Sailor Four Seasons: 8 Inks Compared

[lgsoltek]

First, I'd like to thank visvamitra. I’ve always enjoyed your reviews and comparisons, and I especially love those ink splashes. The format of my present comparison has been largely inspired by yours.

 

INTRODUCTION

 

The current Sailor Four Seasons line has a total of 8 inks, two for each season: (the meanings are from Japanese interpretations on the Internet)

 

 

Spring:

Nioi-Sumire: “Sweet violet”, the flower, which has a sweet scent and is used for fragrances and perfumes.

Miruai: “Dark bluish green”, a tradition colour of Japan.

 

Summer:

Souten: “High sky”, the cloudless blue sky in hot summer.

Doyou: “Midsummer day”, referring to the scorched earth in canicular days.

 

Autumn:

Yama-dori: “Copper pheasant”, referring to the feathers of beautiful mountain birds.

Oku-yama: “Remote mountain”, forest of red leaves in autumn days.

 

Winter:

Tokiwa-Matsu: “Evergreen pine”, referring to pine trees which are still green in winter.

Shigure: “Drizzles”, which refers to the cold drizzles in early winter.

 

The inks come in standard Sailor ink bottle with a “filler”, very practical. The following samples are all written or drawn on Rhodia No. 16 Dotpad or unlined.

 

 

SPLASHES

(Scans on the left, photos on the right)

Nioi-Sumire: a clear violet. Not too dark.

 

Miruai: a green-black with maybe a bit of blue.

 

Souten: a cerulean blue. It’s dark enough for some serious writing, darker than Iroshizuku Kon-Peki.

Doyou: a brown-black. Could be mistaken as a black without side-by-side comparison. Very very lubricating, writes very smoothly.

Yama-Dori: the ink that everyone talks about. A Teal. Very similar to Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku.

Oku-Yama: a reddish purple (or a purplish red) that has great sheen.

Tokiwa-Matsu: a yellowish green, but not too yellow. It’s a very interesting ink. When it is freshly written, it’s a deep green, but as it dries it takes on the yellow tint. It’s like green leaves becoming yellow.

Shigure: a purple-black. Darker and less blue than Nioi-Sumire. Very lubricating as well.

Edited November 16, 2014 by lgsoltek

[lgsoltek]

MORE SHEEN
(All of them have sheen. Some are spectacular.)

 

 

Nioi-Sumire: a red silver sheen.
Miruai: the sheen is usually not visible in normal writing.
Souten: amazing red sheen in normal writing.
Doyou: a silvery sheen only visible in a dries drop of ink. Not visible in writing.
Yama-Dori: need I say anything? A purple sheen that many seek after.
Oku-Yama: amazing green sheen.
Tokiwa-Matsu: lovely red sheen, very easy to attain.
Shigure: great silver sheen, also easily noticeable.

 

SWABS

DROPS OF INK ON PAPER TOWEL

[lgsoltek]

WRITING SAMPLES
(All of these are written with Platinum 3776 Century M nib. It’s not a wet writer so the sheen is not evident. But with a wet pen the sheen is amazing. They are all very saturated inks, the shading depends on your pen. I think Souten, Yama-Dori and Oku-Yama have some shading potential.)

 

In the following sample, the ink names on the right are written with a dip pen. The sheen is more noticeable, though not so on the scan.

 

 

DRY TIME
None of them are long-driers, unlike some Noodler’s.

[lgsoltek]

WATER-RESISTANCE

All of them fare quite well in terms of water-resistance. The drip test shows they will all be still very legible if you accidentally drop some water on them. The soak test shows that the blue and black components in the inks are the main contributors to their water-resistance.

 

(Drops of water: before, during, 3 minutes after)

(Immersion: before, 10 minutes after)

 

 

SUMMARY

I find all Sailor inks are well behaved, including these 8. The water-resistance is quite impressive. Some might not be very easy to clean, like the blues and the red, but they are not trouble either. Almost all of the 8 inks are on the darker side, making them more legible than some other inks (inks like some J. Herbin’s). But I wish there were one or two brighter colours in this series, like Apricot from the old Four Seasons line.

I like all of these inks, for their behaviour, their colour and their great sheen, except maybe Miruai. Miruai is one of the last in the series that I bought. Miruai is just not the colour for me. It’s very similar to Private Reserve’s Ebony Blue, only even greener (from bluer to greener: R&K Verdigris, PR Ebony Blue, Sailor Miruai).

