Teranishi Guitar - Traveling Sepia

[namrehsnoom]

Teranishi Guitar – Traveling Sepia

 

Teranishi Chemical Industries – based in Osaka, Japan –  was founded during the Taisho period around 1916, and got quite some fame as one of the earlier ink producers in Japan. For their 105th anniversary, the company introduced some stylish retro-inks, hinting at this exciting start-up period. 

 

During the Taisho period (1912-1926), Japan experienced an influx of new technologies and ideas, bringing it swiftly into the modern age. Western philosophy and style were embraced, and permeated every aspect of Japanese life. New styles of literature and drama were introduced, influenced by Western novels and plays. This movement in Japanese culture became known as “Taisho Roman”, referring to the European age of romanticism that inspired it (and definitely not the Roman Empire, which was my first thought).

 

Fountain pens also became popular in Japan during this time, with Teranishi producing its first writing ink, called “Guitar Ink”. As far as I know, nobody remembers where that “Guitar” reference comes from. One hypotheses that I found was that Teranishi exported a lot to the Philippines, where the guitar was a popular instrument. But there’s no definite explanation why Teranishi decided to associate its inks with guitars. That will probably remain a mystery.

 

I discovered the Teranishi inks in 2022, and have enjoyed them a lot. These inks are well saturated, but at the same time manage to look muted and toned-down. This combination works quite well, and I’m becoming very fond of this brand. In this review, I take a closer look at Traveling Sepia, a walnut-brown colour of medium intensity. 

 

Traveling Sepia looks like a simple brown ink at first sight, but don’t let that fool you. Once you start writing/drawing with it, the ink shows plenty of depth and character. Is it that gorgeous shading? The excellent contrast with paper both white and cream? The way it works with all nib sizes? I’m not quite sure. But all these factors combine, and make using this Teranishi ink a very enjoyable experience. 

To illustrate the colour span of this Teranishi ink, I did a swab on 52 gsm Tomoe River paper, where I really saturated portions of the paper with ink. Traveling Sepia has a medium to narrow colour span, without too much difference across the saturation range. How does that translate to your writing experience? Well, for starters you get really nice and delicate shading, not harsh at all, but soft and elegant. Really well executed. Also, this ink is at home with both dry and wet pens, and across the nib range. It can handle anything! That doesn’t mean that it is perfect – there are some technical shortcomings that will become clear later in this review.

 

On the smudge test – rubbing text with a moist Q-tip cotton swab – the ink behaved quit well. There is some smearing of colours, but the text itself remains perfectly readable. Water resistance is almost completely non-existent, as is clear from the bottom part of the chromatography. Most of the dyes dissipate, but a faint grey ghost of your original writing remains. With some effort, you will be able to reconstruct your writing.

 

The chroma itself shows the inherent complexity of Traveling Sepia. It is a brown ink at heart, but the reddish undertones tend to surface and add to the dynamics of the ink, especially when using the ink for sketching or drawing. For writing, Traveling Sepia has a tranquil feel to it. It’s restful and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I also like the dynamics of the ink. While writing, the pen lays down a wet and really dark brown line, that gradually dries to a more muted brown colour. This effect is very visible, and looks quite lovely. It’s just a nice extra.

 

I’ve tested the ink on a wide variety of paper – from crappy Moleskine to high-end Tomoe River. On each scrap of paper I show you:

• An ink swab, made with a cotton Q-tip
• 1-2-3 pass swab, to show increasing saturation
• An ink scribble made with a Lamy Safari M-nib fountain pen
• The name of the paper used, written with a Safari B-nib
• A small text sample, written with the M-nib Safari
• Source of the quote, written with a wet Edison Collier with 1.1 stub
• Drying times of the ink on the paper (with the M-nib Safari)

The multi-paper writing test shows that Teranishi Traveling Sepia works well with both white and cream paper, with excellent contrast across the paper range. Unfortunately, it doesn’t like low-quality paper, where you get a lot of show-through and bleed-through. Also, on high-quality coated paper, the drying times are super-long – well over a minute on many of my Japanese papers. Not really a problem when journaling, but definitely not ok for quick notes in a daily planner.

 

I used photos for the writing samples above to get the most accurate results. Below is a scan of some writing samples for comparison: the colour in the scan looks a bit too unsaturated, but the colour got captured quite well. 

 

Below you’ll find some zoomed-in parts of writing samples. As you can see, shading is subtle and understated, just the way I like it. Except on Sakae Iroful: that paper is a real shading magnifier!  With Moleskine, you only get a tiny bit of feathering – quite acceptable in fact. But the backside of the Moleskine paper turned out to be a real mess with lots of bleed-through. 

 

Writing with different nib sizes
The picture below shows the effect of nib sizes on the writing (written on Rhodia N°16 80 gsm paper). All samples were written with a Lamy Safari. I also added a couple of visiting pens: a Pelikan with F-nib, a wooden kit-pen with M-nib and an Edison Collier with 1.1 stub. Traveling Sepia can handle the complete pen-and-nib range well. One thing I noticed though: with the EF-nib the ink suffers a bit from low lubrication. But that is the combination of a dry-writing Safari with an extra-fine nib. With all other pen/nib combinations writing was nice and fluid.

 

Related inks
To compare Teranishi Traveling Sepia with related inks, I use my nine-grid format with the currently reviewed ink at the center. This format shows the name of related inks, a saturation sample, a 1-2-3 swab and a water resistance test – all in a very compact format. Diamine Espresso and Kaweco Caramel Brown are close in colour, but lack the expressiveness and restful feel of Traveling Sepia. 

 

Inkxperiment – Flying Machines I
As a personal challenge, I try to create interesting drawings using only the ink I’m reviewing. For me, that’s where the fun starts: experimenting with the ink to see how it behaves in a more artistic context.  And this Teranishi Traveling Sepia ink was a great one to sketch & draw with. 

