thINKthursday
Kobe #21 Taisanji Yellow

Come stroll the temple grounds with Taisanji Yellow.

thINKthursday – Kobe #21 Taisanji Yellow

Kobe #21 Taisanji Yellow is a an earthy gold ink that gets you in the mood for fall. The ink is named after the Taisanji temple located in Kobe Japan. I couldn’t find whether the ink was named for the color of the temple or the beautiful foliage that surrounds it during the fall – either way it is a unique color. Kobe inks come in the same 50ml bottle as Sailor inks. The sturdy and stout bottle has a wide opening to accommodate any pen size. This review was done with a Sailor 1911 F, Lamy Safari B and on Rhodia blank no.18 paper.

Taisanji Yellow is a golden Dijon color that shades well in both a fine and broad nibs. Gold and caramel would be the best descriptors of the ink instead of yellow. The degree of shading leads to a wide variety of colors. The lightest shades of the ink are a honey color. The ink then shades to a more traditional golden mustard color before ending at its darkest shade of caramel.

Kobe inks are produced by Sailor and have their same excellent properties. Taisanji Yellow had good flow with no feathering or bleedthrough on Rhodia paper. While its saturation was low, the ink had good dry times at 20-30 seconds. The ink had no water resistance, but the clean up was very easy.

Inks of this color can sometimes be difficult to read, but I had to problem with that using either nib. If anything, the finer nib seemed to have a darker appearance compared to the broad nib that lead to more shading. It’s a warm and inviting color that has me wishing for the Sugar Maples to start turning.

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.

Ink it Up!
Chris

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