Kakimori Custom Notebook First Look, What About The Muddler?

When I first heard of Kakimori, I couldn’t imagine a place more magical. You’re telling me there is a shop in Japan where you can build your own notebook from dozens, if not hundreds of options? And you can mix your own ink color from a rainbow of liquid gold? This is a fantasy land right?

No. It’s Kakimori.

Kakimori has held a special place in my heart since that time, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever have the opportunity to try their products. That changed several years ago when they made their Dip Pen Nibs available around the world. The popularity of these nibs has not slowed since, and I believe that success allowed Kakimori to branch out even more with inks, pens, and accessories.

One of the features that remains core to the Kakimori in-store experience is the ability to build your own notebook. My friend Sam took A Stationery Trip to Japan last year, and was kind enough to make me a notebook. He goes through the details in the linked post, and while a proper review of a hand-picked, one-of-one, notebook may not be necessary, I did want to share a few notes about the end result.

Kakimori Japan. (Image via Sam Alpert.)

For starters, Sam detailed the process in an email to me, which didn’t make it into the final article. I thought I would share this bit for those of you who may be lucky enough to make the journey in the future:

1. get a small tray almost like a lunch tray
2. there's a paper testing station with small squares of the various papers to help you see what you'd like.
3. then go to the wall of papers and pick up to 4 kinds (I think packets are 20 pages ea.)
4. go to the wall of covers (there's all kinds including leather, and the custom art ones by local artists like the one I got you)
5. pick binding method (string and puck or snap)
6. pick colors of materials for binding method (like I literally got to pick the string color)
7. pick binding type (full spiral, partial like yours) including color of metal
8. pick corner hardware if desired (including color of metal)
9. pick any additional inserts (like the envelope in the back of yours)
10. wait for them to bind it!

I don’t know about y’all, but I’m ready to book a trip now!

My B6 notebook features cover art by Taku Bannai, and two different paper sections using Conqueror Laid in the front half and Neue Grey in the back. The orange envelope inside the back cover is awesome, and I adore the string tie enclosure on the front. I’ll admit to being a little too precious in using it, but now that I have “review closure,” I feel like I’m ready to give it a proper go.

Conqueror Laid Paper. Good for fountain pens, but bumpy - a feature of laid paper.

While this fully customizable experience is only available at Kakimori, their website does offer many other notebook options, which look spectacular in their own right.

Neue Grey Paper in the back half of the notebook. Super smooth and fun to use.

As part of this write-up, I was planning on discussing the Glass Ink Muddler I picked up from Kakimori in-person at last year’s Stationery Fest, but it appears that it is Unobtainium.

Made in collaboration with Tokyo-based maker Werkstatt Tetohi, it was tough for me to find any information on this product. In fact, this is the only online image I’ve come up with so far, despite Kakimori having several for sale in Brooklyn during my visit.

This model is marked as “Gray” and I think there was a Green one available at the time as well. This is a fun product for those of us that like to get inky. Given its shape, a wider ink bottle opening works better in allowing more ink to collect in the spoon-shaped tip. Or you can tilt the bottle slightly … at your own risk.

Muddler swatches on Conqueror Laid. No feathering or bleed even with heavy ink. Antique Brass Dip Nib fitted in a River City Pen Co. Dip Nib Holder.

I keep my Muddler with my other ink testing accessories - yes, including the new-ish Antique Brass Dip Nib. I appreciate Takuma Hirose, owner of Kakimori, gifting me with this nib at Stationery Fest. I had the pleasure of interviewing him at the event, which you can check out here.

With the recent launch of their own Fountain and Rollerball pens, I love seeing Kakimori continue to grow. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.

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Colorverse vs Kakimori - Dip Nib Showdown

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

I first reviewed the Kakimori dip nibs (along with several others) in my dip nib comparison article a while back, so I was very excited when I heard that Colorverse was coming out with their own version of the dip nib, called the Shuttle nib.

