Ink Review: Pilot Iroshizuku chiku-rin (Bamboo Forest)

Today I’m reviewing Pilot Iroshizuku chiku-rin ink.
From Japanese this translates to Bamboo Forest and is a pale, bright green colour.

I remember trying a sample of this ink a long time ago, but thought it a bit light to write with. Now I have a few paler inks that I regularly use and quite like this colour.

Chiku-rin didn’t suffer from any hard starts or non-starts when I put the uncapped pen down to do swab tests, dry times and water resistance. The ink was well-behaved.

It felt a little drier than some of the other P.I. inks I have recently written with, as I noticed a bit more feedback with my steel nibs, but it had good flow and still felt fairly smooth while writing.

It dried in 10 seconds on the Clairefontaine Triomphe paper and didn’t smear after it was dry.

Available in attractive Pilot Iroshizuku 50ml and mini 15ml glass bottles from many outlets Worldwide. Prices vary quite a bit so it’s wise to shop around.

• Flow Rate: Good - felt slightly dryish.
• Lubrication: Fairly smooth.
• Nib Dry-out: Not noticed.
• Start-up: Immediate.
• Saturation: Not saturated
• Shading Potential: Some nice shading seen.
• Show-through/Bleed-through: A little seen on cheaper papers.
• Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: None seen.
• Nib Creep / “Crud”: Not seen, even after several days in the pen.
• Staining (pen): Not seen - easy clean-up.
• Staining (hands): Washed off of my hands very easily.
• Clogging: Not seen.
• Water resistance: Not sold as waterproof, but the underlying dye shows very good water resistance.

Attachment 53200

Thorough review, as always. Thanks, Chrissy. I like green, but this one is a bit too bright for me.

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

I was given a bottle of this ink years ago, and it's actually a cheerful, lovely color. It isn't an everyday color for me, but every now and again, I'll fill a pen with it and enjoy it. It's a happy color.

Thanks for the review.

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Originally Posted by TSherbs

Thorough review, as always. Thanks, Chrissy. I like green, but this one is a bit too bright for me.

Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk

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You're welcome. :) It's good that we all like different inks. :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ethernautrix

I was given a bottle of this ink years ago, and it's actually a cheerful, lovely color. It isn't an everyday color for me, but every now and again, I'll fill a pen with it and enjoy it. It's a happy color.

Thanks for the review.

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You're welcome. :) It's a nice springlike green that has grown on me since I last used it.

Thanks again for a great review Chrissy.

I am afraid I concur with your (and mine) first impression: great shade of green to doodle around with but too light to actually write with.

I have a Platinum 3776 in B inked up with it now and really try to change my own opinion but alas...

It does look fabulous in the 50ml bottle though, but am, in hindsight, not too sad about buying the 15ml version.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Linger

Thanks again for a great review Chrissy.

I am afraid I concur with your (and mine) first impression: great shade of green to doodle around with but too light to actually write with.

I have a Platinum 3776 in B inked up with it now and really try to change my own opinion but alas...

It does look fabulous in the 50ml bottle though, but am, in hindsight, not too sad about buying the 15ml version.

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You're welcome. :)

Recently I've tried samples of Vinta inks that included Julia, Julio and Perya, then I bought bottles of Vinta Sirena and Sailor Manyo Ha Ha. These are so pale and illegible to me when writing that I could almost call PI chiku-rin saturated by comparison. At least you tried it in a pen with a B nib. :) And it's a happy springlike colour. :)