Pilot Iroshizuku Take-Sumi

[jandrese]

This is the latest offering from the expensive Pilot iroshizuku lineup. If I'm not mistaken it is the last ink that completes this line of inks. Take-sumi is supposed to be the color of, well, take-sumi or bamboo charcoal, which has many uses including human consumption. I am not the biggest fan of black inks and the initial reviews of this ink left me confused. Was it good or not? The only thing certain was that it was expensive for an ink. So, I surprised myself when I added it to my Goulet Pens order. Would it be an expensive mistake? In a word, NO!

 

 

 

 

As you can see, this ink is not waterproof, but it is water resistant. Maybe a little more so than most of the comparison inks. Noodler's 1870 Dallas pen show ink is bulletproof and eternal (I think) so that was obviously the winner here in the water resistance games. Take-sumi's water resistance is good enough for me.

 

This is not like other black ink I've tried. It is a true luxury ink, it is refined and sophisticated. The closet thing might be Pelikan's similarly expensive Edelstein Onyx, which I like, but not nearly as much as take-sumi. Even though I am overly educated, well-traveled, and cultured not so deep down I'm still a rube from rural Iowa. This ink may be too good for me. It may be more than I can handle. Look at the artwork below that was drawn with sumi ink (not fountain pen ink!). This artwork could have been drawn with take-sumi ink, but not by me. This ink is good stuff, very good stuff. Don't let the price be a barrier, it is worth every penny.

 

http://www.zengyotaku.com/i/gallery2/zg2_12_sumi_ichiban.jpg

[Newjelan]

Thanks jandrese, I bought this ink because I adore Iroshizuku inks, even though I'm not at fan of black inks. I haven't used it yet and your review has prompted me to fill a pen with it today and have some fun.

[doctoralberto]

Excellent ink. Used it in your Metropolitan and you will see!!!

[bitterwonder]

Your scan shows it to be a warm rather than cool ink.

Is that so?

[sarahfar]

It is definitely one interesting and elegant ink. I like it and do use it...

 

Nice review

[miatagrrl]

Hello! Thank you for this review. After wandering aimlessly in the general "Inky" area for quite a while, I finally stumbled onto this section of reviews on specific inks, and I've found it very informative.

 

For writing, I have no use for black inks (my current favorites are Diamine Poppy Red, J. Herbin Rose Cyclamen, Diamine Majestic Purple and Pilot Iroshizuku Ku-Jaku -- see, no use for black ). But my primary use of a fountain pen is for sketching, and for that, I'm very interested in black, dark blue, brown and gray inks. My favorite sketching ink for a while has been Private Reserve Velvet Black with the gorgeous dark purple shading properties. But then I discovered Iroshizuku Take-Sumi, and it's currently my favorite "black" (although it's hard to call it that). Its very subtle shading on the cool side is beautiful in sketches. Reviews that include a water test are especially helpful to me because then I can see what shading would look like.

 

Here's a recent example, a bobcat skull sketched at the Burke Museum of Natural History, Seattle. (The shadow was done with a marker, not ink.)

 

- Tina

 

Edited April 22, 2013 by miatagrrl

[Nick T]

Hmmmm..... Another Iroshizuku ink to add to my want list. I do not use black ink very much at all but sometimes the great handling properties of an ink will compel me to use it. Thank you for the review!

[georges zaslavsky]

lovely color thank for the review

[Rafael Macia]

I just received a bottle of Take-Sumi, which I think is a fine black ink with lots of character. I have it in a vintage 100N Pelikan with an oblique broad nib. It works perfect!. Great shading, and dries quick.

It seems to be the answer to my search for a black which is NOT bulletproof, but quite water resistant. The pens I use on a daily basis are mostly vintage, and I did not want any of the staining issues bulletproof inks can sometimes have.

 

Thank you for the review !

[XiaoMG]

It'd be kinda cool if there were a surprise black ink sample pack for folks to try. I wonder how many people would find magic in pedestrian stuff and how many would fail to be impressed by the luxury inks.

 

I don't doubt Take-sumi is decent; I saw a sample in person a while ago, and was fine. Not incredible, but not bad at all. I have quite a bit of experience with sumi and Chinese calligraphy inks, though I don't do much brush work myself. I much prefer Kiwaguro for my quasiblack shiny carbon stuff, and an iron gall like Urkundentinte for a matte shading grey-black. Perhaps Take-sumi is more friendly to cleaning efforts, but on paper I didn't find anything very unique or deep.

