Handwritten review below

Click to view attachment

Thanks for the reviews, I've been quite interested in ordering some of the Pilot specialty blues.

This one is my favourite out of the five, very nice blue-black colour.

Great series of reviews, and helpful writings and swatches. Thank you. (This particular color is the most tempting of the lot for me.)

Oo! I ordered two of these, one for me and one for... (Simon, look away! It's a surprise!) (actually, I told him when I ordered them a month ago...) -- and a week after they arrived, I finally inked a pen with it Saturday, a Sheaffer Snorkel Crest (F or XF), and then I used it yesterday... and it's a very intriguing color, and I was just thinking that this might displace black as my primary ink color.

But then I took a look at your other reviews, and the Asa-gao is very pretty, reminds me of Visconti Blue (without the side-by-side comparison).

But this color, of the five, is the most distinctive, the most unusual, so that adds to its appeal.

I like it very much, and I enjoyed your reviews of the five inks, too. Thank you!

Ooh, this is a very nice blue-black. Between this review and Kate's review of the Dupont Blue-Black, I'm getting some serious ink envy. Thanks for the scan. Best,
David

Wow, you've been on a tear! Thanks! ;-)

And I really like this color.

Where is this ink available for purchase?

Here is the thread.

And here is the post with the link to the Ujuku Shop.

There might be some delay from order to receiving, as the ink seems to be in high demand. It seems it took only three weeks for mine to arrive, though, which was quicker than I expected.

How is the color fastness with this ink? I'm expecting it wouldn't be bulletproof like Noodler's, but can it handle a little moisture without bleeding?


Also, when you go to place an order, it seems to be one item at a time. Can you combine items to save on shipping? Do you just submit each item one at a time and then a final tally is put together for the whole order?

I received a bottle of the kon-peki color yesterday. Only tried it on Whitelines paper so far. With a drop of water onto a dry line, there is significant bleeding (a vivid blue droplet,) but even with light rubbing, a bit of the original line remains.



Regards, greg

Looks like Tsuki-yo washes out some but remains very legible after put under the faucet.

http://luciferase.exblog.jp/6798124/

From Top - Pilot Tsuki-yo, Pilot regular Blue, Pelikan Blue Black, Dunhill Blue.

I just read Iroshizuku line will be extended to three greens and two grays by fall, and five reds/oranges by the end of this year

Thanks everyone, I'm glad the review was useful!

Attached below is a scan of the rinse and soak test results for the five colours.

Click to view attachment

Thanks for the water test! Even Ajisai, which seems the lightest of the five, holds up pretty well

The ordering process for ujuku is a bit cumbersome but you have to submit one item at a time OR you can email him directly with what kind of pen you want (model/colour/nib/etc).

Thats great news! I'm guessing some of the red/oranges will be based on autumn colours.

If you want to order multiple items from Ujuku in one order, go to their home page and use the link "A blanket purchase Text Form". You need to manually copy and paste model number etc. though. I might need to make "a blanket purchase" soon

Thanks, Taki. I did see that Blanket Purchase, but the non-text one bombed on me--I figured the text one wouldn't work either. I just tried it and it seems fine. OK, time to order some ink!

In comparing handwritten ink samples, I see almost no difference in color between Noodler's Legal Lapis and Pilot Tsuki-yo. While Legal Lapis works okay in my free-flowing Sailor pens, the dry-writing fine Pilots work better for me with Pilot, Sailor, Diamine and Herbin inks. But ordering Tsuki-yo might have to wait for the release of those green inks. Now that is good news!

How do you soak 1/3 of the page up to the line without the water wicking up into the rest of the sheet anyway?

I don't know either but the water test was done in a 7-11 64 oz coffee mug with the paper held vertically.

A little background: I've got a couple of bottles of Noodler's ink here -- not mine -- and permission to fill some pens and try them out. I finally opened the package and tested them with a Q-Tip. One of the inks is the Legal Lapis. Eh, I thought, not crazy about it. I was reluctant to tell Simon, cos he really likes it. Meanwhile, my Tsuki-yo order arrived nearly two weeks ago, and I finally got around to inking a pen with it (Sheaffer Snorkel Crest, F) on Monday. I was astounded by the color. It was amazing. I'd never seen an ink color like it. It'll be my signature ink, I thought.

Meanwhile, there were the two bottles of Noodler's ink (the other is Ellis Island, which I liked when I tried it in New York...) . I flushed my Lamy 2000 and filled it with the Legal Lapis. I don't know why. Just did. I liked it better coming out of a nib than I did making two short lines with a Q-Tip. The Lamy is one of my dailies, so I used it at work and told Simon that the Legal Lapis was all right, I hadn't decided if I liked it or not.

