Nagasawa Kobe Nada Brown Ink is now available in the United States along with a number of other Kobe ink favorites. Kobe Inks are made in and imported from Japan and have a great following. Named after one of the largest cities in Japan, Kobe inks were originally made exclusively for the Nagasawa stationary store located in Kobe, Japan.
Made by Sailor Ink Company, Kobe inks are now in stock and available for immediate shipping. Kobe inks are known for smooth flow, easy to clean, and safe for all fountain pens. The inks also come in a wide variety of colors. Kobe Nada Brown ink is one of these colors now available in America. Kobe Nada Brown ink is a nice soothing brown color that is not too dark, not too light. Kobe Nada Brown ink shows up very nice on white paper and is dark enough for use as an everyday ink color.
Continuing reading for a chance to win the bottle of Nagasawa Kobe Nada Brown Ink we used for this review.
While testing Kobe Nada Brown ink we found the following traits that you may find helpful:
Testing Factors
We used a French made glass dip pen by J. Herbin on Rhodia dot pad paper. The glass dip pen has a tip that is equivalent to a fine fountain pen nib.
Bottle Sizes
All Kobe ink colors come in a standard 50 ml. glass bottle, similar in shape to the Sailor Jentle ink bottles. The glass bottle is very conducive to filling any size fountain pen and has a very large lid and opening. The ink bottle is also able to be placed on its side for filling purposes. Nagasawa Kobe Nada Brown ink comes in a simple cardboard box, with a unique Kobe skyline on its side.
Cost
Kobe Nada Brown ink and Kobe inks in general are more expensive than normal Sailor inks retailing for $30.00, which makes Kobe inks on the high side of the ink price spectrum. Sailor inks are exceptional and the Kobe inks are no different, offering a wider palette of ink colors to choose from.
Dry Time
Using Rhodia dot pad paper with a glass dip pen we found a dry time of approximately 11 to 12 seconds, although there was very little color smearing after 5 seconds.
Bleed Through
We found no bleeding during normal use while testing Kobe Nada Brown ink. During the cotton swab test, although there was no actual bleeding the dark color did show through the white paper at its wettest points.
Feathering
We found no feathering with Kobe Nada Brown ink during normal use. However, during the water test, we did see some slight feathering, but mostly at the wettest points of the test.
Water Test
We conducted a water test during our review of Kobe Nada Brown ink where we ran a wet cotton swab over an ink sample that has dried approximately 3 minutes. The test resulted in some feathering, some color smearing, although not as much smearing as one would expect with a dark color, but no additional bleeding. Nagasawa Kobe Nada Brown ink is not a water proof ink but held up reasonably well under the water test as the lines remaining clear and distinct.
Shading
A great characteristic of Kobe ink is its shading. Kobe Nada Brown ink has nice shading tendencies from dark brown to light brown depending on the wetness of the ink line and amount of ink put down. We also noticed a slight dark blue sheen on the edge of the cotton swab test at the wettest points. A slight blue sheen also came out during the dry time test, where we purposely smeared an ink sample after 1 second.
Conclusion about the Nagasawa Kobe Nada Brown Ink
Nagasawa Kobe Nada Brown ink is a nice brown color, it is smooth flowing, easy to clean with nice shading and slight sheening. Kobe inks come in over 50 colors, although only 20 are currently available in the United States. Kobe Nada Brown ink is dark enough to be used as an everyday ink at the home or office, but unique and soft enough for use in journals and letters. Kobe inks are on the expensive size, but worth the price. Happy Writing!
Enter to Win
Enter to win the actual bottle of Nagasawa Kobe Nada Brown Ink that we used in this ink review:
Beautiful brown. Would be a good sketching color
I’d like to see some other Kobe inks
This is sucha great giveaway!!! Good luck to everyone!!!
Looks like a great warm brown ink.
Keep reviewing Kobe inks.
How about reviewing SBREBrown ink, if you can get any?
Love Kobe inks and the local themes Nagasawa finds for each one
My Favorite ink at the moment is Walden Pond by Organics Studio.
Looks like a great color!
Thanks for the giveaway. Great color.
Nada – nada mesmo! 🙂
It’s nice to see some of the Japanese exclusive inks coming to us markets. As for ink recommendations I’d like to see the new OS inks even though that’s probably not feasible.
I love this brown! Sometimes when the ink is too watery it almost pulls purple or there is a lot of red in the brown. I really like this color. I’d love to have a bottle!
Nice brown
This looks like an amazing ink to work with… ❤️
Given that the Kobe inks are made by Sailor, is there any reason other than color to pay the higher price?
No, it is just a custom made ink by Sailor for the Nagasawa stationery store in Kobe Japan so they have unique colors.
I really need to try more brown inks. This would be perfect to get motivated.
This is a beautiful brown ink; I don’t own any of the Kobe inks and this would be a nice addition to my meager little ink stash. Would you please review more of the Kobe inks or more Sailor inks?
I am always looking for a nice brown. I hope to try this one.
I’m loving MB William Shakespeare right now.
My favorite ink overall is Bungubox Omaezaki no yu-yake.
W.r.t. ink reviews, I’m still looking for a spring/summer green with some water resistance (any color left behind, just not completely erased) and good performance.
Diamine Syrah
I love brown ink and this one looks good. I’d probably use this for sketching.
A Nada Brown ink? I’ve got a few but this looks nice.
Great review. I look forward to more reviews of Kobe inks.
Usually don’t like brown inks, but this one seems special…
I never looked at getting a brown ink, looks amazing though!
Very nice brown. I love brown inks.
I love all of the Kobe inks — can’t wait to try this one!
Lovely shade of brown. Lovely review. Thanks! Looking forward to seeing more of the Kobe colors
Beautiful color!
Lovely brown shade.
I love browns, and I’d love to have a chance to have a Kobe ink!
Robert Oster Shake n Shimmy!
It looks like chocolate….which is delicious!
Nada Brown ink is ❤️ Would love to have a bottle of this.
Oh my ! That’s a wonderful brown !!
Love Kobe inks. Sailor rules!
Ooooh I’ve always wanted to try Kobe ink! Thank you for another awesome giveaway!
What do you think of the J. Herbin 1798 Anniversary Amethyste de l’Oural Fountain Pen Ink? Online I can’t really tell what the color is.
Looks like a nice ink. I’d love to see more reviews of Kobe Inks. Thanks!
Happy New Year. I was able to pick up a bottle of #4 Ijinkan red a beautiful Christmas red and #33 Rikkyuu Moon Yellow a gold yellow. I used these inks to address my Christmas labels. I use a heavy linen card and the inks on the labels made the packages out standing. What I also like, the bottles have a large opening which made easy for my ruling pens. The inks did take a few minutes to dry. This year I hope to collect more of these Kobe inks. Oh my red ink came in a box labeled 150th… Read more »