Hot off the heels off my first fountain pen review, I’ve decided to keep the stationery content spring flowing with my first ink review! We’ll be kicking things off with NINE’s original ink, Koyoi Tsuki ga Miezu Tomo (今宵、月が見えずとも in Japanese).
Manufacturer Background
NINE, better known as Nina Corp, is an online stationery store based in Japan that carries a variety of stationery goods, largely from smaller makers or brands across Japan and elsewhere. For the penheads reading, Nina Corp carries a selection of original inks produced in collaboration with brands such as Sailor and Tono & Lims. This article will be focusing on one of these original inks, Koyoi Tsuki ga Miezu Tomo.
Ink Overview
Koyoi Tsuki ga Miezu Tomo roughly translates to “Tonight, Even if You Can’t See the Moon”. It also happens to be the title of the Bleach anime’s theme song for its third movie (in case you’re confused as to why searches for the ink might turn up results for a 2009 animated flick).
The ink itself is a deep pastel purple with chromashading properties. As with most other chromashaders, Koyoi leans a bit on the drier side, but has no issues flowing properly with at least a Western-sized Fine nib. I’ve tested Koyoi on the following four papers, with a Kakimori dip pen (brass nib), ink drop swatches, and steel Jowo #6 nibs ranging from Fine to Broad. Pictures below include those taken under yellow dining room lighting and natural daylight. Amazon.JP links hyperlinked below for the papers:
Midori Memo MD Paper Pad, A5, Unruled
Maruman Mnemosyne Spiral Pad, A5, Unruled – 80 gsm
SAKAE SR-A5P-C Technical Paper, Loose Sheet, A5, Tomoe River – 52 gsm
SAKAE Technical Paper, Loose Sheets, A5, 100 Sheets, Iroful – 75 gsm
Without further ado, let’s get started!
Mnemosyne
Kicking things off, we have Mnemosyne paper as our first test page. Produced by Maruman, Mnemosyne is what I would consider a budget-class fountain pen paper, similar to Rhodia. It’s easy to find in most mid-sized stationery stores’ notebook sections here in Japan, and is reasonably priced, running around 700-1,000 yen depending on size for their regular notebooks. One thing to note is that the majority of Mnemosyne notebooks are spiral-bound, which I find to be very helpful for classes and work, but you may feel differently.
Koyoi goes down well on Mnemosyne, with no feathering or bleeding, minimal ghosting, average drying time, and respectable colors, albeit with a slight drag to writing feel. This tends to be a commonality with all Mnemosyne notebooks I’ve tried thus far; chromashaders tend to elicit an unpleasant dragging feeling on this kind of paper and are a bit more muted compared to other papers such as Tomoe River and Midori.
Midori
Next, we have MD’s Midori paper. MD is an established paper company in Japan, specializing in notebooks and planners. Their paper is also used in Traveler’s Company standard notebook inserts. They also sell a rather interesting cotton paper blend that’s comprised of 20 percent cotton pulp and is particularly adored by a pen friend of mine.
On Midori paper, Koyoi had no feathering or bleeding, minimal ghosting, average drying times, and showed off vibrant blues in its swatch. Writing feel was enjoyable and smooth, with no distinctive drag, sounds, or other paper-specific traits to speak off. Midori’s just a good, consistent paper.
Tomoe River
Oh, Tomoe River. It’s a fantastic thin paper, but it’s certainly had its ups and downs due to the many revisions to its formula over the years, especially with recent Sanzen batches and the paper used in this year’s Hobonichi series of planners. TR paper is also used in Traveler’s Company lightweight inserts.
Koyoi on Tomoe River had some slight bleeding around the swatch area, but the actual writing didn’t feather or bleed, with minimal ghosting. Drying time was average. Writing was smooth, with this particular batch of TR paper bringing out the pastel qualities in the ink more than the other papers.
Iroful
Iroful paper is the latest paper to join my ever-expanding collection of stationery. Depending on your preferences, you may or may not like the dragging feeling some nibs have on Iroful; there’s definitely an aspect of textured feedback to writing on this type of paper. I find that I enjoy it a surprising amount, but you may feel different.
Koyoi on Iroful had no feathering or bleeding, with minimal ghosting. Drying time on Iroful was the fastest of all four papers, and there was a pleasant textured feeling to writing that’s quite unliked the drag on Mnemosyne. If I had to make a comparison, think of dragging your hand over sandpaper or sharkskin on Mnemosyne versus dragging your hand over a plush rug on Iroful. My pens did make more noise on Iroful compared to other papers as well, something to keep in mind. Iroful also brings out the purple in Koyoi the most of all four papers as well.
Conclusion
Now some of you may be wondering, how can I speak about ghosting without showing the backs of the pages? Truth is, I wanted to include some scans of each page in this article, but trying to color-correct on a cheap Japanese printer is a nightmarish experience. If you’re curious, however, please see the gallery below. The scans are not color-accurate in the slightest, otherwise I’d be giving away my bottle of Manyo Nekoyanagi to the first person I see tomorrow.
Thank you for reading through my first ink review! I’ve updated my posting style for these reviews with headers and some other layout/discussion order choices. Please feel free to let me know in the comments if you’d like to see more of these style of organized layouts in future reviews, or if you prefer a stream of consciousness style review instead.
As of date of posting, Koyoi Tsuki ga Miezu Tomo is still available for order from Nina Corp’s Japanese website. If you’re looking for a deep purple ink with pastel undertones and some chromashading, I’d highly recommend it! If there’s a Japanese ink you’d like to see reviewed next, feel free to let me know below!
‘Til next time!