And then I read your comment, Margana. I took out the Lamy and the Sheaffer and wrote a few sentences with each on a white sheet of copy paper.

I laughed and laughed.

I could not tell them apart.

I absolutely LOVED the Iroshizuku (Pilot); I was ambivalent about the Noodler's. Gee, what could account for the difference in my perception....





I wonder....

I stopped using LL because nib creep drove me crazy, and mine (three or four year old) has turned really greenish. I could see some precipitation on the bottom of the bottle. I shook it really well but I feel like the color has changed. Tsuki-yo seems a little 'thinner' in consistency than LL, and I'm not having nib creep. I'd get Tsuki-yo when I order my bottles of Iroshizuku

I wonder.... indeed... That really is a wonderfully presented ink ...

Just waiting to get a 4.5oz bottle of LL when they come back into stock. I've also found it looks quite different in different pens.

etharnautrix, your Noodler's label looks different from mine, and though it's hard to read the small print, it looks like it says Legal Blue rather than Legal Lapis. Is this a new label, or a "vendor exclusive" version of Legal Lapis?

(I love the look of the Tsuki-yo, and am trying to convince myself I don't need it since I have some perfectly good Legal Lapis already. But Legal Lapis doesn't look like something you could dab behind your ears, unless you are a Pict)

I was wondering about the label of LL. I thought they might have changed it, since my bottle is old. A fresh bottle of LL watered down might be more economical

Limesally and Taki - Now that you mention it, I had glanced at that and thought, oh maybe "Legal Lapis" is interchangeable with "Legal Blue." Simon thought he bought Legal Lapis, far as I know. Or maybe it's one of those slip-o'-the-tongue situations where you think one thing and call it another and then it gets repeated. So maybe the Legal Blue is no different from the Tsuki-yo, and if the Tsuki-yo is no different from the Legal Lapis (according to Margana), then what's the difference between the Legal Blue and the Legal Lapis?

For some reason, I want to mention that George Foreman's sons -- all (many) of them -- are named George Foreman....

If it cane from Pendemonium, it's Legal Lapis. Is Legal Blue from Art Brown? I'm not sure.

I didn't know about George Foreman's sons

So people who have already got Iroshizuku ink...how much did they charge for shipping?

I bought two bottles at $14 each (I think they're now $16), so (doing the math) shipping was $22.

I believe Deirdre and someone else wanted to order together to split the shipping costs. I had been so excited that I placed the order before they had a chance to post that.

Thanks for the info, Lisa.

The following is a dull attempt at figuring out the why to your preference.

My wife has been reading a great book entitled "Predictably Irrational" by Dan Ariely. It investigates reasons why we make choices which are seemingly irrational all the time. With purchasing there are several different reasons why two items which are seemingly the same are chosen over each other. One of the biggies is Price. I was reading an article about wine last night and a study recently conducted found that if you have people try wines and only tell them the price then you will find they always prefer the more expensive one, even if they are in fact the same wine with different prices. Also I noticed that you were quick to point out that the Noodler's ink was not yours. It could be that the issues that frequently are discussed here about Noodler's has put you off and made it so you prefer them less. There are other reasons, but I'll stop here and let you find something more interesting to read.

Oo! I'm intending to read that book!

No, I LOVE Noodler's Old Manhattan Black, and I like very much their Polar Blue. But it's cheaper over all to obtain, and I already have several bottles.

Also, I'd been struggling over having too many pens in rotation and in limiting the number, I had to cut some inks out of rotation, so I was hesitant to ink up with Simon's inks. (I had tested it -- a five-second, open the bottle, scrape the cap with a Q-Tip, draw two short lines test -- and wasn't crazy about the color.)

I had had the Tsuki-yo for more than a week before I inked a pen with it.

I wrote with it... and yes, the thought that the ink came from Japan, whose pen and ink products have never disappointed me, did occur to me as I oohed and aahed. This is special, I thought.

The next morning, after considering the two short lines I'd drawn the day before, I thought I should give the Legal Lapis (actually Legal Blue, but I was calling it Legal Lapis) a fair shot. So I inked a pen with it. I... liked it. It did seem similar to the Tsuki-yo, but the Tsuki-yo was special.

That day I read Margana's comments. And this is where we are now.

There might be long-term differences -- fading and water-resistance. This morning, I studied the page I scribbled sentences on using both inks yesterday, trying to discern an appreciable (in minimal) difference. I thought, "The Tsuki-yo is a smidgen richer," but I laughed and had to admit... I could not differentiate between the two colors.

I prefer the Tsuki-yo, because it is in a beautiful glass container.

That said, Montblanc ink bottles are pretty nifty, and I've tossed the ink down the drain and filled them with other inks.

BTW, I've typically employed the reverse-snob approach to red wine, preferring to spend about $10 a bottle. Then some friends from out of town and I toured some wineries in Napa, and without know anything more... it seems I have a preference (based on taste) for $45 single-grape Cabernet.