I’ve been reading some steampunk novels lately, with complex mechanical machines, gears and levers and Babbage engines. And flying airships! That’s where the inspiration for this inkxperiment comes from. A flying machine arriving at its landing bay. 

 

I started with an A4 piece of HP photo paper, and used the soft side of a dishwashing sponge with heavily water-diluted ink to draw in the background. I then used a Safari pen with EF-nib to draw the airship and landing bay in 45° perspective. And I got so busy that I totally forgot my usual photos of the creation process. So instead, you get a compilation of some pre-drawing concept sketches. I find that this brown ink fits well with the gritty steampunk theme. The end result gives you a good impression of what can be achieved with this Teranishi ink in a more artistic context.

 

Inkxpired – computational art
I love experimenting with pen/ink/paper, and have added another layer as part of the hobby. I’m exploring computational art, inspired by the ink drawings I do during ink reviews. Another fun offshoot of the hobby… and all that starting with a few drops of dye-coloured water on paper.

 

I started by using a paper art filter, and then used a lens-blur filter to add the glow beneath the flying machine. I finally converted the picture to some darker tones, that closer reflect the steampunk atmosphere. 

 

Conclusion
Teranishi Traveling Sepia is a fine ink that is suited for both writing and drawing. It’s a great-looking walnut brown that looks both complex and simple at the same time. An excellent ink from the Teranishi line-up, and one that I enjoyed a lot!

Technical test results on Rhodia N° 16 notepad paper, written with Lamy Safari, M-nib

 

 

Backside of writing samples on different paper types

 

 

Doodle
While creating the inkxperiment drawing, I used a small piece of photo paper to test saturation of water/ink combinations. This creates a nice-looking texture, that is the perfect backdrop for a quick doodle.

[yazeh]

Thank you for another excellent, detailed review.

The colour is gorgeous, earthy, deep, reminds me of walnuts. 

 

I'll be reviewing a similar coloured iron gall ink with a crazy chroma soon.  

 

Your steam-punk (both iterations) drawings both is so mobile. I can  hear the mechanism latching on, with lots of squeaking, and grinding, every time I stare at it. 

 

And the landscape is delicious. It reminds me of a hot chocolate froth sprinkled with dark chocolate.  

 

Thank you again for a treat for the eyes, (and ears). 🙏🙏🙏

[LizEF]

It was on my list of inks to sample one day before I even got to "the far below bottom of things".

 

2 hours ago, namrehsnoom said:

definitely not ok for quick notes in a daily planner

This is why I use blotting paper as a bookmark in my planner (actually, multiple sheets in multiple locations because it's a Hobonichi and I use various sections on any given day).

 

2 hours ago, namrehsnoom said:

Sakae Iroful: that paper is a real shading magnifier!

 

Love the airship sans aerodynamics!   And the doodle is beautiful!  And several of your comparison browns are either on my list or soon will be!   I seem to be on a brown kick...

 

Thank you, @namrehsnoom, for another wonderful review!

[LizEF]

10 minutes ago, yazeh said:

I can  hear the mechanism latching on, with lots of squeaking, and grinding, every time I stare at it. 

Yes, this!

 

11 minutes ago, yazeh said:

And the landscape is delicious. It reminds me of a hot chocolate froth sprinkled with dark chocolate.  

  Well now that you mention it...  Yum!

[InesF]

Thank you, @namrehsnoom, for this comprehensive ink review, excellent in presentation and information deepness! 

 

While I do not prefer this special variation of brown ink, I like your Flying Machines quite a lot. 👍

Always a pleasure to find one of your reviews, looking forward to the next one.  

[Baggins]

 Very good review. Nice color, was kind of surprised how readable it was.

The machines remind me of the film Dune by David Lynch. 
Guess the hard part is finding this ink in the eu.

👍🙏

[yazeh]

4 minutes ago, Baggins said:

Guess the hard part is finding this ink in the eu.

👍🙏

https://www.penstore.nl/en-gb/teranishi-inks/

 

[knarflj]

This is not my usual colour, but your review makes me want at least a sample.  Love the flying machine (both versions!) and the chocolate landscape doodle.

[Baggins]

4 hours ago, yazeh said:

https://www.penstore.nl/en-gb/teranishi-inks/

 

Thanks. I know the store. I had gone there and no sepia. Am thinking of writing them an email. But really happy for your help. There is a group around here who comment on the ink reviews, quite nice people I find 😊👌🙏

[yazeh]

1 hour ago, Baggins said:

Thanks. I know the store. I had gone there and no sepia. Am thinking of writing them an email. But really happy for your help. There is a group around here who comment on the ink reviews, quite nice people I find 😊👌🙏

☺️

[namrehsnoom]

6 hours ago, Baggins said:

Thanks. I know the store. I had gone there and no sepia. Am thinking of writing them an email. But really happy for your help. There is a group around here who comment on the ink reviews, quite nice people I find 😊👌🙏

You could also look at stiloestile.it . They have the Teranishi inks under Brands / Guitar. One of my go-to stores in Europe.

[AmandaW]

A favourite ink for me. Always well behaved and the muted colour is lovely. 🤎

[Baggins]

On 9/11/2025 at 6:35 AM, namrehsnoom said:

You could also look at stiloestile.it . They have the Teranishi inks under Brands / Guitar. One of my go-to stores in Europe.

Well I shop for inks and paper at stiloestile for ages. They are wonderful. I once had a problem with delivery of a package and they were just excellent in solving everything. Wow! “Guitar”, and they have the Sepia in stock.

Ordered it just now! Thank you namrehsnoom! 🙏😁