I am using the same methodology for the Colorverse Shuttle nibs as I did last time with the others:

1. Ink - I am using Waterman Serenity Blue as a baseline for the swatches/writing samples. This is most nib grinders’ preferred ink of choice as it has consistent flow, does not stain and is good for vintage pens. I also picked a shimmer ink to see if it behaved differently. I capped and shook the vial between each test.
2. Paper - I used a combination of a 68 gsm Tomoe River notebook, a 80 gsm Rhodia graph pad, and the standard sized Col-O-Ring cards made from 160gsm paper.
3. Cleaning - I have used the steel Kakimori dip nib as my primary swatching tool for the past couple of years, so it has been rinsed/cleaned/wiped many times. I use tap water to rinse between uses.
4. I use a syringe to gently shoot water downwards towards the tip of the nib.
5. I do not dip the nib/holder into water and swish for cleaning, so I don’t get ink stuck inside the holder.
6. Writing - Aside from the name of the dip nib, I tried to write the same text on the different papers so you can see how much writing I could get out of one dip. For the Colorverse nibs, I will write a line without an initial cleaning, so I can see whether it writes on first use. Then I will rinse/dry it before rewriting the line again.
7. Swatches - I am making a broad line swatch as well as my typical Col-O-Ring swatches with both sets of nibs.

Note: After about 6 months of use, the Kakimori dip pen holder started allowing the dip nib to slide out of the ferrule (the “round thingy” that holds dip nibs in place). I showed a video to Kakimori, who ended up replacing the holder. Unfortunately, the replacement started doing the same thing some months later, so I stopped using that holder. I have also since misplaced it, so I don’t have any comparison photos of it next to the Colorverse holder.

The Colorverse Shuttle nib is packaged in a black box with holographic logo/design (right), which is then encased in a simple black box sleeve (left). The nib holder is similarly packaged but in a longer box (not pictured).

The Kakimori’s packaging (left) has a very different aesthetic. For lack of better words, I would say it feels more organic, while the Colorverse packaging gives off a very modern, space-like vibe, appropriate for its Shuttle namesake.

The hand marked check matches the rest of the Kakimori’s packaging aesthetic. Easy to see at a glance Colorverse’s brass or steel nib.

Before I get into the nitty gritty, let’s just get this out there ‘cause I know you’re dying to know if they are compatible with other holders. And the answer is YES! Both the Colorverse Shuttle and Kakimori dip nibs fit in standard ferrule nib holders, and yes, both will fit into the other’s nib holders as well! This is great news for folks who already have nib holders for the Kakimori or other dip nibs (neither will work in oblique nib holders).

Colorverse Shuttle aluminum nib in a Tachikawa holder, Kakimori steel dip nib in the Colorverse Shuttle holder, and Shuttle brass nib in a Speedball holder.

You can easily fit a Zebra G or pretty much any other standard dip nib in the Colorverse Shuttle holder.

There’s no denying that the shape of the Shuttle nib is similar to that of the Kakimori, but they are also a bit different. The Shuttle is a longer nib and has sharper channel grooves than the Kakimori. It is also more narrow and pointed, while the Kakimori is a bit broader and more “rounded”. Both of these differences factor into how the nib feels when using them at more extreme lower angles.

Colorverse Shuttle nib on the left, and the Kakimori nib on the right. Both are Brass and are in the Tachikawa holder, which has a standard dip nib ferrule.

Despite using a very light touch at more horizontal angles, the swatches still show “scratch marks” where the nib scratches the Col-O-Ring. I didn’t feel this quite as much on the much smoother TR 68 gsm paper, but neither performed quite as smoothly as the Kakimori.

The Colorverse Shuttle nib (Aluminum) in the Shuttle nib holder (also Aluminum.)

The Colorverse Shuttle nib holder has a ridged grip section, which is neither too smooth nor too sharp. It makes it easy to hold without your fingers slipping. It is slim with a bit of heft to it, unlike a traditional wood or plastic dip pen holder which is very light. As such, it can be a bit uncomfortable for long term writing if you prefer a lighter pen or more girthy grip section or both. This nib holder is the Large model and is 7.4”/187 mm. There is also a Small one which is ~5.6”/142 mm.

Thanks to technology and poor photo editing skills, here is an approximation of the Kakimori holder (left silver) with the Colorverse Shuttle holder (right center). The holders on the left/right sides are from Tachikawa and Speedball.

The Shuttle nib holder doesn’t look like anything more than a ferrule in a ridged-grip long nib holder. The grip actually unscrews itself from the rest of the “barrel”, revealing a brass ferrule which is still attached. When attached, this piece and the grip form a gap which holds the dip nib in place. This brass piece is also detachable from the holder, making cleaning easy if you somehow manage to get ink back there. Unscrewing the section also makes it easier to fit into shorter cases/pouches.

Grip section unscrewed from the nib holder. You can see that the piece that holds the ferrule is still attached to the rest of the holder. It would be cool if you can get grips with different materials, designs, etc.