I'd be willing to be tested again, if anyone wants to put up the wine....

How long does it take to get a reply from Ujuku, when you use the "blanket order" form? I sent mine a few days ago and have yet to receive an e-mail response. I don't want to send another and confuse him, if the first one is "in the pipeline". Thanks...

I'd love to be part of that test too. Just supply the wine and I'll participate.

Another tool used to get people to buy stuff they don't need is definately the packaging. I do admit that the Noodler's looks pretty poor next to the Tsuki-yo.

Who knows, maybe it just is better and our meager perception skills just cant discern why.

Try posting a message on their message board from their main page. My e-mails do not seem to go through lately they said their spam filter may be screening out some legit ones.

Hmm, I was about to add that it'd taken a few days to get a response, but having checked my records, it seems that the order was confirmed same day with a note asking if I was willing to wait a while for the inks.

So, yeah, try to contact them via other channels.

My comparison really was done with Legal Lapis from Pendemonium and it is a dead ringer for Tsuki-yo. The properties of the two inks sound different enough to make me want both since the color is one of my favorites.

========

Black is your primary ink colour? Oh girl, I ain't tellin' you, but I'm just sayin', you gotta step up to ORANGE!

I really, really like PR Orange Burst! I use it in a Lamy Vista, one of my dailies.

UPDATE ON TSUKI-YO v. LEGAL LAPIS:

There is a slight but noticeable difference. Tsuki-yo is a tad darker, which makes it just ever so slightly... more special.



Heh.

A head to head comparison? Very cool! Any chance you could post a scan of the swatches you compared? Also, did you by any chance shake the bottle of Legal Lapis before using it in your test? It looks slightly less intense when the ink isn't shaken first. Not that the faded Legal Lapis isn't an attractive color - it just isn't the true color.

With over well over a hundred samples to compare, I have yet to find two inks that are exactly alike. Thankfully, each is to a greater or lesser extent unique.

Still I wouldn't buy Tsuki-yo (especially given the price and cost of shipping from Japan) just based on a slight difference in color. It's the difference in the properties and characteristics, that got my interest.

That's why I'm still interested too, Margana - I do love the colour of Legal Lapis, and sometimes I do feel I need the waterproofness. But for the times I don't, I would love a the same colour without the slight "drag" and nib creep I get with LL.

Oh, who am I kidding? It's all about the bottle, man. The bottle!!

I spent less than a minute on this comparison (thus the mess, sorry!), but I think it shows that the colors are slightly different. Actually, they look fairly distinct, heh.



Edit: Oops. No, Margana, I didn't shake the Noodler's first.

I do think it's odd that I could not tell the difference between the colors in the original comparison (which I can't post, cos I wrote silly things, heh). I even took the sheet outside in the sun... and the colors looked the same! I'll have to look for that sheet... and study it again. Weird.

Legal lapis changes apparent colour depending on the pen its in. The differences in wetness and nib style and width make a difference.

Legal lapis in my Pelikan M605 with the 0.5mm Binder Cursive italic looks very dark and sexy, in my 1930's vintage pilot with a semi-flex nib its closer to M width unflexed and looks much lighter in colour.

Least that's my experience.

FWIW that book is on my to read list also. The local bookstore clerk recommended it after seeing me reading some other books... "Stumbling on Happiness", "In Praise of Slow"...etc...

For the record, here is Nathan Tardif (a/k/a Eternally Noodling) on Legal Blue vs. Legal Lapis. (Click on the left-pointing arrow at the end of the "QUOTE" line to view the complete post.)



Edited to add how to go to the quoted post.

want want want

I just got my order today. 3 bottles of the inky elixir. Somehow, the bottles are a bit smaller than I had expected. They're deceptive, too--doesn't look like 50ml. But the colors are beautiful to look at, holding the bottles up to the light. And the bottle shape is quite unusual, definitely to be reused. They come in these matte metallic finish wrapped boxes that suggest perfume instead of ink.

I'm waiting for four bottles; couldn't get all five colors, darn it.

Maybe Pilot should've promoted this line of ink as "Namiki No. 1 - No.5."

Okay, all these posts have me brainwashed that I have to try these inks. I've enlisted my sister in law to hunt them down on a trip into Tokyo. If successful I'll have three bottles of this stuff to put into a Namiki Yukari Royale. She's going to pick and i really hope there are no peacock blues...

Thanks for the wealth of information provided.

I finally got around to photographing 3 of these superb inks. Not great photos, but enough to get the idea of how Iroshizuku inks impress. Incidentally, the labels on the bottles are really nice--thick with a kind of shimmer to them; definitely not just "stuck on paper" as you might think from the photos.