Ink Review - Pilot Iroshizuku asa-gao

Today I’m reviewing Pilot Iroshizuku asa-gao ink.

From Japanese this translates to Morning Glory and is a rich royal blue colour. It’s a very popular ink among many fountain pen users.

Asa-gao is a well-behaved ink that didn’t suffer from any skips or hard starts when I put the uncapped pen down to do swab tests, dry times and water resistance. It felt quite wet and smooth writing.

It dried quickly in 15 or 16 seconds on the Clairefontaine Triomphe paper and didn’t smear after it was dry.

Available in attractive Pilot Iroshizuku 50ml glass bottles from The Writing Desk.

Flow Rate: Very good.
Lubrication: Very smooth.
Nib Dry-out: Not noticed.
Start-up: Immediate.
Saturation: Not saturated
Shading Potential: Some nice shading seen, and occasionally a little red sheen.
Show-Through: None seen on Clairefontaine Triomphe.
Spread / Feathering / Woolly Line: Not seen
Nib Creep / “Crud”: Not seen, even after a couple of weeks in the pen.
Staining (pen): Not seen after several days - easy clean-up.
Staining (hands): Washed off of my hands easily.
Clogging: Not seen.
Water resistance: Not sold as waterproof, but shows a little water resistance.