 

My favourites: Souten, Tokiwa-Matsu, Shigure, Oku-Yama.
My least favourite: Miruai.
In between: Yama-Dori is too similar to Ku-Jaku, I wouldn’t have got this if I hadn’t wanted to complete the whole line, but it’s not a bad colour. Doyou is a bit boring, being so similar to black, but I think it would be a good choice for formal situations, and it’s very lubricative. I’m still waiting for Nioi-Sumire to grow on me.

So what are your favourites?

Edited November 16, 2014 by lgsoltek

[bstnnyc]

Thank you for doing such an extensive review Igsoltek! I love the side by side photos and scans of the splashes; they show off that gorgeous Sailor sheen so well!

[visvamitra]

Stunning comparison. Now I clearly see I need Tokiwa Matsu

[mallymal1]

Excellent review. Thank you very much.

[Hallel]

This is fabulous. I have a sudden need for more inks..

[Millefleurs]

Thank you so much for this! I received a sample of Tokiwa-Matsu last week and I love it so much I'll definitely be ordering a bottle. After seeing your comparisons, I think I'll be ordering a few more samples, too.

[tinysnail]

Great review! I really like this line of inks as well. I agree that a brighter colour or two would have been nice. I have bottles of Tokiwa Matsu, Shigure, and Yama Dori and they're all so wonderful. However, I do find that Shigure has a long dry time- like, it dries quickly enough, but I've been able to smudge writing on Rhodia paper even an hour later. Still, it's a great ink.

[Lloyd]

The Oku-Yama looks like a more useful version of Momiji.

[Sammyo]

Thank you so much for this wonderful review. You have really peaked my interact with the Shigure, I have been looking for a nice dark blue that is not a blue-Black. I was looking at Diamine midnight and twilight as well as De Atramentis Sherlock Holmes. I may now go a completely different direction

Thank you again

[lgsoltek]

Thank you, everyone. I'm glad you like it. It was quite a time-consuming process but one that I greatly enjoyed. I hope to make more comparisons in the future.

[Cyber6]

My favourites: Souten, Tokiwa-Matsu, Shigure, Oku-Yama.

My least favourite: Miruai.

In between: Yama-Dori is too similar to Ku-Jaku, I wouldn’t have got this if I hadn’t wanted to complete the whole line, but it’s not a bad colour. Doyou is a bit boring, being so similar to black, but I think it would be a good choice for formal situations, and it’s very lubricative. I’m still waiting for Nioi-Sumire to grow on me.

So what are your favourites?

 

 

First of all... AMAZING WORK!!!!!!!!!!!! If imitation is the highest form of flattery... Vis should feel in heaven.. ... Really good job...

 

 

I find Souten almost identical to Sky High... so I didn't bother getting a bottle..

 

I actually don't care much about Ku-Jaku... but I am head over heels for Yama-dori... Interesting...

 

 

 

Favorites: Yama-Dori, Tokina-Matsu, Oku-yama and Shigure

 

Not crazy about: Doyou (too black), Nioi-Sumire (not special enough), Souten (too Sky High) and Miruai (too dark green)...

 

 

 

C.

Edited November 17, 2014 by Cyber6

[AlejoPlay]

I just got Oku-Yama and I adore it. It's got so much going on.

 

I will get Yama-Dori as soon as I am done with Ku-Jaku, which is a favorite of mine. I think Yama-Dori has better shading/sheen from what I've seen in comparisons online.

 

I want Shigure and Tokiwa-Matsu but I have Diamine Bilberry and Sailor Epinard and they are close enough for me.

[Pentulant]

Very nice review! Thank you for posting them!

[carlos.q]

My favorites are Yama-Dori and Shigure.

Shigure is indeed very lubricating and makes my Lamy 2000 glide across the paper.

[gmax]

Superb work on these reviews - thank you

 

My favourites are also Yama-Dori and Shigure. I find that as well as lubrication, Shigure flows so freely that it adds a fraction to line width.

[Grape Bear]

This is a great review!

 

We are only allowed to use black and blue ink at work, and purple is usually pharmacist ink... Would the Shigure pass for a dark blue? I also love the Yama Dori. The Miruai I wanted because a black green may be an interesting way to be unique using a black, but it looks too light and too green. Thank you!

[lgsoltek]

This is a great review!

 

We are only allowed to use black and blue ink at work, and purple is usually pharmacist ink... Would the Shigure pass for a dark blue? I also love the Yama Dori. The Miruai I wanted because a black green may be an interesting way to be unique using a black, but it looks too light and too green. Thank you!

 

I'm not sure... Shigure looks still quite purple rather than blue to me, but it's quite a dark colour. What about giving Doyou a try? It's a brown black. It would surely pass for a black, but you will still know it's not a black but a brown deep in your rebellious heart . I heard that Noodler's Zhivago is a very dark green black, you can check that out too.