You can unscrew the ferrule if you need to disassemble it further to put it in a small case or for further cleaning. I wonder if the ferrule is replaceable - that would have solved the problems with my Kakimori holder.

For the writing sample below, the first part was done with the Shuttle nib right out of the box without any rinsing or cleaning. I did a quick wipe with a napkin to ensure no particles would get in the ink.

Header with 4 lines of text before running out of ink. A simple rinse and wipe before a new dip gets an additional line of text. No problems writing cursive or print on the slightly textured Col-O-Ring card either.

Making my swatch line with the Aluminum Shuttle nib. There is less of a curvature of the Shuttle nib, so I had to use a very low angle in order to not cut the paper or make much thinner lines.

Writing samples on Rhodia 80gsm (left) as well as writing at some different angles

This was really hard to do towards the bottom of the page of a super thick notebook, especially for someone like me who is also used to writing at 75 degrees.

One of the things that differentiates the Colorverse Shuttle nib from the Kakimori nib is a small reservoir which stores a wee bit of ink so you don’t have to dip it as often. I dipped it a few times because I could see that it was a surface tension bubble as opposed to ink in the reservoir.

Ink in the nib reservoir.

After dipping and confirming ink was in the reservoir, I managed to write a bit more than 1 page of A5 slim, which is about 3-4x what I got from a non-reservoir dip.

The number of pages you get will depend on multiple things including writing angle (my steep angle meant that ink flowed down faster initially), and how the reservoir is oriented (I had it facing up, but in another writing sample, I rotated it almost face down and got a lot more/too much ink flow).

Like I did with the Aluminum nib above, there was no cleaning of the brass nib prior to first writing. Not gonna lie, I absolutely HATED my Kakimori brass nib, so I was pretty nervous about how the brass Shuttle nib would perform. No need for worry as it wrote right away with zero problems whatsoever!

Header with 5.5 lines of text vs Aluminum’s Header + 4. Clean, wipe and re-dip gets an additional 3.5 lines of text.

Swatch line and Rhodia samples. I had a bit more trouble writing on the Col-O-Ring than I did with the Aluminum nib, which surprised me.

Different angles on TR 68gsm and Rhodia. I rotated the nib a bit while writing at the 20 degree angle on top, hence the drastic line width compared to the Rhodia sample.

After dipping and confirming ink was in the reservoir, I managed to write a few lines more with the Brass nib than I did with the Aluminum nib.

In general, the two Colorverse nibs wrote similarly for me from 45-75 degrees (these were all done as “below reservoir” dips, aka, not super saturated, but with plenty of ink to write with). The widths were a bit more noticeable around 30 degrees and even more so when lower than that.

The angles are approximate and how much ink is left on the nib will also affect its width. Colorverse Brass (top), Aluminum, Kakimori Brass, Aluminum.

Both the aluminum and brass Shuttle nibs handled shimmer without any issues.

Alongside other dip nibs using the same Robert Oster Glistening Orange Rumble ink sample.

TLDR: If you don’t already have a Kakimori dip nib, the Colorverse Shuttle dip nib would be a good purchase, especially if you want to use it more for writing. I had a slight preference of the Brass because the line was just a wee bit thicker and held a bit more ink, though I probably would never use it for more a lot of writing (that’s what FPs are for, lol), But, I liked the Aluminum for writing on Col-O-Rings more than the brass. On smoother paper like Tomoe River, I liked either of Shuttle nibs a bit more than the Kakimori steel nib (and we all know how I feel about the Kakimori brass regardless of paper). However, given that my primary swatches are done on Col-O-Ring cards, the steel Kakimori feels smoother when making the large swathes of ink. You may like or dislike how either nib feels on different kinds of paper (like textured papers or watercolor paper versus Tomoe or Rhodia) or if you plan on using it for writing versus art, etc.

I would hands down get the Colorverse Shuttle nib holder over the Kakimori because I don’t have to worry about the nib eventually sliding out of the ferrule like what happened with 2 of their nib holders. Plus I like the ability to disassemble it in case of inky accidents.

The Colorverse Shuttle nibs cost $42 and $48 for the Aluminum and Brass, respectively. The nib holder in Aluminum costs $75 and $60 for the large and small, respectively, while the Brass holder is $85 and $67. They are priced similarly to their Kakimori equivalents. You can find the Colorverse Shuttle products on the Pen Realm website.

(Disclaimer: The two Colorverse Shuttle dip nibs and the nib holder were purchased from Pen Realm at the 2025 CA Pen Show. All of the other products are my own, including the Kakimori nibs and various holders.)

