(Susan M. Pigott is a fountain pen collector, pen and paperholic, photographer, and professor. You can find more from Susan on her blog Scribalishess.)
Kyo No Oto inks are made in Kyoto, Japan. Also known as Takeda Jimuki or TAG, the inks in this collection are meant to evoke colors from the beautiful city of Kyoto.
Sakuranezumi is a purple-grey color inspired by cherry blossoms beneath grey, cloudy skies. Literally, the words "sakura" and "nezumi" mean "cherry blossom mouse," which just makes me so happy. I mean, these days, it's the little things, am I right?
The ink comes in a 40ml glass bottle curved on the sides and flat in the front and back. The bottle is tall enough to ink large nibs (unlike the flat, round Sailor bottles that drive me crazy).
This dusky-grey purple is, in a word, glorious. On the Col-o-dex card, you can see the various shades of the ink in the swab and the green sheen in the splats.
Sakuranezumi is especially pretty on white Rhodia paper. I used my Leonardo Furore with a 14k 1.3 stub nib to test the ink. It displays excellent shading and is saturated enough to work well in all nib sizes. The ink is fairly wet, drying completely after about 35 seconds. It is not waterproof.
Chromatography displays the complexity of this ink. It contains multiple colors which make for the rich purple-grey when combined.
The ink is lovely in extra-wide nibs (such as my Handwritmic ruling nib), demonstrating shading, sheen, and deep pools of color.
I used my MD Notebook Journal to practice calligraphy and to write a long passage out with the Leonardo stub. This ink looks extra nice on cream-colored paper.
I looked through all my purple ink swatches, and none of them was similar to Sakuranezumi. I'm sure there are probably similar inks, but to my great delight, I don't own them. I love it when I find an ink that is unlike any in my collection.
You can purchase Kyo-no-oto Sakuranezumi from Jet Pens for $22.00 (for a 40ml bottle). Yes, this is a higher priced ink, but if you love moody colors with lots of character, it's totally worth it.
(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)
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