Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa Ink is part of the Pilot Pen Company’s luxury ink line, known and loved throughout the pen community. Pilot was one of the first ink companies to raise the bar with their inks, both in ink properties but especially the presentation with their Iroshizuku brand. Pilot Iroshizuku inks are considered luxury inks with its price point at the peak of what the market would bear. Pen lovers soon got over the initial sticker shock and Pilot Iroshizuku inks have been an international hit. Recently, however, Pilot Pen Company has lowered their retail price of the Iroshizuku ink brand and with the additional discount we offer, Pilot Iroshizuku ink are now in the mid range ink world.

Also known in English as Asiatic Dayflower, Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa ink is a beautiful blue color and one of about 5 blue colors in the Pilot Iroshizuku line. The deep royal blue is darker than the lighter turquoise color of another favorite, Iroshizuku Kon Peki ink. It’s a fantastic everyday royal blue color that has both some shading and sheening traits. The name Iroshizuku was created using two Japanese words meaning droplets of color, which are found in Japan’s diverse natural world.

Continuing reading for a chance to win the bottle of Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa Ink we used for this review.

Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa Ink Review

We found the following traits during our review of Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa ink that you may find helpful when choosing your next ink color:

Testing Factors

We used a French made J. Herbin spiral glass dip pen on Rhodia dot pad paper for our review of Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa ink. The glass dip pen has a tip that is similar to a fine fountain pen nib.

Bottle Sizes

Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa ink comes in Pilot’s recognizable Iroshizuku ink-well glass bottle, one of the best ink display bottles on the market today. The 50 ml. bottle is heavy weighted and has a distinct internal ink well that allows for using every last drop of ink. The lid is large faceted, making it easy to open as well as to fill your pen.

Cost

Pilot Iroshizuku ink started a revolution of “luxury” inks and its display, bottle, and price. However, within the last year, Pilot has lowered its retail price of its Iroshizuku ink to $25.00, which makes it much more reasonable. With our discounted price, Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa ink is now firmly in the mid-range price category, although the quality, display and bottle have not changed one bit.

Dry Time

We found a dry time of approximately 11 seconds while testing Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa ink, which is a little longer than other Iroshizuku ink colors. Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa ink has good saturation and wetness that account for the longer dry time.

Bleed Through

We did not see any bleeding during our review of Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa ink on Rhodia dot pad paper. Even during the cotton swab test, we did not experience any bleeding. Different papers may produce different results.

Feathering

During normal use we experience no feathering using the glass dip pen on Rhodia dot pad paper. During our water test we did see some line distortion and slight feathering. This is to be expected as Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa ink is not a waterproof ink.

Water Test

We ran a wet cotton swab over the dried ink sample and saw some slight feathering, line distortion and color smearing. All of these results are expected with a non-waterproof ink.

Shading

Like many other Iroshizuku inks, Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa ink produces nice shading. We are able to achieve a predominate dark blue and a lighter shade of blue coming with a drier stroke of the pen. Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa ink will also produce a red sheen with the wettest strokes on certain paper.

Conclusions about Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa Ink

Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa ink is a nice shade of blue, has great flow, is safe for even your most expensive fountain pens and is now reasonably priced. The presentation and ink well type bottle are exceptional and one of the best in the business. There are only 24 Iroshizuku colors produced, making this ink line one that you slowly collect all of its colors! If you are a blue ink lover, Pilot Iroshizuku Tsuyu Kusa ink will not disappoint. Happy Writing from Japan!

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