Sailor "tokiwa-Matsu" Review - The Multi-Hue Wonder

[Intensity]

Sailor Jentle "Tokiwa-Matsu"

A few other review threads for this ink on FPN:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/327559-sailor-jentle-tokiwa-matsu/

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/313271-sailor-tokiwa-matsu-evergreen-pine/

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/284069-sailor-jentle-tokiwa-matsu/

. . .

 

Sailor inks are famous for their complex hues, great sheen, and good behavior in pens and on paper. There are far too many to choose from, including the various lines exclusive to stores, such as the Kobe line or the Bungbox line. There's a shade out there for everyone.

 

This particular ink is part of the Sailor "Jentle" line, which is widely available, thankfully, and can be found at reasonable prices from lots of on-line vendors.

 

While Jentle Yama-Dori has achieved practically a cult following, other inks from the Jentle line caught my eye after seeing others' reviews. In particular, Tokiwa-Matsu really stood out due to its multi-hue olive green shading and the beautiful red-copper sheen. I got a sample to try out, and now a full-sized bottle is on its way.

 

I have tested this ink on Clairefontaine (their signature lavender tinted white paper) and Fabriano's light cream Bioprima 85g/m2 paper. I present photographs only of the latter, as the ink basically looks the same on both paper types, with the exception of Clairefontaine showing more sheen. But I usually prefer how the ink appears on the latter.

 

One of the interesting properties of this ink is that it drips down onto the page as a bluish green (see wet paper towel sample), but once absorbed into the paper and after drying for a couple of minutes, it morphs into a warm brownish-olive hue. The color shift is quite visible as you write and is a fun behavior to observe. The shift is particularly strong where the ink pools up, as those spots morph further toward red-copper, thanks to the strong sheening behavior. You do need something like Tomoe River to show a strong metallic sheen, but on "lesser" paper the sheen will still show up, it just won't be as obviously metallic.

 

The ink has many components and spreads onto a paper towel and in water resistance tests into shades ranging from light blue to green, to olive, to pale lime-yellow. Water washes off the olive tones and leaves behind a legible light blue line.

 

This ink is concentrated enough to use with a flex pen to make nicely saturated hairlines. If I had put it into my Nakaya with a wider cursive italic nib and dry flow, I believe you'd see more of the shading and a significantly lighter olive green color, but I did not observe much shading with the flexible fine line of the Eversharp Skyline pen I mainly used the ink with.

 

On Col-o-Ring and paper towel (yes, this is all one and the same ink!):

 

Fabriano paper in natural daylight shade:

 

 

 

 

Edited October 30, 2017 by Intensity

[titevm]

Really love this ink! Mine sheens like crazy on clairefontaine paper.

Thanks for the great review

[Green Ink]

Excellent photos, great review. Huge thanks. I love this ink.

[cello]

Love this review, and I love this ink!

[lapis]

Great review and you sure know how to whip out a sheen.

[Intensity]

Thank you, this ink sheens quite easily on good paper, and basically looks like that in good daylight. I didn't do any bright artificial light photos, but you can get a more metallic glimmer with those, though faintly. This ink's sheen is more color shift, less shine.

[Chrissy]

Thank you for the review. It's a very nice ink that regularly sheens well

[minddance]

Under the same conditions, I find Oku Yama sheening alot more boldly than Tokiwa Matsu. Tokiwa Matsu is picky about where and how much it sheens; Oku Yama can sheen under more conditions.

 

Tokiwa Matsu is a well made ink, lubricated and fairly water resistant, leaving behind a blue-black line after soaking in water. There is a possibility of it staining converters blue if not careful. And dont forget it smells of phenols.

 

I totally enjoy the colour and phenol aromatherapy it provides.

 

And I flush the pen and ultrasonic-clean it everytime I change from a Jentle ink to another brand. Jentle Ink is actually not gentle in that it can leave a film or residue in the feed and pen. This, I find, can impede flow of other inks.

Edited November 4, 2017 by minddance

[Intensity]

Under the same conditions, I find Oku Yama sheening alot more boldly than Tokiwa Matsu. Tokiwa Matsu is picky about where and how much it sheens; Oku Yama can sheen under more conditions.

 

Tokiwa Matsu is a well made ink, lubricated and fairly water resistant, leaving behind a blue-black line after soaking in water. There is a possibility of it staining converters blue if not careful. And dont forget it smells of phenols.

 

I totally enjoy the colour and phenol aromatherapy it provides.

 

And I flush the pen and ultrasonic-clean it everytime I change from a Jentle ink to another brand. Jentle Ink is actually not gentle in that it can leave a film or residue in the feed and pen. This, I find, can impede flow of other inks.

 

That's good to know, thanks! I have 3 Jentle inks, though I've only loaded this one so far. Would a good ammonia solution flush be sufficient for cleaning out any ink residue instead of an ultrasonic cleaner?

