Iroshizuku Ina-ho (A handwritten review)

[mhphoto]

Didn't really care for this ink. A little too drab and ill-behaved for me, but I do know it has a following.

[woosang]

I'm surprised, it looks fabulous on the cream G .lalo that I use and matched up with the light green In the same range. On white it would be a tad drab.
I use if with flex dip pens and I never get blending but the Rome burning I can't use at all :-( it bleeds and feathers to the point if being unusable. How interesting that it behaves so differently in a fountain pen.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I have been searching desperately for a replacement for my beloved Pelikan Khaki, and thought for a while Ina-ho might be 'it.' I should at least get a sample, I guess.

Thanks for the review!

[Bogon07]

Ina-ho (RiceEar) is one of those love/hate inks. Very dependant on the pen and paper you are using. Sometimes wonderful but a lot of times a gushing feather-fest.
I quite like it in a Noodler's Creaper but it is a total horror story in a Konrad.

[AlejoPlay]

I so love it.

It's light but it will just always remind me of my trip to Japan.

[crazystan]

Thanks for reviewing this, I've always wondered about this ink. While it doesn't seem like something I would use day to day, it might be fun to play with.

[toc]

Thanks for the honest review, I have almost bought this ink several times but always held off because I was afraid of being disappointed as you were.

[Flake]

I have this ink, and admittedly it doesn't play nice in some of my pens - others it writes beautifully. Admittedly my biggest issue with it isn't feathering but how light it is in a thin nib.

[jde]

This is another good case for why ink samples, when they're available, are the best vehicle for trying on new colors.

I like the color of this ink as I rather like the yellow/brown family. However, unlike other Iroshizuku inks I've tried, Ina-ho is not very smooth in my Namiki F nibbed pen. Flake indicated that this ink doesn't play well in some of her (? assuming from avatar) pens, too.

Edited to add: It's very readable in the F Namiki... just rather scratchy, unlike other Pilot inks at my disposal.

[Heliotrope]

Thanks for the review! I have three bottles of Iroshizuku ink (Yama-Budo, Syo-Ro, and Tsuki-Yo) and they have been fabulous in all pens that I've tried. I was thinking about picking up some Ina-Ho. Your review has just saved me from some major disappointment. I'll try an ink sample instead.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks for this review.

I'm glad I got the sample and not a whole bottle. This ink is too light for anything other than an italic or triple-B nib; at least for me. I had it in a wet-writing Lamy Safari with an M nib and I had to add a drop of black to make it legible.

Along the same lines, I had a sample of Diamine Beau Blue in a pen with a fine-ish nib, and until I switched the cart fo a Rotring Artpen with an italic, that ink also was hard to read. In the italic it was wonderful.

[jor412]

@ Sailor Kenshin - Thanks for the info on using this with an italic or triple-B. I do like the color a lot and plan to get a bottle so it's good to know the ink's limitations.

[john]

I always think that the Pilot Iroshizuku ink is watery, and the colour is light too. That's why I don't want to have a trial because it is not cheap at all. In the pen forum of Taiwan, the users also mentioned Iroshizuku ink that the main issue is feathering.

[Miss Thundercat]

thanks for the review. I like the color and shading actually, esp with your waterman 52. also your handwriting is very nice too

[Susan3141]

I adore this ink. It looks like gold in my Rhodia Webbie (probably because the paper adds a yellow cast to the ink). I can't really explain my love for it, since it isn't one of those brilliant colors like Yama-budo, but it does remind me of rice fields and serenity.

[reprieve]

Ina-ho is an ink that definitely needs to find the right pen and paper. The first few times I used it, I was very disappointed--it was flat, one-dimensional, kind of pukey looking. But I persisted, and in a Lamy 2000 BB stub nib on cream Tomoe River or G. Lalo laid paper, it is gorgeous. It also looks pretty nice in my extraordinarily wet Pelikan M605 medium nib. Even so, I probably won't buy another bottle (if I ever finish this one). I much prefer the golden-green tones of Noodler's Burma Road Brown.

[fountainpenkid]

Looks interesting, but not $20+ interesting. Thanks so much for the review!