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Kuretake – Shimbashi-Iro I love Kuretake brush pens, and I was very excited to try this one. Many thanks to @Lithium466 for the sample. These inks are to celebrate Kuretake’s 120th anniversary. According to Kuretake’s website, these 6 inks are “inspired by colors popular around the Meiji era of Japan (1868 -1912), when Kuretake was founded.” "Shimbashi" is the name of a place found in Tokyo. The bright, bluish-green color was popular among "Geisha" in Shimbashi as it was fashionable and trendy.” In short ink is wet, with average lubrication, wet, long dry times on Japanese paper and average on Rhodia. Ink is pricey for what it is. While the scans capture the green, to the naked eye I see turquoise. The chroma indeed shows off the green and the blue but colour is a bright turquoise. Writing Samples: But this in not that obvious in the ink. I tried to find quotes/ texts by Meji era authors to reflect the ink. Photo: Comparison: Watertest: Artwork: I tried to emulate the cat and mouse theme by using Japanese block prints. However, after finishing the drawing, I realized I had got the period and style way too wrong. Other inks are Pelikan Edelstein Rose Quartz and Platinum Carbon Black · Pens used: Pilon F3A, Lamy (EF/F/M/B, 1.1), Noodler’s Nib creaper semi flex · What I liked: Gorgeous colour, drawing, doing washes. · What I did not like: Price · What some might not like: Price · Shading: Shade magnet · Ghosting: Yes, on copy paper. With very wet pen/nib combination on Rhodia. · Bleed through: Same as above. · Flow Rate: Wet · Lubrication: Average. · Nib Dry-out: Did not notice. · Start-up: Did not notice. · Saturation: Can we have a saturated turquoise. · Shading Potential: really nice. · Sheen: Very faint. · Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Can happen on copy paper. · Nib Creep / “Crud”: Did not notice. · Staining (pen): Did not notice. · Clogging: Did not notice. · Cleaning: Easy · Water resistance: Faint. · Availability: 20 ml bottles. Please don't hesitate to share your experience, writing samples or any other comments. The more the merrier