A replacement for Iroshizuku Kiri-same ?

[inkstainedruth]

And the advantage to samples is that if you DO end up liking an ink well enough to get a full bottle?  Sample vials are GREAT for travel purposes!  I even flew back and forth a couple of times to the Pacific Northwest and had a bunch of ink samples in a ziplock bag in my purse, and the TSA people didn't bat an eye at them -- but on one trip home, they confiscated a bottle of shampoo from my carryon bag because it was more than four ounces (!)

Normally I would have had stuff like that in checked luggage, but I was worried about possible flight delays (which ended up happening) flying home from Spokane, Washington so I could pick up a friend and drive down to my first pen show (DCSS) -- and ended up getting home at about 3 AM and then having to repack from two suitcases (including the large one which had all the laundry in it) down to one for the drive down to DC.  And on no sleep at that because I had to pick Red up at around 5:30 and go directly from there....  

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[tommym]

On 1/17/2026 at 4:53 AM, LizEF said:

MB Oyster Grey doesn't look too different.

 

Yes, I concur.

 

When MB discontinued Oyster Grey, I settled on Pilot's Kiri-same. I still have two unopened bottles each of MB's Oyster Grey and Pilot's Kiri-same sitting in the back of one of my drawers. I'm not sure if I'll be pursuing another "specific" shade of grey ink to match them. 

 

Tommy

[kestrel]

If the OP finds a matching color and the ink is too dry there is always "ink wetter."  A couple of companies in the U.S. sell the stuff under their own names and I am sure there are sources in other countries.  Add a tiny bit at a time to the dry ink in a sample vial until you get the desired results.

[tommym]

14 hours ago, kestrel said:

If the OP finds a matching color and the ink is too dry there is always "ink wetter."  A couple of companies in the U.S. sell the stuff under their own names and I am sure there are sources in other countries.  Add a tiny bit at a time to the dry ink in a sample vial until you get the desired results.

 

Also, for those with an easily removeable nib and feed assembly, you may be able to procure a replacement ebonite feed if your current one is made of plastic. This may help, but I found that in my case the replacement ebonite feed made a slight change in flow for the better but definitely didn't turn my nib into a fire hose. Still, it's an option. On one of my pens, with a 1.5 mm nib, it took a combination of a replacement ebonite feed and an "ink wetter" to get the nib flowing to my satisfaction. The "ink wetter" that I used works best at concentrations of less than 1%, according to the product supplier.

 

Tommy

[yoplaboum]

On 1/16/2026 at 6:56 PM, LizEF said:

OK. Kiri-same is very brown-leaning on my card. That fits my memory.  Of the inks I have, here are the closest matches (and other comments):

• Kiri-same actually looks nothing like a pencil (using two uni Kuru Toga mechanical pencils for comparison, they are grey and Kiri-same then looks brown)
• If you diluted Colorverse Vortex Motion enough, I think it might be identical. But it's already so dry and poorly lubricated that this might make it horrible to write with.
• De Atramentis Document Urban Grey is nowhere near as brown
• Herbin Cacao du Brésil might be very close when diluted (it would take dilution better than the Colorverse, but it would want a wet, smooth nib after)
• Pelikan Edelstein Moonstone is much cooler, but it's closer than anything else so far (without dilution, not as close as above two with dilution), it also reminds me a lot of pencil. But alas, it was a limited edition, so, nevermind...
• Rohrer & Klingner Ebony (another limited edition) might be similar if diluted. It was also an iron gall ink.
• Sailor Kujukuri Coast Hamachidori, diluted, might be similar, but possibly a little more pinkish-purple (it also appears to be near impossible to get outside the Japanese shop it's made for).

 

- I never found Kiri-same to be a brownish ink, and yes, it was perhaps a little on the dry side, and remembered me the tones on a pencil (a hard one, not a 3B)

- The Graf von Faber-Castell Stone Grey is darker, right, as is the Caran d'Ache Infinite Grey (A nice ink too).

- I didn't know the Sailor Yurameku Yoi, but it looks on the brown side on the packaging ?

- From the Yazeh's picture, The Kaweco smokey grey is the most near of the tones I'm looking for, with the ink just at its left, with a cycle drawing, but I can't read the name of the ink. The De Atramentis Silver Grey seems to be a good option, too.

This is a picture of Kiri-Same ink used with a Man 100 stub on Lalo Vergé paper, I posted some years ago, this is not what I call a brown-leaning ink.

 

 

[yazeh]

That's Lennon Tool Bar Bixi. I haven't reviewed it yet. I think it's a blue grey. These inks are low in lubrication normally.

 

[yoplaboum]

26 minutes ago, yazeh said:

That's Lennon Tool Bar Bixi. I haven't reviewed it yet. I think it's a blue grey. These inks are low in lubrication normally.

 

Thank you ! 🙂👍

[yazeh]

10 minutes ago, yoplaboum said:

Thank you ! 🙂👍

This is from stilo e stile:

https://www.stiloestile.com/en/inks/bottled-inks/lennon-tool-bar-2024-summer-limited-bixi-ink-bottle-30-ml

[LizEF]

2 hours ago, yoplaboum said:

this is not what I call a brown-leaning ink

Alas, I can only say what I see on my paper from my sample. Any number of things could explain the difference, but there's no way to know which is/are correct.

 

Whatever the case, I hope you find a replacement ink you love.

[yoplaboum]

Not a neutral one, but nice shades !

[Misfit]

On 1/15/2026 at 11:59 AM, Penguincollector said:

it appears to me that Diamine Grey

When I used this ink in a M nib, it did look like pencil. Out of a 1.1mm stub nib, it became a beautiful shading gray.