? :roflmho:

 

Thanks for your ideas!

 

Mike

 

 

Mike, I emailed them. Then they sent me a paypal invoice which I then paid. Here's the email address I used.

 

ujuku@mxi.netwave.or.jp

 

The contact person was Tadashi Yamada

 

Hope this helps,

 

Dave

 

[blopplop]

I just received my bottle today. Man, what an amazing ink. The color's is great, but the thing I'm amazed about is when I loaded up one of super-soaker wet (med) nibs and wrote on my Moleskin: no feathering at all. Zero.... none. None of my other inks do that on a moleskin with a wide-ish soaked nib.

 

I don't know how I'll afford it, but this a keeper ink. Thanks for the head's up on this, Neill78.

 

Dave

 

[blopplop]

BTW, Mike. Ordering it the way I told you, the ink was at my door 8 days after I ordered.

 

Dave