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Kakimori, describes their ink as such : "Soyo is like a breath of fresh air. A colour that evokes the feeling of a pleasant breeze." Photo courtesy of Kakimori website. Lets start with the chroma: This is my least favorite ink by Kakimori, mostly because of it's paleness and lack of lubrication. You would need a cushiony nib, to enjoy the writing experience. Otherwise it's scratchy with finer nibs and dry times are quite long, especially with Japanese paper. Writing samples: Rhodia For some reason, the scanner picks green (with Midori). This is a pale blue. Tomoe River 68gr It behaves well on Hammermill copy paper 20 lb Front: Back Photo: I would say, its utility is for fountain pen ink art, journaling with wide or cushiony nibs preferably on thick absorbent papers. Water test: Left side was held under running water Comparaison: and finally a small sketch on Strathmore Drawing Paper: This was one my doodles, for the yearly Inktober challenge, the prompt was Doctor. I was wondering if Dr. Felix would be able to manage his speech without being distracted by the tassel · Pens used: Pilot Elite (Ef/Stub) Lamy Safari (Ef/F/M/B), Kanwrite Ultraflex, Jinhao fude nib · What I liked: writing with a wide fude nib, and ironically smudging and easy of cleaning. · What I did not like: Writing experience with all pens (very scratchy) but the very wet, Kanwrite, and Jinhao fude nib. Illegibility with most nibs. Long dry times. · What some might not like: Same as above. · Shading: None. · Ghosting: Faint · Bleed through: None · Flow Rate: Too wet · Lubrication: None existent · Nib Dry-out: None. · Start-up: None · Saturation: Light · Shading Potential: Only with fude nib. · Sheen: None. · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: None · Nib Creep / “Crud”: Nope. · Staining (pen): No. · Clogging: No. · Cleaning: Easy · Water resistance: Excellent · Availability: 30 ml bottles. Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier

Kakimori is a stationary shop in Tokyo Japan. They have a range of inks and stationery, which epitomizes Japanese minimalism and elegance. They also make personalized handmade inks and notebooks, a specialized dip pen nib and nib holders. Their pigment line comes in beautiful bottles: (Photo: curtsey of Kakimori website) What I’ve noticed in the three inks I reviewed (Kurun, Po and Karari) is: Long dry times, dryish inks, and ease to clean. According to Kakimori website: "Fresh like an endlessly clear sky. Karari describes a bright, cloudless day. With this blue in hand, a break in the clouds is never far away." I really enjoyed using this ink, especially after the disaster with De Atramentis Artist/Document Turquoise/ Cyan. It’s a happy blue, and if you pardon the pun, it takes the blues away. It fills me with joy. Let's start with the chroma: It’s not a perfect ink, it’s wet, low on lubrication, maybe not very pleasant with Ef1F scratcthy nibs. And you might need a blotter, if you write fast and a neatnik I wrote copiously on 68gr Tomoe River Paper with a Safari broad. It was just a delight to write with. Writing samples: Scan on Midori is really off. I had some problems with my fude nib. It wasn't well seated and created huge lines at first. Quite close: Some photos: Tomoe River 68gr Rhodia: This line is written with a broad nib on Hammermill 20 lb paper, not bad at all. Water resistance is quite good: Comparison: You can see the depth of the blue in the sky from a landscape drawing I did on the Dostoyevsky thread: The Sky is Karari The Trees and Mountains Kakimori Kurun /Gutenberg Urkundentinten G10 IG And the lake is Noodler's Dostoyevsky · Pens used: Pilot Kakuna (Ef) Lamy Safari (Ef/F/M/B), Jinhao 450/ Ultraflex nib/ Fude nib · What I liked: Gorgeous blue colour. It made me happy every time I used it. Excellent on absorbent paper. · What I did not like: Very long dry times. Not suitable for leftie over writers. It’s a bit pricier than other ink. · Shading: Ok · Ghosting: Faint · Bleed through: None, unless you pool the ink. · Flow Rate: Excellent · Lubrication: Dry especially with Ef to Fine · Nib Dry-out: None. · Start-up: None. I had the pen uncapped for more than 3 minutes, no problem. · Saturation: Saturated just enough. · Shading Potential: Ok. · Sheen: Faint sheen seen if the ink pools. · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: None · Nib Creep / “Crud”: None · Staining (pen): No. · Clogging: Did not notice. · Cleaning: Very easy. · Water resistance: Excellent · Availability: 35ml. Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier

Rejoice permanent ink lovers, another player is in the game Kakimori is a stationary shop in Tokyo Japan. They have a range of inks and stationery, which epitomizes Japanese minimalism and elegance. They also make personalized handmade inks and notebooks. As of now their inks are available from Vanness in USA, and Laywines/Phidon in Canada, La Couronne du Comte/ Stilo e stile in in Europe and obviously their own shop in Japan. My apologies for these low quality photos.. Packaging: They have a wide range of pigment inks, which are all waterproof. The bottles are truly beautiful, solid with a big opening and minimal packaging which embodies their sustainability motive. First off, there’s a warning note in the packaging about clogging. It reminds me of Super5 inks, which recommend to to use their own pens. Being used to notoriously naughty inks, I inked several pens and hoped for the best The ink in a nutshell: Good for M nibs and above, low lubrication with F/Ef nibs. Long dry times. Nice Shading. Beautiful bottle (though one doesn't write with a bottle, though that's debatable ) According to their website: Kurun depicts the dance of a vine's curling tendrils. A green that captures both vitality and a sense of calm. #6 fude nib/ reverse fude nib / TR 68gr paper I would say, the greatest issue with this ink is long dry times and lack of lubircation with fine /Ef nibs TR 68gr /EF/F//Reverse Broad/ Broad While ink looks pale it is quite legible, despite the scan. However the writing experience is best with broad. Sketch was done with a safari fine nib. TR 68 gr/Ahab /Medium Midori: Note how dry time between a reverse broad/ broad changes drastically. On TR paper above it's even worse. Dry time is very long on TR 68 gr, less on Midori, acceptable on Rhodia, good on Apica and immediate on Field Notes. I don’t like long dry times for inks, but I found myself reaching for this ink over and over again refilling my testing Safari,for the past 3 months. The combination works fine as I can use both broad and reverse broad creating a fine line when needed. And ironically, I liked the smudging. However, when I switched the safari broad nib for a fine, the pen became scratchy, lubrication non-existent. I didn't like the writing experience. I think artists would love this ink. Chroma: Ink comparison: Water test: Right side was held under water - Maruman paper · Pens used: Lamy Safrai broad/ fine/ Jinhao fude nib/ Medium/ No name EF/ Ahab flex · Shading: Depending nib and paper. · Ghosting: Yes on absorbent paper like Field Notes with a broad nib. · Bleed through: Same as above. · Flow Rate: Alright... · Lubrication: On the dry side. · Nib Dry-out: Not noticed · Start-up: Not noticed · Saturation: Muted green. · Shading Potential: Yes · Sheen: None · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not noticed · Nib Creep / “Crud”: No · Staining (pen): I doubt it. · Clogging: Only time will say. But none so far. · Water resistance: Excellent · Availability: 30 ml bottles

Hello! I am a long-time member here but have been lurking more than contributing... in fact, not quite contributing much either, to my embarrassment. I see a lot of wonderful reviews here and am a little overwhelmed sometimes. It's a really great forum and a great resource for fountain pen users out there. Some of you might know me by my username, which is also the name of my blog. I come from Singapore and am left-handed. I love beautiful pens and colourful inks. Recently I received a request from one of the members here, @OCArt, to share my series of Iroshizuku Ink reviews. I have done reviews for the whole series of 24 inks, split into 4 different blog posts. They contain some description, translation, and interpretation of the ink names, as well as my experience with swabbing and my own version of "chromatography" work. I include the links in the photos below, so you can click any photo to be taken to that particular series of inks (I made 6 mini ink reviews per blog post). Hopefully this can be interesting or useful to some of you! Feedback is always welcome. (Also, drop me a note if this post should not belong here! Thank you!)

About the Kyo-iro inks. They are made by the Dye technic organization which has a 300 year experience making vegetable based inks called "Kusakisome" for textiles like kimono's. The Kyo Iro inks are not vegetable based inks. But they tried to reproduce the look and feel of the Kusakisome. So the experience of ink making is definately there ! One of the "Masters" helped to develop the Kyo-Iro inks. As everything in Japan all products are of a high quality ! So these inks are not known yet but I'm sure you'll find them very particular.

Kyo-Iro inks in Belgium ! Kyo-Iro fountain pen inks are made in Kyoto Japan. They are crafted according traditional Japanese dyeing techniques. Stone road of Gion, Soft snow of Ohara, Moonlight of Higashiyama, Flaming red of Fushumi, Cherry blossom of Keage, Nurebairo, Imayouiro, Kokeiro, Yamabukiiro and Aonibi are inspired by famous and fascinating places in Kyoto which are the expression of its rich history and profound culture for a long time. Now available in the Sakura FP Gallery ! Enjoy ! Catherine http://www.sakurafountainpengallery.com/en/boutique/kyo-iro-inkt-amp-vullingen