Ink Review - Pilot Iroshizuku muraski-shikibu

Hello, Chrissy here again and today I’m reviewing Pilot Iroshizuku muraski-shikibu ink.

From Japanese this translates to the Japanese Beautyberry fruit and is an interesting bright lilac colour.

I didn’t have many similar inks to this one to compare it with, so it’s quite a different colour to other lilac or purple inks.

Muraski-shikibu 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 very well-behaved.

It dried in 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: Nicely smooth.
• Nib Dry-out: Not noticed.
• Start-up: Immediate.
• Saturation: Not saturated
• Shading Potential: Some shading seen.
• Show-Through: Some 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 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 good water resistance.