Shin-Zen 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).

Shinzen has the right hue - I simply love this kind of greens. Sadly this ink disappoints on few fronts (compared to most Sailor inks). It lacks lubrication, it's averagely saturated and it tends to clog some pens when you leave them uncapped for a while. I haven't experienced feathering or bleedthrough. It has no water resistance.

The hue is as I like it, behavior not so much. For Hunters & Collectors.

Drops of ink on kitchen towel

Color ID

Color range

Tomoe River, Kaweco Classic Sport, medium nib

Leuchtturm 1917, Kaweco Classic Sport, medium nib

No-name notebook, Dunhill Sentryman, medium nib

Cheap copy paper, Lamy AL-Star, medium nib

[lgsoltek]

I don't like the colour shown in the splash, but the colour in the writing sample with Kaweco is pretty! Looks like a very juicy nib!

[Uncial]

It's a beautiful ink that almost topped Tanna Japonensis for me. Thankfully I got it before the insanity set in.

[Barkingpig]

Thank you for revealing the mystery ink; also for it's warts, which preclude me bothering Mr. Tanaka "over the weekend!" I just wrote the name & provenance down with a pen filled with Diamine's Wagner to remember it; will also consider my bottles of Wagner to suffice!

[T4TEXAS]

I was shocked at $200! But $184, what a bargain!

[thudthwacker]

I don't like the colour shown in the splash, but the colour in the writing sample with Kaweco is pretty! Looks like a very juicy nib!

 

I was thinking the same thing; the splash didn't look like a color I'd like, but the writing on Tomoe River was really beautiful. Not, you know, $200 worth of beautiful, but still a really wonderful ink if it fits in your stationery budget.

[white_lotus]

Hm, I had a sample of a green ink from this shop a while back with this name and it was much lighter than shown here. Very similar to BB 88 Green Tea, and none of the problems vis is having. That was in May 2015. I also got a sample of this ink and will have to check what I got.

[Abner C. Kemp]

Looks very similar to Montblanc Daniel DeFoe Palm Green.

Edited January 29, 2017 by Abner C. Kemp

[BCGGSM]

I think you have reviewed this ink earlier too, Visvamitra.

 

I do agree with most of your observations except the drying out part, haven't faced that. In my experience with this ink, is an under-saturated colour with less lubrication that other sailor inks. I thought maybe it was just me, but now I know that others have faced the problem of less than standard sailor lubrication with this ink.

 

Colour also appear a lot lighter than what you got. Reviewed from a sample?

[visvamitra]

Yes. from a sample The Kaweco was turned to eyedroper and the flow is more than generous hence the ink looks strongly saturated.

[lgsoltek]

Yes. from a sample The Kaweco was turned to eyedroper and the flow is more than generous hence the ink looks strongly saturated.

I'm tempted to get one!

[white_lotus]

I have a sample of the same ink from the same source, and I think in more normal pens you won't get such a dark color. I also have had none of the hard start problems vis is having. The ink is not as lubricating as some other Sailor inks, and I don't think it's a flaw.

 

The ink has an interesting characteristic where it goes down a brighter ink, less neutral, and dries to the more olive color. I think this is intended as reflected in the name "Deep in the Mountains" — a place where the green colors change as you move in and out of sunlight. The feedback perhaps represents your footsteps on the path deep in the mountains. That's a speculation on my part but a reasonable one I think.

 

The color is a little lighter, in normal pens, than the Sailor Kingdom Note Tanna japonesis, but not by a lot. They are fairly close, but quite distinguishable.

 

I think this is a really good ink.

 

 

[visvamitra]

Looks very well

[mk2579]

I bought this recently with the blue Seiran via White Rabbit Express- only $20 or so each. And yes as mentioned it is very similar to bungbox 88, I prefer to use it in a finer nib.

[mmg122]

It seems to be a nice shader but I'm not a big fan of olive greens. The latest prices certainly make this ink pretty unobtainable. It's a shame it's not better behaved (at least Vis' sample).

Thanks for your review, Vis and your additional comments and writing sample, white_lotus.

Does anyone have a picture of the bottle to post?

 

Mary

Edited March 14, 2017 by mmg122

[Uncial]

My bottle is the bud one but it has no label as such, just a little strip of yellowy green paper. The cap has a sticker with a feather pen writing a straight line.

[mk2579]

It seems to be a nice shader but I'm not a big fan of olive greens. The latest prices certainly make this ink pretty unobtainable. It's a shame it's not better behaved (at least Vis' sample).

Thanks for your review, Vis and your additional comments and writing sample, white_lotus.

Does anyone have a picture of the bottle to post?

 

Mary

 

I do, here it is...for some reason the thin label on the bottle looks a bit washed out- same with the Seiran. I've seen this with others bottles too, but then some have a very crisp labels (go figure!)

 

The cap label is also confusing as it is blue for both Shin-zen and Seiran...

 

 

The boxes are also an enigma, with only a little yellow dot on the top giving away which bottle is which, as you can see here;

 

 

I find BungBox 88 Green Tea, Tana Japonesis and this Shin-zan a little bit too yellow for my taste in broader pens. As far as soothing green tea's go, Kobe #34 Souraken Green tea is the winner.

 

As mentioned before I like it very much in my Sailor PG Slim with H-F nib as it is a pleasing colour for journaling in my Hobonichi- also good for colouring if you like doodling in your monthly view... (Ahem) it also matches my pen.

 

*Nice review by the way!

Edited March 19, 2017 by kunju123

[ethernautrix]

That's a gorgeous green shade - both samples (Vis's + WLotus's). I have to admit that whenever I see a tempting near-unobtainium Japanese ink, I wonder if Konrad has a reasonably similar color. I guess it's my coping mechanism. (*laughs*)

[Uncial]

It can be very difficult to match these Japanese murky greens. I thought KWZ inks Hunter Green might have come close but it's much, much too dark. Maybe if it was diluted it might work. I'll try it out and if it's close in any way I'll post it up here.

[DrDebG]

Great review, as always, Vis! I am very thankful, however, that I truthfully don't care for the color and so I will not be missing much.