Kiri-Same - Pilot Iroshizuku

[visvamitra]

In December 2007 Pilot's created exclusive line of inks called Iroshizuku. I believe they may well be the most well known fountain pen inks in pen world. These inks are supposed to work in any pen with any nib on any paper and in any situation. I haven't tried all of them but so far the Iroshizuku inks I've tried were behaving flawlessly.

The colors were created by Kiyomi Hasegawa who after fifteen years of working in a stationary shop and communicating with Clients come to conclusion that not all fountain pen users are willing to write in black and blue. Wise woman.

The bottles are stunning although they have their issues: if the ink is left unused for some time the cap tends to stick and break when you try to twist it open. It happened to my bottle of Shin-Ryoku.

Anyway Iroshizuku line of inks counts 24 "standard" colors. Three inks were made some time ago for Tokyo stores: Edo-Murasaki, Fukagawa-Nezu and Shimbashi-Iro.After seeing the scans over blogosphere I wish these three were accesible, because they look interesting. Edo - Murasaki looks cool while Murasaki - Shikibu is of no interest to me. Even though I kind of like Fuyu-Syogun I find Fukagawa-Nezu more compelling.

Nothing indicates Pilot plans on extending the official line any time soon (if ever) so let's take a look at what's possible to obtain from dealers and online shops.

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/1595/lYAayJ.jpg

I don't have all of the inks but sooner or later I'll try to check them all. With time I'll review all of them (hopefully).

1. Ajisai
   
2. Ama-Iro
   
3. Asa-Gao
   
4. Chiku-Rin
   
5. Fuyu-Gaki
   
6. Fuyu-Syogun
   
7. Ina-Ho
   
8. Kiri-Same
   
9. Kon-Peki
   
10. Kosumosu
    
11. Ku-Jaku
    
12. Momiji
    
13. Murasaki-Shikibu
    
14. Shin-Kai
    
15. Shin-Ryoku
    
16. Syo-Ro
    
17. Take-Sumi
    
18. Tsuki-Yo
    
19. Tsukushi
    
20. Tsutsuji
    
21. Tsuyu-Kusa
    
22. Yama-Budo
    
23. Yama-Guri
    
24. Yu-Yake
    

Kiri-same is decent grey ink, not really thrilling, but not bad either. It is waterproof top some extent: dye is washed out but the text stays legible.

http://imageshack.com/a/img911/6236/NulELX.jpg

Chromatography isn't exciting:

http://imageshack.com/a/img661/9597/f7JX9V.jpg

Ink Splash

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/8839/R5G6A2.jpg

Drops of ink on kitchen towel

http://imageshack.com/a/img661/3928/cywVmR.jpg

Software ID

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/4097/8GnGwl.jpg

Oxford Recycled ( 90g), Kaweco Classic Sport używany jako zakraplacz, B

http://imageshack.com/a/img673/6065/2zKsA0.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img540/9449/uYzDEU.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img901/2603/BYf5gU.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img537/8587/tew81h.jpg

Calendar

http://imageshack.com/a/img909/5150/kuXr46.jpg

http://imageshack.com/a/img540/6757/IjVqnU.jpg

Comparison

http://imageshack.com/a/img540/1058/fQzOoV.jpg

Edited February 20, 2015 by visvamitra

[bone215]

At first I thought finding a grey ink would be simple. Now after trying some samples I find more variety than I thought.

The wonderful world of inks!!!!

[wastelanded]

I love this ink: I've gone through half a bottle in two months. On off-white paper, the red in it is more apparent.

[aiden]

Hmm... I'm a little on the fence about this one because of the shading. But yeah, I think it works better on off white, other end of the spectrum kind. The edges of the letters seem to blend into the white and makes it look a little blurry. It'll annoy the heck out of people with astigmatism (Ex. me)

 

But I do love the color.

[jasonchickerson]

My bottle of Kiri-same looks warmer (more brown, less blue) than your sample here. Until I saw the ink comparison, I thought maybe you had Fuyu-syogun instead.

 

I'm going to have to do my own chromatography and if it matches yours.

 

Update, here's mine:

 

http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ6496.jpg

 

Note the beige/peach dye and the lack of pale blue in my bottle.

Edited February 23, 2015 by jasonchickerson

[wastelanded]

My bottle of Kiri-same looks warmer (more brown, less blue) than your sample here. Until I saw the ink comparison, I thought maybe you had Fuyu-syogun instead.

 

I'm going to have to do my own chromatography and if it matches yours.

 

Update, here's mine:

 

http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ6496.jpg

 

Note the beige/peach dye and the lack of pale blue in my bottle.

This is more in line with my bottle. I find it remarkably complex for a Grey ink.

[Algester]

Edo-Murasaki, Fukagawa-Nezu and Shimbashi-Iro

are limited exclusive inks for Itoya Ginza I think 100-200 bottles only were made back in 2012 so really you wont find them in the wild

its what Pilot did to probably match up to Sailor... beyond that I'm not sure

[visvamitra]

Thank you Jason, it definitely looks interesting this way

[by_a_Lady]

Has anyne compared it to Rohrer & Klingner Sepia? Coming out of a dry nib it reminds me of pictures of Kiri-Same, which in turn reminds me of the sample of Super5 Frankfurt that I'm scared to use (that ink doesn't seem quite normal).

 

 

Dominique

[Michael R.]

To my eyes different hues!

 

Kiri Same is a lighter medium gray; it shows dusky pink or even lavender hues.

 

Both R&K Sepia and S5 Frankfurt are darker colors.

 

R&K Sepia is a cold brown, almost gray with reddish or burgundy tones. Just inbetween gray and brown.

 

While both Kiri Same and Sepia show reddish-purple tones S5 Frankfurt is more of a true gray and most likely the darkest of all three. Contrary to the previous it shows only subtle shades of colors. Since it is not a neutral gray maybe it has just a tiny tad of brownish-red when looking at it alone. Compared to R&K Sepia it almost looks slightly khaki toned.

I can post a comparison shot tomorrow under natural light if you like ?!

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[MrsHobie]

I like this color, as it's not dark but can be used to make copies from my original work (I'm a teacher and I do really like to write down papers with exercice answers to give to my students, instead of all computerized papers)

[pgcauk]

I have blue-greys, green-greys and grey-violets, but was wondering if a pinkish-grey was possible?
It feels as though Kiri Same are Gris Nuage are the closest?

[Honeybadgers]

This is my favorite grey of all time. It's warm and inviting, like summer rain in Seattle.

 

Not cold and harsh like a Soviet winter in the Gulag.

Edited May 29, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[bitterwonder]

If you are a painter who draws, Kire Same is the color between trees in winter in NYC. It is a base color - it is a shadow that underlies what we see. One of my favorite inks.#blackcatfranced

[pgcauk]

If you are a painter who draws, Kire Same is the color between trees in winter in NYC. It is a base color - it is a shadow that underlies what we see. One of my favorite inks.#blackcatfranced

Wonderful description - sold!

 

"Have you seen the Zero Room anywhere?"

"I don't know, what does it look like?"

"Empty. There's nothing in it really. It's grey . . . . a kind of pinkish grey."

 

I was always intrigued by that one!

[Intensity]

Finally saw tgis ink in person today at an Iroshizuku ink testing display—liked it a lot. Quite distinct from my Fuyu-Syugun. The latter almost looks like an oxidized blue-black IG ink in a wet pen. Kiri-Same looks much more like pencil, but better. Definitely getting a bottle.