 

I agree that Tokiwa Matsu is not a sheen monster compared to other well-sheening inks, however it has a definite noticeable color shift part of the sheen that can be present in regular writing.

 

Personal opinion: I like how Oku Yama is kind of a reverse of Tokiwa Matsu in the hue/sheen categories, and I did consider getting it to use in combination with Tokiwa Matsu, while wondering about using more of such "opposite" ink combinations, however I'm not a fan of writing with the base color of Oku Yama. I'd love to get a purple ink with a light blue sheen, and a light blue ink with a purple sheen (the latter is possibly easier).

Edited November 4, 2017 by Intensity

[minddance]

 

That's good to know, thanks! I have 3 Jentle inks, though I've only loaded this one so far. Would a good ammonia solution flush be sufficient for cleaning out any ink residue instead of an ultrasonic cleaner?

 

I agree that Tokiwa Matsu is not a sheen monster compared to other well-sheening inks, however it has a definite noticeable color shift part of the sheen that can be present in regular writing.

 

Personal opinion: I like how Oku Yama is kind of a reverse of Tokiwa Matsu in the hue/sheen categories, and I did consider getting it to use in combination with Tokiwa Matsu, while wondering about using more of such "opposite" ink combinations, however I'm not a fan of writing with the base color of Oku Yama. I'd love to get a purple ink with a light blue sheen, and a light blue ink with a purple sheen (the latter is possibly easier).

First of all, I love your handwriting!

 

I have never used ammonia in washing pens and have no idea. I use water and ultrasonic cleaner and find it adequate. Or maybe I need ammonia too? I am not very sure.

 

Yes, I agree with you that in a freshly-inked pen, Tokiwa Matsu does have that colour shift and ocassional sheen that adds interest to the writing, that I find delectable. I do not chase after inks that sheen so heavily that it obscures the colour of the ink. Oku Yama can do that easily, especially if I left the ink to evaporate in some pens and use tomoe river, in fact, I feel tomoe river might be redundant with an aged Oku Yama.

 

Oku Yama + Tokiwa Matsu might be hinting at Christmas? A Japanese one, perhaps?

Edited November 5, 2017 by minddance

[DrDebG]

This is a lovely ink. Thank you for the very nice review. Your handwriting is very nice indeed!

[namrehsnoom]

That ink looks great! And even more so in your wonderful review... very nicely presented... kudos!

[ENewton]

There is a possibility of it staining converters blue if not careful.

 

What does being "careful" entail? I am thinking of buying this ink as a holiday gift for someone and would like to provide any appropriate advice.

 

For example, if one had this ink in a transparent pen for two weeks, would it be likely to stain the pen?

[minddance]

 

What does being "careful" entail? I am thinking of buying this ink as a holiday gift for someone and would like to provide any appropriate advice.

 

For example, if one had this ink in a transparent pen for two weeks, would it be likely to stain the pen?

This is not an ink I would use in transparent pens and store it for weeks. I guess being careful means not storing it for weeks, also, to flush the pen out after every fill, not allowing ink to dry in the pens but even being careful isn't quite enough sometimes.

 

I am not sure what kind of transparent pen you refer to: would it be a transparent barrel with a cartridge convertor or a transparent piston filler/eye dropper in which the barrel itself contains the ink?

 

I cannot say, for sure, if it would stain transparent materials after 2 weeks because there are differences in plastics, some stain more easily due to age and chemical composition, some probably won't. But there certainly is a possibility of staining.

 

I have not used this ink in a transparent piston filler after seeing what it could do to my cartridge converters.

 

Probably ammonia (diluted) or pen cleaning solution from diamine, herbin, platinum could clean off the blue stain? I have not tried it. Or maybe a fill with another ink might just wash it off. I have not tried it too.

 

This is a beautifully made ink, satisfyingly saturated, and despite possible staining issues, I would certainly get another bottle(s) if mine runs out.

Edited November 5, 2017 by minddance

[inkstainedruth]

Thanks for the review.

I tried Tokiwa-Matsu awhile back, and while I liked it okay, I found that there were similarly hued green inks I liked better (and were both easier come by and less expensive -- and less likely to be suddenly snatched off the market the way Sailor did with the previous inks in the Jentle line).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Intensity]

Thanks for the review.

I tried Tokiwa-Matsu awhile back, and while I liked it okay, I found that there were similarly hued green inks I liked better (and were both easier come by and less expensive -- and less likely to be suddenly snatched off the market the way Sailor did with the previous inks in the Jentle line).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Hmm, Tokiwa Matsu is highly affordable from, say, Amazon. I got my bottle shipped from Japan for $12 total. There was a sale on penchalet for the fountain pen day, and their regular Jentle inks were close to that amount too, so I got two other colors from there.

Edited November 6, 2017 by Intensity