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Hi, I just received a bottle of ina-ho and thought I'd share a little example. Please excuse my hideous handwriting (not fishing, I swear). Paper is a Moleskine classic soft cover. Cheers ps. I know there are examples on FPN already but I think it looks a little different in this light!

http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ6445.jpg http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ6446.jpg Iroshizuku's lineup of brown inks is a short list of two, or three if we include the golden wheat color, Ina-ho. Top is Rhodia Dotpad. Bottoms is Original Crown Mill Pure Cotton. These three inks are excellent, interesting colors and very well-behaved. While not exactly unique, they are as good or better than their doppelgangers among other brands. Tsukushi is very similar to Faber-Castell's Hazelnut Brown and J. Herbin's Café des Îles, while Yama-guri is a darker, more saturated R&K Sepia or J. Herbin Cacao du Brésil. I don't have enough experience with colors like Ina-ho to draw comparisons. Here's a breakdown: Tsukushi - burgundy undertone Hazelnut Brown - lavender undertone Café des Îles - no undertone (single dye ink) Yama-guri - burgundy undertone R&K Sepia - neutral/brown undertone Cacao du Brésil - lavender undertone While I won't be dropping Cacao du Brésil, I will be adding Yama-guri to my ink drawer. It is an incredibly organic looking ink, reminiscent of writing with a charred stick. It has an early man on cave wall feel. And, these inks dip very well on the right paper.

Here are seven inks compared. What started it was receiving the new Super 5 Dublin pigment ink from Goulet pens. A waterproof green, I had to try it and it seemed to have similarities to one of my favorites Stipula Calamo Moss Green. Well, Dublin isn't much like Moss Green in color but it is in the category of interesting off-green inks. Included in that category are the inks below. In order are: Super 5 Dublin Stipula Calamo Moss Green Pilot Iroshizuku Ina-ho Montblanc Jonathan Swift Seaweed Green Sailor Gentle Epinard Noodler's Burma Road Brown Noodler's El Lawrence Paper is Staples Bagasse and the second scan was after extensive water rinse–paper was on the verge of falling apart. Dublin has good writing properties and is, in fact, waterproof (see second scan). Some ink washed away but it was ink that was "dry" on top of the ink bound to the paper. Really, it is a waterproof green. Good flow, minimal bleed through or show through. Some ignition issues but really very minor. Very happy with this ink. The name puzzles me, it's more of (dirty) olive drab. Maybe army green was too boring a name. Shows some shading too due to ink pooling at the end of a stroke. Need to shake bottle before filling pen. Kind of expensive but unique. Stipula Calamo Moss Green is one of my favorite all time inks. In the thick swab it also almost had a sheen, probably due to ink crystallization. Also leaves a blue component upon washing. Big bottle makes it a value. Montblanc Jonathan Swift Seaweed Green is another odd color that I enjoy. It fades some as it dries but it shades. Dry writing ink I've reviewed in these pages before. Of the rest Sailor's Gentle Epinard probably has the best writing properties. Plus, it has an obvious sheen that just shows up in the swab. Another with blue remaining after the wash. Ina-ho is the least saturated of all these, and is more of a golden brown than a green. It also washes out to a light blue tinged with red. That was unexpected. Love this ink from a wet fine nib to concentrate the line. Expensive, but unique. Noodler's Burma Road Brown is definitely a green tinged brown that washes to a reddish purple. Need to use this ink more, it's oddly lovely like all the other inks here. Noodler's El Lawrence is also a long time favorite. Reminds me of motor oil. It needs to be shaken before use and it has terrible nib crawl but I love it. Great name too. Also has permanent qualities. El Lawrence will also shade but it's pretty concentrated so not very often.