Kaweco + Kakimori = Perfect Swatching Tool!

(Kimberly (she/her) took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole and doesn't want to be rescued. She can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies because there really are many, many hobbies!.)

When I wrote this article on ink swatching over two years ago, I was using a glass dip pen, the back end of a plastic paintbrush, and a ruling pen for my swatching. Since then, I traded the glass dip pen for a Kakimori stainless steel dip nib and a few months ago, I recalled seeing an IG story where someone used a Kaweco SketchUp clutch pencil to hold their Kakimori dip nib and I knew I had to try it.

I bought a Kaweco SketchUp 5.6mm clutch pencil in Chrome on eBay, though you can find them from a variety of vendors including JetPens. Kaweco also makes the clutch pencil in 3.2 mm, so be sure to get it in the 5.6mm size as that is the one that can fit the nib.

The Kaweco SketchUp 5.6mm clutch pencil in Chrome.

Replaced the lead with the Kakimori steel dip nib.

For the past 4 months, I have been using it as my go-to for writing samples on swatch cards as well as making the lined swatches in my Endless Recorder. I had forgotten my trusty paintbrush when traveling for the holidays, so I used it to do the Col-O-Ring swatches too. Here are some things discovered:

1. It is SO easy to clean the Kaweco + Kakimori! I don’t swish my Kakimori (because I don’t want it in dirty water), but I could swish if I wanted to and wipe it clean afterwards. Instead, I use a syringe at my desk to clean the nib into a dirty cup. I don’t have to worry about getting it onto the clutch mechanism since it is chrome-plated brass, and I can easily release the nib further if ink got past the clutch.

2. The pencil’s clutch mechanism along with the long parallel sides of the nib makes it easy to adjust the Kakimori nib to be further in or out. Just don’t push it too far in because it could get stuck (you’d have to push the nib from the other end but it could potentially scratch/damage the sides of the nib).

3. The clutch pencil is very sturdy and hefty without being overly heavy. It has a nice weight to it 1.56 oz/44.16 g) and I know it could withstand being dropped on the floor, though my hardwood floors might not appreciate that. Since I’m only using it for a few moments at a time, the weight isn’t something I really notice. That said, if you don’t want a nib holder that’s on the heavier side, you might prefer something lighter like this Tachikawa T-40 nib holder which also has the added of bonus of a cap to protect the nib. I have a similar Tachikawa holder without the cap for the brass Kakimori and that one weighs 0.39 oz/11.04 g with the nib. Kaweco also has the SketchUp 5.6 mm in other materials, like acrylic, which is lighter than the metal ones; they just aren’t as easy to find.

Kaweco SketchUp in Chrome and Brown Acrylic (note that the button is depressed further on the Chrome because the clutch is opened further to fit the nib.)

4. Relatively inexpensive - Considering the heft and clutch mechanism, the clutch pencil is pretty affordable and retails for ~$40-45 depending on finish. The aluminum nib holder from Kakimori, on the other hand, goes for $72. Of course, you can also buy nib holders that are much less expensive, like the Tachikawa above, but they also won’t feel the same as the clutch pencil.

5. I prefer the compact size of the Kaweco clutch pencil since other nib holders tend to be much longer. It fits easily in my pen accessories pouch which I take to meetups.

Here’s the clutch pencil next to a Kaweco AL Sport (The Little Witch) for comparison.

6. You can “scratch” the paper when making swatches if you are using the tip (as opposed to the sides), especially if you go back and forth too quickly. Normally, I would say this isn’t because of the nib holder, but I think it happened more with the clutch pencil because the weight of it naturally put more pressure on the nib. I noticed this more if I didn’t change my writing angle while swatching. I have to remember to use the sides of the nib more when doing so, but it’s great for making clean lines for smaller swatches. Also, I can end up with a lot more ink than I want, so I’ve gone back to using the back end of a paintbrush for larger areas so the ink isn’t as concentrated.

Compare the relatively straight lines from the Kakimori (left) vs back of a paintbrush (yes, I am VERY backlogged with swatching.)

It is a little exaggerated here but you can see the scratchy lines that were pretty easy to make when using the tip of the nib to swatch the ink.

Swatching lines of ink (like Robert Oster’s Romeo & Juliet) is easy with the Kakimori.

I don’t remember exactly whose bright idea it was to share this combination on IG, but I thank them for it because both the pencil and nib have held up quite nicely. Now to keep working on my swatching backlog!

(Disclaimer: All items in this article were purchased by me.)

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