Thoughts On Iroshizuku Shin Ryoku And Murasaki Shikibu

[sxs]

Recently impulse bought those inks, thoughts on quality?

[xwingrox]

Shin Ryoku is beautiful. That said, it has pretty poor water resistance and generally feathers on cheaper paper. Definitely an ink to use for practicing your handwriting but not for your homework

[Algester]

Murasaki-Shikibu is like plum Purple beautiful color closest inks probably are Diamine Handel and Pen and Message Sailor San-ya-sou

and like all Iroshizuku beautiful... but prices overseas... well not so much...

Edited September 12, 2014 by Algester

[annettefhorn]

I used some Shin-Ryoku at one time and wasn't terribly interested in the color even though I love green, but mileage varies. I like Murasaki-Shikibu a lot, and I'm picky about purples. I find it beautiful and delicate without being cloying.

 

I've never been unhappy with the performance of an Iroshizuku ink, but I certainly wouldn't expect a lot of water resistance from them.

 

I am awaiting a bottle of Ina-Ho (first time for me) and a bottle of Tsuki-yo (replacement of a favorite) in the mail from JetPens.

[Aurko]

I personally love Shin Ryoku, but I agree that it needs decent paper to shine. It doesn't do TERRIBLY on cheap paper, at least in my experience, but it loses some of it's depth. If you can get away with doing your homework on decent paper, then it's a great ink. Murasaki Shikibu is a nice purple, but I don't like mine nearly as much as my Shin Ryoku. Then again, the only purple I've ever really fallen in love with is Scabiosa, so your mileage may vary.

[Lou Erickson]

I don't have either of these colors, but they look nice on the screen to me. I have Momiji and Asa-Gao, both of which I like. They are well behaved and strong colors. I hope you enjoy yours!

[amberleadavis]

If you those are your impulse purchases, you will be just fine. Both are very good inks. Not perfect, but they are vivid, pretty and easy to clean from your pens.

[A144]

Shin-ryoku was one of the first two bottles of Iroshizuku ink that I bought after trying a few samples. It's a great green that leans more on the blue side of green vs the yellow side. I'm a huge fan of green ink, and have more than any other color. This is a nice unique addition to my greens.

 

I have not used Murasaki-Shikubu, but I like purple inks as well, so this one is on my wishlist.

[Lou Erickson]

I admit, after looking up both colors (I can never remember what color each of the Iroshizuku names are) I am pondering bottles. I don't need more, so the temptation isn't too bad...

[FountainPenCowgirl]

Was just reaching for my M-S inked pen when I saw this thread. Like all of my Irosohzuku inks, it flows like a dream. Always reliable start. Lovely color - and I'm a purple snob. It's comparable to another favorite, but far easier and nicer to use. Great choice.

[Algester]

my very first impulse buy of Iroshizuku ink was Yu-yake :3 it looked like... BLEH on my Sailor Lecoule but on the Lamy it was love

[SpeakerToAnimals]

Murasaki-shikibu is something like Herbin violette pensee. It is slightly transparent/shaded, so I think needs a nice wide stub to really let it shine.

 

I've liked ALL of the Iroshizuku inks i've bought so far (although I'll admit chiku-rin (bamboo forest) took a bit of work to appreciate!). They all seem to flow really well in all of the pens I've tried, from Sailors, through to indian handmade ebonite eyedroppers, to Pilot Prera eyedroppers and Jinhao 159!

 

As regards price, I find either ebay, where you can find bargains, or imported from japan via Amazon (although you sometimes need to go to .com as opposed to .co.uk, or even .de if you can manage german (or use google chrome translate feature), because the same importers prices and postage can vary a lot between sites! If you're lucky, and willing to wait for bargains, you can get the colour you want at below the £15 cost+packing point where you have to pay VAT on importation into the UK (I don't have any objections to tax, just the £8 handling fee that gets added!). Or maybe I jusy enjoy trying to find bargains on the web.............

 

I find the behaviour to be very good and consistent across the range, from oranges right through to bamboo charcoal, with no nasty surprises (for example, a diamine orange that leaves gunk like industrial waste/monster from quatermass experiment on the nib after five minutes). Not everyday inks, I'll use something cheaper for that, but for emphasis or the pure visual joy of a stunning colour on the page, I'll fly Pilot!

[Lou Erickson]

Darn it, SpeakerToAnimals, you are not convincing me to not order a bottle.

[SujiCorp12345]

I have a bunch of Iro inks. I don't have murasaki-shikibu, but I do have shin-ryoku, which is actually the only green I have, beside Diamine Ultra Green. The shin-ryoku is a nice green, and as with all the Iroshizuku inks, its easy to clean and flows nice and wet.

[Ghost Plane]

I'm grinning that someone else remembers the Quartermass movies. I have a fondness for the freeze-dried grasshopper in Hobbs Lane.

[sxs]

Thanks everyone for your input!!

[SpeakerToAnimals]

I'm grinning that someone else remembers the Quartermass movies. I have a fondness for the freeze-dried grasshopper in Hobbs Lane.

The cleansing of the martian hives......................

 

You had to imagine the colour of the gunk, so always a more vivid colour than any I'd found in reality, until I inspected my clogged nib! :-)