Iroshizuku Yama-Guri

[white_lotus]

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.

[visvamitra]

It's nice ink. I'm not crazy about it but I do enjoy it.

[inkstainedruth]

I love Yama-guri. I've tried the other brown, Tsukushi (?) and it was okay. But Yama-guri is a lot more subtle a color, leaning sepia without quite getting there.

Thanks for the review.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Moynihan]

Thanks for the review of one of my regular user/favorites

[jmccarty3]

One of my favorites as well. Thanks for the review.

[amberleadavis]

Thanks for another great review.

[Quadratus]

Thanks for a great review!

 

The Iroshizuku inks are remarkable for their subtle shading and their sheer sensuousness as the inks flows on the page. The Yama-guri is no exception, truly living up to its meaning of "mountain chestnut": a very dark brown, with lots of black shading but, after it dries off and settles, leaving a very satisfying imprint on the page.

 

Its nearest "relative" in the Iroshizuku range is the Tsukushi or "horsetail", with its subtle blend of reds and dark browns.

 

Like the reviewer above, I love writing in dark sepia and these are two of my absolute favourites. For those who are interested in exploring alternatives dark browns and dark sepias, I strongly recommend the Visconti brown or the Delta sepia (sometimes marketed outside Italy as brown).

[lapis]

Thanks for this very good review! Maybe a good example of an Iroshi brown (and an Iroshi in general)... I'm not all that hot about it but it is a very subtle colour, one that grows on me....

 

Mike

[haruka337]

I adore this ink.

[oregano]

This is the first ink that really screamed my name, and therefore has a special place among my ink bottles. I only wish it was as dark as it first seemed to me. Now I almost prefer Sailor Doyou.

[Mongoosey]

Beautiful ink. Great review

 

I went ahead and picked up a bottle

 

I'm preferentially a Black ink user. I love the neutralness of it as long as it has a rich color and stands out for easy legibility (Kiwa-Guro, HOD, OMB, Take-Sumi) and descent water resistance.

 

Take-Sumi's lower in water resistance, and though not necessarily archival, still sufficient I find even with Tomoe River Paper, and I had to pick it up after sampling it and discovering the depth it somehow has with that beautiful coolness and those wonderful ink properties.

 

I look for alternative's to black that are also rich, deep, have good contrast (without being glaring like Baystate Blue ), and have descent water resistance. I scoured Blues and Blue Blacks, found one in Pelikan E. Tanzanite , but then I found Noodler's Walnut and fell in love with that brown. I wasn't expecting browns to be such a great Black Alternative. I love the naturalness browns like that can have.

 

Thus I'm quite happy to find this Iroshizuku Yama-Guri which suits such needs and preferences while behaving so well with great ink properties.