Sailor Four Seasons: 8 Inks Compared

[Bringiton]

Is this line of inks available online?

[jmccarty3]

Several sources have them. JetPens and nibs.com come immediately to mind. I wish there were a way to resolve the impasse between Sailor and Goulet. One nice thing about JetPens is that any order over $25 is shipped free (in the US), so all you have to do is order two inks and you pay no shipping.

[amberleadavis]

I picked mine up when Engika did a free shipping - the Sailor inks ended up being $13 a bottle.

[tinysnail]

Anderson Pens have them, as do WonderPens and Stylus Fine Pens in Canada. I have all eight now and bought from all three of those retailers

[VivienR]

Shigure and Oku-Yama. Hope will get my hands on those.

[jasonchickerson]

I just ordered a bottle of Tokiwa-matsu sight unseen and a sample of Shigure. I wish I had got a sample of Miruai as well. These look fantastic.

[inkstainedruth]

I recently ordered a few of these from isellpens (usual disclaimers, yadda yadda). I just tried Tokiwa-Matsu, and love the color, but it seems to not be overly happy in the pen it's in -- started out just great but then I kept having to play with the converter to get ink up to the feed (can't tell if it's the ink or the pen -- a metal bodied Jinhao 599 I was just gifted with -- that's the issue).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Armand.D]

I've just tested a sample of Miruai, and love it !

Smooth, really like the colour, performances, what to not like ?

 

Oku-Yama looks very promising, in fact .. I think that I would love them all

[hypnostene]

Oh my, some of these inks are amazing. I do want to the brown line. I realise that should I go to Japan, I'd have to take a spare bag just for inks!

[VivienR]

I got my Shigure and Oku-Yama, but looking back this review makes me want the Yama-Dori and Souten too.... Meh, its seems I will never be able to consume all my inks, before light out, but who care... I want those too...

[Mishka5050]

Wow, this is fantastic!

I thought I need Miruai, your pictures are so convincing that I have changed my mind. Now I also need Yama-Dori and Oku-Yama

How do you capture the sheen? It's superb!!!

[lgsoltek]

Wow, this is fantastic!

I thought I need Miruai, your pictures are so convincing that I have changed my mind. Now I also need Yama-Dori and Oku-Yama

How do you capture the sheen? It's superb!!!

 

Thank you! I took the photos under sunlight, at a certain angle, to bring out the sheen.

[inkstainedruth]

Well, I have now tried both Shigure and Tokiwa-Massu. And I must say that both of these are extremely saturated inks, because I have been refilling the pens they're in with distilled water (in the case of Shigure more than once!) and am still getting a fair amount of color when I write with them. Have not yet tried the other samples I got -- I'm trying to pare down what pens are currently in rotation at the moment.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[tinkerteacher]

You can only pick one? Where is the option for All of the Above?

 

Well, I suppose, what would you bring to a desert island and all that, I would choose Shigure.

 

Shigure somehow simultaneously straddles the line between blue, purple, and black and can be both serious, office safe in a narrow nib and fun, kawii in a wide nib.

 

And, like all Sailor inks it has awesome lubrication and flow, and that funky phenol smell that induces flashbacks fond memories of art classes and childhood.

 

Thank you for this awesome and very thorough comparison.

Edited March 21, 2015 by tinkerteacher

[tinkerteacher]

I want Shigure and Tokiwa-Matsu but I have Diamine Bilberry and Sailor Epinard and they are close enough for me.

 

Interesting you say that, as I was thinking that Shigure is like a more 'grown-up' verision of Bilberry, one with less pop and more black. (and also much more water-resistance)

[lgsoltek]

You can only pick one? Where is the option for All of the Above?

 

Well, I suppose, what would you bring to a desert island and all that, I would choose Shigure.

 

Shigure somehow simultaneously straddles the line between blue, purple, and black and can be both serious, office safe in a narrow nib and fun, kawii in a wide nib.

 

And, like all Sailor inks it has awesome lubrication and flow, and that funky phenol smell that induces flashbacks fond memories of art classes and childhood.

 

Thank you for this awesome and very thorough comparison.

 

Thank you! I wrote a letter to a friend once with Shigure and he fell in love with it at once!

[VivienR]

Shigure is kind of bummer to me its to dark in per se, almost black, will try to dilate to be more purple than black.

[fireant]

Thank you, everyone. I'm glad you like it. It was quite a time-consuming process but one that I greatly enjoyed. I hope to make more comparisons in the future.

 

 

This review is phenomenal and very helpful. Thank you.

 

ETA I just bought three bottles (Nioi-Sumire, Souten, and Shigure). I don't ever want to fall in love with a color again and be unable to find it (looking at you Apricot). And yes that means I am already hoarding a few bottles of yama-dori and oku-yama--apparently I am an autumn gal.

Edited March 21, 2015 by fireant

[tinkerteacher]

Shigure is kind of bummer to me its to dark in per se, almost black, will try to dilate to be more purple than black.

 

What nib and paper are you using? The wider the nib and the more absorbent, less coated the paper, the more purplish-blue Shigure becomes, in my experience. Even a tad of shading. But, an in your face Purple or Blue, Shigure is not.

 

The name, after all, is evocative of overcast early winter's days when autumn has ended and full winter has yet to begin. An introspective time of year in Japan with dark clouds and light, drizzly rain.

[tinkerteacher]

Is this line of inks available online?

If you are willing to brave a search engine that is designed for the Japanese language and merchants who communicate through Google translate, you can find Sailor inks for USD 6-8 on Rakuten, with very fast and reasonably priced shipping.

 

http://global.rakuten.com/en/store/komamono-honpo/item/13-1005/

 

Usual weasel words of non-affiliation apply.

Edited March 22, 2015 by tinkerteacher