Seiran - Sailor Se Ink For Shousaikan Store

[visvamitra]

As most of you know from Algester's excellent topic, Sailor produces a lot of stunning inks for japanese shops. Only small fraction of their inks is available worldwide through official retailers. Many inks are sold only in Japan and only in specialised shops. It seems Shousaikan inks can't be bought online unless you;re ready to pay almost 200 $ for a bottle (I"ve just stumbled upon ebay auction where the price is 184 $). It's a shame, really.

 

Anyway I know only about two colors offered by Shousaikan: one is called Seiran(青藍 and my google translator translates it as Blue) the other one Shinzan - "Deep in the Mountains" (深山).

 

Seiran is deep and wet blue black ink, I can see it make some of blue/black fans drool. I do agree it's nice ink however it's not perfectly behaved. It has one drawback that I find most irritating in inks. It tends to clog the pen when it's left uncapped for 20-30 seconds. After such short time the nib tends to skip- in other words it's hard starter. For me it's a deal breaker, for others it's acceptable.

 

Apart from drying on the nib it performs rather nicely. I gaven't experienced feathering or bleedthrough. It has no water resistance.

 

Drops of ink on kitchen towel

Color ID

Color range

Tomoe River, Kaweco Classic Sport, medium nib

Leuchtturm 1917, Kaweco Classic Sport, medium nib

Kokuyo Myo, Kaweco Classic Sport, medium nib

Maruman, Kaweco Classic Sport, medium nib

Water resistance

Edited January 7, 2017 by visvamitra

[lgsoltek]

It's rather nice, but surely not worth the effort to hunt it down, nor $200.

[T4TEXAS]

Maybe it's a huge 50 mm bottle for $200. That would really make it attractive.

[gylyf]

Wow, that's a lovely blue! On the other hand, the prices those auctions are reaching are depressing...

[Jjf1989]

I'm sure if you message the guy behind coolJapan he could get it for you. He got me a bottle of the other shousaikan ink for around the same price as the Kobe inks. And it was worth every penny.

[AndyYNWA]

I have this on my wish list...

However, it's extremely hard to get hold of... :/

[amberleadavis]

Wonderful review.

[mehandiratta]

Nice review...

Nothing special about the color

[Cryptos]

I don't get it (the $200 bit). I bought a bottle of this from Atsu last year for less. Haven't opened it yet though, but it's not unusual for me to have unopened bottles of ink lying around.

[jmccarty3]

The is one of my favorite inks, and one of the very few that have prompted me to buy more than one bottle.

[Ghost Plane]

Can anyone put this next to Kobe #51? Seems close.

[migo984]

Can anyone put this next to Kobe #51? Seems close.

 

I have both. I think #51 is darker. I'll do a comparison in the morning, unless someone else does one first.

[Ghost Plane]

Thanks! I've used all my 51 and couldn't remember if it leans darker or not.

[migo984]

Thanks! I've used all my 51 and couldn't remember if it leans darker or not.

 

Here's the comparison:

 

[swanjun]

Kobe #51 *is* really close to Usagiya Kojima Denim, though.

[visvamitra]

I think I prefer kano-cho.

[amberleadavis]

Especially for the price!

 

Vis, thanks for the review.

 

Migo, thanks for the comparison.

[Ghost Plane]

Thank you! I'm sticking with the 51.

[AndyYNWA]

 

Here's the comparison:

 

I like Seiran better, but since I already have #51 I don't think I will walk over dead bodies for it...

[Cyber6]

Thank you! I'm sticking with the 51.

 

Also... 51 has a gorgeous green SHEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...