thINKthursday
KOBE #11 – Ikuta Orange

This vivacious vermillion is a fine nib’s best friend!

thINKthursday – KOBE 11 Ikuta Orange

KOBE #11, Ikuta Orange, is an incredibly bright vermillion that definitely stands out in a crowd. This ink is still available in the old-style 50ml, round Sailor ink bottle and it’s a great value for a premium Japanese ink! Unlike the old Sailor inks, however, KOBE inks do not include the goblet-shaped ink reservoir system.

KOBE #11 is definitely on the redder side of orange and would be just as useful for marking up a manuscript as it is for writing larger blocks of text. The ink is exceptionally matte in appearance with no sheen and very little shading. Before you write it off, though, I think anyone who likes bright colorful inks but writes with a fine nib should take a good look at Ikuta Orange! Because it produces such a small range of hues, this ink is actually just as legible in a fine nib as it is in a broad! Tiny writers, rejoice!

KOBE Ikuta Orange was extremely well-behaved for such a saturated ink. It had exceptionally good flow (another feature that makes it great for a fine nib) and pretty good dry times at 20-30 seconds! It had almost no water resistance, but it was also very easy to clean.

If you use a fine nib and you want a standout ink color that is easy to read, I cannot think of a single ink that would be better than KOBE #11! There are certainly orange inks out there with more shading or sheen, but when it comes to practicality, I think KOBE knocked this one out of the park.

As with any ink review, the pen, paper, and person doing the writing will influence the way the ink looks. If you’re not sure about a color, try a sample to see if it’s the one for you, or see how it measures up against your favorites using our ink tool.

Ink it Up!

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