Iroshizuku Reviews (My Take Of The Inks)

[onfountainpens]

Hello! I am a long-time member here but have been lurking more than contributing... in fact, not quite contributing much either, to my embarrassment. I see a lot of wonderful reviews here and am a little overwhelmed sometimes. It's a really great forum and a great resource for fountain pen users out there.

 

Some of you might know me by my username, which is also the name of my blog. I come from Singapore and am left-handed. I love beautiful pens and colourful inks. Recently I received a request from one of the members here, @OCArt, to share my series of Iroshizuku Ink reviews. I have done reviews for the whole series of 24 inks, split into 4 different blog posts. They contain some description, translation, and interpretation of the ink names, as well as my experience with swabbing and my own version of "chromatography" work. I include the links in the photos below, so you can click any photo to be taken to that particular series of inks (I made 6 mini ink reviews per blog post).

 

Hopefully this can be interesting or useful to some of you! Feedback is always welcome. (Also, drop me a note if this post should not belong here! Thank you!)

 

 

 

 

[OCArt]

Maybelline, Thank you for complying with my request to post the reviews. I learned a lot from your reviews including the origin of the name:

"WHAT “IROSHIZUKU” MEANS

The word Iroshizuku can be broken down into two parts: “Iro” and “Shizuku”. Iro in Japanese (色) means “colour”. Shizuku (雫) means “dew” or “droplet”. So the word “iroshizuku” translates somewhat to “colour dew” or “colour droplet”, representing the droplets of ink inside each bottle. It sounds very picturesque, and on top of that, each colour has been created to reflect the beautiful natural scenery in Japan, and Japanese culture."

Your site is just filled with goodies to explore.

P.S. Yama-Budo is my favorite of the series!

Edited January 8, 2018 by OCArt

[onfountainpens]

Thank you OCArt for your kind comments! Yama-Budo is also one of my favourites. Recently I have been writing with Tsuki-yo, it's also quite delightful.

In fact, whenever I think of switching inks, Iroshizuku would be the range that I consider first, to select my next ink.

[white_lotus]

Thanks for your lovely reviews of these inks. They are often under-appreciated here, or so it seems to me.

[Jan2016]

Thank you for the reviews! Very nice and beautifully done! THe Iroshizuku inks are a class of its own.

[Pensei]

Thank you. I really enjoyed reading that and seeing the pictures.

[fitz123]

Thank you for the reviews. I've been eyeing some of these and couldn't find a good review on some of them.

I'd honestly be ok with only having Iroshizuku for the rest of my life. I use those inks more than any other. Mainly Kon-peki, Shin-Kai, and Ama-Iro. They really are underrated, IMO. Even though the price was a turn off for me at first, they are worth every penny.

[CupTea]

Interesting reviews and nice photography, thank you! My current favorite is Shin Kai.

[onfountainpens]

Wow, thanks all for your comments.

 

Thanks for your lovely reviews of these inks. They are often under-appreciated here, or so it seems to me.

There seems to be a good many new ink brands out there. Are the new ink brands popular too, or do FP users where you're at prefer more "traditional" brands?

 

Thank you for the reviews! Very nice and beautifully done! THe Iroshizuku inks are a class of its own.

Thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed it. Yes indeed they are, and I thoroughly enjoyed the research process (even if I am not completely sure my descriptions are accurate!)

 

Thank you. I really enjoyed reading that and seeing the pictures.

Thanks, glad you liked it too.

 

Thank you for the reviews. I've been eyeing some of these and couldn't find a good review on some of them.

I'd honestly be ok with only having Iroshizuku for the rest of my life. I use those inks more than any other. Mainly Kon-peki, Shin-Kai, and Ama-Iro. They really are underrated, IMO. Even though the price was a turn off for me at first, they are worth every penny.

You have a good selection there. Yes the price was also a turn off for me initially. I couldn't finish such big bottles either. Then the 15ml ones came out and I swept all of them up!

 

Interesting reviews and nice photography, thank you! My current favorite is Shin Kai.

Thank you! Shin Kai is a wonderful ink. I should use it more often.