 

Maybe if I didn't live close to Japan, it'd seem more magical.

[madhukrishna]

Will take-sumi go well with 149 MB's ?????

[Ghost Plane]

Will take-sumi go well with 149 MB's ?????

Yes! I'm using Iroshizuku in mine because of the good behavior. The only pens I find problematic are my Visconti power-fillers & that's a function of the design being awful to flush clear, not the inks.

[GeekyGirl]

Thanks for the review and the nice images jandrese. I especially appreciate your doing the water tests with the comparisons to other inks.

 

I don't tend to like black ink, but I'm ordering a bottle of Sailor Kiwa-Guro Nano Black for a very specific project and have also been pleasantly surprised by my cartridge of Platinum Carbon Black. Today I tried Take-sumi, thinking, for some reason, that it was a dark gray. It's not. It's rich black that flows better than any ink I can think of ever using. I actually wrote in my ink journal that it felt like writing with liquid silk. I'm sure that if compared to Aurora or Noodler's it wouldn't be the blacker black, but I find it black enough and even if I didn't, the feel from the nib is reason enough to win me over to the dark side.

 

By the way, I had it in a Lamy 2000 with an EF nib, so the fact that it felt like silk is telling, to me at least.

Edited June 30, 2014 by GeekyGirl

[Ghost Plane]

It's even nicer with an O3B. Hovercraft!

[Blue_Moon]

I really don't care for black inks, but I do like darker colors. I may buy a bottle of this to mix with my other Iroshizuku inks. Iroshizuku ink is on the expensive side, so maybe I could create some colors with this, such as mixing this ink with Kon-Peki in order to create Asa-Gao (or a close imitation).

[Kevan]

It'd be kinda cool if there were a surprise black ink sample pack for folks to try. I wonder how many people would find magic in pedestrian stuff and how many would fail to be impressed by the luxury inks.

 

I don't doubt Take-sumi is decent; I saw a sample in person a while ago, and was fine. Not incredible, but not bad at all. I have quite a bit of experience with sumi and Chinese calligraphy inks, though I don't do much brush work myself. I much prefer Kiwaguro for my quasiblack shiny carbon stuff, and an iron gall like Urkundentinte for a matte shading grey-black. Perhaps Take-sumi is more friendly to cleaning efforts, but on paper I didn't find anything very unique or deep.

 

Maybe if I didn't live close to Japan, it'd seem more magical.

I think there's definitely credence to this. I love Iroshizuku inks and I have several, two of which -- Kon Peki and Tsuki Yo -- are two of the best blues I have ever encountered, and my top two favorite inks outright. Yama Guri is probably the best "sepia" that I've found, but R&K Sepia and Herbin Cacao du Bresil are not only in the same neighborhood, they're on the same street. Fuyu Gaki is a nice "cool" orange, but in some nibs it's just an...orange. And in some nibs, Momiji looks like a basic reddish pink, nothing special at all. And Shin Kai...well that can't make up its mind what it wants to be. In 1,1 stubs it fades to almost grey. It does better in finer nibs, but I'm still waiting to be wowed by it. I like blue-greys, but I like them to be more blue, especially since Shin Kai starts out so saturated.

 

But Take Sumi is just...how different can black really be? Plain ol' Namiki black shades in a soft fine or medium nib. Sure, the Iroshizuku inks have ,great qualities to them, and that's why I like them so much, because along with Diamine, R&K, and (most) J. Herbin, they're the best behaved inks out there IMO. But...I've yet to see a black ink that doesn't just look, well, black to me.

 

So if we actually did a blind test of black inks in a regular Lamy Safari F nib or something, would people really be able to pick out the premium $26 IroshizukuTake Sumi? Somehow I doubt it.

[Bhavna]

Jandrese, thank you for this fantastic review. I have actually come from a google search for Take-Sumi, and here you are! I love this 'black' it is fantastic and has helped me resolve to get this in the new year (so I can justify it..!)

[MHBru]

I see that this is an older post but I am a new member and just seeing it. I enjoy Iroshizuku inks and have been intrigued by this black for a while... a sample should arrive tomorrow for my M800 fine...