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Maruzen Athena Ink


Wendell

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Several years ago, Maruzen came out with a limited run Athena Blue-Black ink. It was actually Platinum Blue-Black in a bottle twice the size for the same price.

 

What colors of Athena are now available? Are they still repackaged Platinum inks?

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No idea if they're just repackaged Platinum ink, but the Athena line is definitely still available from Maruzen. Athena blue-black was one of the cheapest inks I saw on my recent trip, a fraction of the cost of the special colors (red, blue, grey and sepia).

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How cheap are we talking about? I can get Pilot Blue-black in 350ml bottles for about 10usd.

 

Relative--the price was about ¥630 if I remember, compared to Athena's special line (¥2100) and Iroshizuku (at ¥1200-1500). Sailor inks were in the middle at ¥1050 for both regular stock and seasonal colors.

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Does Athena still make the real Sepia ink? Is it available online anywhere? Thanks.

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Does Athena still make the real Sepia ink? Is it available online anywhere? Thanks.

 

Yes--they did have a sepia available in store. Not sure if it's available online. The price was the same as the special colors: 2100 yen/bottle.

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  • 2 years later...

What does the term "real sepia" mean?

Breathe. Take one step at a time. Don't sweat the small stuff. You're not getting older, you are only moving through time. Be calm and positive.

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It seems that Maruzen has been getting their inks from a variety of places.

 

I read that this one comes from Sailor:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/midnight_blueblack/5493722963

 

This one looks like Pilot:

http://kazan-kzn.blogspot.com/2010/05/blog-post_14.html

 

Maybe from Pelikan:

http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/scorpion2/diary/20091025/

 

Haven't heard about this one:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/midnight_blueblack/6082427353

 

Based on the above, my impression is Maruzen purchases bottles from different manufacturers. Who makes their ink remains a mystery.

I have used Maruzen Athema off and on for several years. My bottle has an M in a circle on the bottom.

It's good everyday ink.

stan

Formerly Ryojusen Pens
The oldest and largest buyer and seller of vintage Japanese pens in America.


Member: Pen Collectors of America & Fuente, THE Japanese Pen Collectors Club

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nanamipaper has sepia. The price police will be out though.... 42/bottle. I believe it is real squid or at least very heavily pigmented. Flow is not real free with it, but I believe it is the real deal squid.....

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I perhaps misspoke when I called it "real sepia" ink, and that is because I had not actually used this ink at the time of my first posting on the subject. Now that I have the ink and have used it, I can confirm the following: (1) Maruzen Athena Sepia is not "real sepia" because it contains nothing that was ever a part of a squid or cuttlefish (the "real sepia" ink that Hakase produces is made by drying out the cuttlefish sac and pulverizing it); (2) I have confirmed with the folks at Maruzen during my last visit that it is manufactured by Sailor; and (3) the vintage bottle, together with the fact that the Japanese characters are written right to left as in the old days, is quite beguiling. The price at Maruzen when I was there in March 2014 was 2200 Yen per bottle, which I assume is now 2260 Yen per bottle because of the raise in the consumption tax.

 

Other than all of that, it is a beautiful shade of brown, very vintage looking. I love it.

Edited by daoud62
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Yes you are correct it is Hakase the great pen maker and I too mistakenly called it as Maruzen. And it is a nice deep brown. I have found it a little dry. And the the real squid is very pale in color.

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I'm just going to pretend that my bottle of Maruzen Sepia is "real" sepia. Sailor inks are nicely saturated, and I like the dark brown color, even if no cuttlefish ink made it into the bottle.

Breathe. Take one step at a time. Don't sweat the small stuff. You're not getting older, you are only moving through time. Be calm and positive.

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