Fukagawa-Nezu - Pilot Iroshizuku Tokyo Le Ink

[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. Recently they were reissued to the japanese market. Thanks to Tinnjapan's help I was able to get a threepack of 15 ml bottles. I've played with the inks for few days (since monday) and I will share my reflexions with you.

The inks can be bought in 50 ml glass bottles and in 15 ml bottles. Threepack comes in a plastic box.

Tonight we'll take a look at

Fukagawa - nezu

It seems it's one of traditional japan colors. It has it's hex codes and all.

There was a time when I didnt get it why someone would want to use grey ink. It changed. I started to enjoy grey inks. I had high hopes for Fukagawa-nezu but my expectations were too high. It's decent ink but it has some drawbacks (apart from limited availability).

First the positives: it's water resistant, the color is quite nice but it's entirely subjective, no feathering or bleedthrough.

Drawbacks? I've experienced hars starts and skipping after leaving the pen uncapped for 10-15 seconds. I find it irritating. The flow is average. Saturation is medium. The color is not as complex as I expected it to be. My main criticism though is ink drying on the nib - it's something I strongly dislike in inks. Also it's first Iroshizuku ink that behaves this way. Maybe it's side effect of increased water resistance? I dunno. I know nothing about inks chemistry.

Drops of ink on kitchen towel

Software ID

Color range

Tomoe River, Kaweco Classic Sport, eyedropper mode, broad nib

Leuchtturm1917, Kaweco Classic Sport, eyedropper mode, broad nib

Kokuyo Campus Myo, Kaweco Classic Sport, eyedropper mode, broad nib

(the quote is from Josiah Bancroft's Books of Babel - Senlin Ascends and Arm of the Sphinx - if you like litterary prose, wild imagination, grotesque and fantasy tropes you need to try them. They're excellent)

No-name calendar (crappy paper), Diplomat Depeche, broad nib

Water resistance

[lapis]

Thanks, I really like this one. Nice complex mix of grey, green and sand. Also glad it's back. Was recently hard to find. Hopefully now easier to get....

 

Mike

[Chrissy]

Thanks for the review, but this ink is not one that I would use. The shimbasi-iro looks slightly more interesting to me.

[bobje]

Almost a celadon color, a very interesting ink. I applaud Pilot for making this one.

[lgsoltek]

Nah

[mehandiratta]

there is nothing special about the color...

thank you for the informed review...

[migo984]

I love writing and drawing with this delightful ink. There's a quality to the colour that is elusive, transient & makes it quite unlike many run-of-the-mill greys. It's not very photogenic though, so I'm not surprised that quality isn't at all apparent from Vis' review. I'm extremely happy to have a bottle :-)

[lapis]

Thanks, Migo, and I thought I was the only one here who liked this stuff....

[migo984]

Thanks, Migo, and I thought I was the only one here who liked this stuff....

No - we have the same tastes with this ink :-)

 

Was thinking about you last night Mike. Such sadness. Hope you and yours are all OK.

[inkstainedruth]

Pretty color, but has the same problem I found with J Herbin Gris Nuage -- it's too light to be legible. Hopefully it's better behaved than the sample I had of Fuyu-syogen, which dripped all over the place.

Thanks for the review, though.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[lapis]

No - we have the same tastes with this ink :-)

 

Was thinking about you last night Mike. Such sadness. Hope you and yours are all OK.

How kind of you. We're all okay. But very very lucky as my daughter was just about to go to the movies exactly next to the market, minutes after the happening, and 1000 policemen told her to go home, so she did.

 

Shudder

[hsianloon]

Do you by any chance have the Fuyu Syogun to compare with ? Looks very similar to me

[visvamitra]

@hsianloon - here's some fast comparison on Tomoe River paper (as usually written with Kaweco Classic Sport with broad nib):

 

[lgsoltek]

It's too pale... Like Gris Nuage from J. Herbin...

[Clumsy_Penman]

Looks very light grey, but I believe it looks pretty 'vintage-fade' on ivory or yellow toned paper. Do you know how it compares to also light grey Diamine 150 anniversary - Silver Fox?

Edited December 29, 2016 by Clumsy_Penman

[visvamitra]

I remember Silver Fox was much nicer but I haven't used it since two years so...I won't tell you much.

[rudyhou]

that's a very light grey. reminds me of a cross between Iro fuyu-shogun and J.Herbin grey.

[Tas]

It's too pale... Like Gris Nuage from J. Herbin...

 

Agreed.

[hsianloon]

@hsianloon - here's some fast comparison on Tomoe River paper (as usually written with Kaweco Classic Sport with broad nib):

 

 

Thanks for the comparison. It is a different hue when compared side to side !

[ethernautrix]

Ricky (Altec_Green) gave me a sample of this gray ink a few years ago - and I liked it very much; the sample didn't last long.

 

And then, out of necessity, I lost interest in hard-to-get inks. For at least a year, I've been enjoying Faber-Castell Stone Grey. Vis, your comparisons are very helpful. Thank you!

 

Interesting about the hard-starting. I hate that, too. Don't recall such issue with the sample I used.