(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)
Kinmokusei is a small shrub known as Orange Osmanthus (Tea Olive) in the United States. The plant boasts beautiful, fragrant, orange flowers that bloom in the fall. Sailor’s ink captures the flowers’ color perfectly.
Kin-Mokusei ink is supposed to be a re-release of the beloved Sailor Jentle Apricot that has been out of production for some time. Since I don’t have any Sailor Apricot, I can’t compare the two to see if they are exactly the same. Regardless, Kin-Mokusei is a beautiful ink in its own right.
The ink is a vibrant orange with significant pink tones and a bit of yellow, as demonstrated in the chromatography.
It offers excellent shading properties, especially in wide nibs.
Like other Sailor Jentle inks, you will notice a slight odor, but it is not pronounced (nothing as strong as the KWZ inks). It is wet, and on smooth paper takes a good amount of time to dry. It is not waterproof.
The ink exhibits a tiny bit of pink sheen, as you can see in these ink spots.
Kin-Mokusei is a true orange, with a vibrant hue that is unlike any of my other orange inks. I expected Iroshizuku Yu-Yake and Kin Mokusei to be an exact match, but they aren’t. Yu-Yake is much less vibrant. Diamine Autumn Oak and Pelikan Amber aren’t close matches either.
Kin-Mokusei is a perfect ink for autumn. You can order this limited-edition ink from Vanness Pens for $18.00. It’s currently sold out, but they’ve got more on the way. You can sign up for email notification when it’s in stock. Obviously, this is already a very popular color. If you like this ink, order several bottles!
(This ink was purchased at full price with my own funds from Vanness Pens.)
