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Iroshizuku is a well known line of inks from Pilot-Namiki with a broad range of colors. I have a number of different bottles yet have reviewed only a few. Hopefully I'll be able to keep my hand off my other inks for a little while, but I can't count on that. There are a couple browns in the line. I used the following papers along with the codes: MvL=Mohawk via Linen, Hij=Hammermill 28lb inkjet, TR=Tomoe River. And also Moleskine. The pen I used was a Pelikan M201 with a B nib, so a bit of a stress test for this ink, since I usually prefer M and F nibs. Since I only have the iPhone 4 as a camera the photos are not as great as they could be. Typically the ink shows as darker than it is in real life. You can always check the swabs and the samples are the various online vendors, as well as other reviews here at FPN and other places on the web. Moleskine is well known to deaden an ink and rob it of its color. But the Yama-guri held up reasonable well, and given the kind of nib, did not produce much bleed through at all, just a few stops. I'd consider that very good behavior. Reasonably water resistant with some reddish wash, leaving behind some brown. The water drop chromatography is somewhat unusual being mostly orange, violet, and the indeterminate brown.

I'd been meanining to write about this for some time, it won't be a revelation to anyone, but I was prompted into action by a recent and great review of Ama -Iro. This isn't a deep comparison of inks, I just want to deal with the topic of colour contrast. When I got this ink I though "oh dear", I felt I'd made a mistake, which is easy to do when you buy on the Internet, without the possibility of seeing the ink in person. But then a funny thing happened, this ink has grown on me, I really like it now, although nothing has really changed, except while writing I happen to use it next to Kon Peki, which was another "I'm not sure I like this" ink: to me they look really good size by side, they seem to bring out the best in each other, as well as next to other specific inks. So the lesson is to take into account the context of the ink, which includes the light, as well as the paper and the other inks you use it with. Kon-Peki looks a lot closer to Ama-Iro with a broader nib, in this case going from a lamy F to an M, so much so I would find it hard to use both at the same time.

http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ6457.jpg http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ6457-2.jpg http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ6458.jpg http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ6460.jpg Yama-guri is a great brown. I'm not sure I'll be getting a bottle. It is very, very similar to the inks compared here, and I actually prefer the less saturated Cacao du Brésil and R&K Sepia. Still, Yama-guri could easily replace my favorite CdB if I needed a really wet ink in this color range. Unlike CdB, Yama-guri definitely looks better on warm-tone paper. I'll try to update with chromatography later tonight. Written review on Rhodia Dotpad no. 16, quick sketch of my earbud (sorry, it was what was in my hand when I started drawing) on Strathmore watercolor paper. Reasonable care was taken to ensure color accuracy, but these are natural light photos, so some variation is expected.

http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ6445.jpg http://i900.photobucket.com/albums/ac209/jasonchickerson/_FUJ6446.jpg Iroshizuku's lineup of brown inks is a short list of two, or three if we include the golden wheat color, Ina-ho. Top is Rhodia Dotpad. Bottoms is Original Crown Mill Pure Cotton. These three inks are excellent, interesting colors and very well-behaved. While not exactly unique, they are as good or better than their doppelgangers among other brands. Tsukushi is very similar to Faber-Castell's Hazelnut Brown and J. Herbin's Café des Îles, while Yama-guri is a darker, more saturated R&K Sepia or J. Herbin Cacao du Brésil. I don't have enough experience with colors like Ina-ho to draw comparisons. Here's a breakdown: Tsukushi - burgundy undertone Hazelnut Brown - lavender undertone Café des Îles - no undertone (single dye ink) Yama-guri - burgundy undertone R&K Sepia - neutral/brown undertone Cacao du Brésil - lavender undertone While I won't be dropping Cacao du Brésil, I will be adding Yama-guri to my ink drawer. It is an incredibly organic looking ink, reminiscent of writing with a charred stick. It has an early man on cave wall feel. And, these inks dip very well on the right paper.

I've gone most of my life hating colored inks, but I may be mellowing. I bought one of those 30 ml bottles of Iroshizuku Yama-guri (wild chestnut) and it's fabulous! It looks like aged medieval ink, which appeals tremendously to the history nerd in me. I've put it in about half my pens...I may have to invest in a bigger bottle. Has anyone else had this sort of conversion experience?