Posts filed under Teranishi

Teranishi Guitar Taisho Roman Haikara Emotional Olive Ink Review

When Teranishi Inks first caught my eye a couple of years ago I was instantly impressed. The colors are nice, the bottle and packaging are great, the performance is excellent, and the price is fair. I shouldn’t have been so surprised, given that the Teranishi Chemical Co. has been in the ink business for 105 years!

Emotional Olive is one of my latest Teranishi acquisitions, thanks to a swatch sample from Olive Octopus. Notice I said “one of,” because yes, there were more (thanks Lisa!) And given the way these inks handle fountain pen nibs and paper, there will be more, too.

This color is an interesting one, and my first question was will this light yellow-ish green shade be legible on the page? Yes, more than I anticipated. I inked it up in my TWSBI VAC700R Iris with a Fine Steel nib - which writes more like an Extra Fine - and the output on the page looks great, even with small handwriting.

At first glance, you would think the color would look like the juice from a smashed green olive, and it does to a degree when it first goes down. When it dries, it begins to show more browns and greens, which makes for a great look when writing.

My head canon says Emotional Olive should be close to Rohrer & Klingner Alt-Goldgrün, but in reality it is more yellow, while Alt-Goldgrün is more green. They would be next to each other on a color-coded shelf, but are easy to tell apart in the end.

Cotton swab on Hobonichi Tomoe River S paper.

For shades like this that are a little odd, and a little light, I use them in two different ways: highlights, or long-form writing. In between - like daily planner notes - doesn’t work for me with this color. Planner notes require quick, repeated glances, so I want a darker ink to pick up the words more quickly. That said, full written pages of Emotional Olive would look amazing. The ink color and light shading works together well in bulk, or as an annotation against another dark color.

Teranishi makes great ink, and not just for themselves (see Taccia, which are equally as awesome.) I’m not sure what else they have up their sleeve, but since my first review, the number of releases and ink series has ramped up, and I look forward to what is next. Or, at least what Lisa makes me buy next.

Teranishi Guitar Taisho Roman Haikara Ink 40 ml Bottles can be found at JetPens for $23. I already have Antique Black in hand and look forward to checking it out next.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)


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Posted on July 15, 2024 and filed under Teranishi, Ink Reviews.

Teranishi Taisho Roman Lady Emerald Ink Giveaway

Teranishi Taisho Roman Lady Emerald Ink Giveaway

My friends at St. Louis Art Supply not only sent me the Teranishi Taisho Roman Nostalgic Honey Ink I reviewed yesterday, but included a second color, Lady Emerald, for me to give away. I did sample this ink on stream and the color looks fantastic. If you are interested in winning my bottle of Lady Emerald, read the rules below and enter away!

Posted on August 9, 2022 and filed under Teranishi, Giveaways.

Teranishi Taisho Roman Nostalgic Honey Ink Review

Teranishi Taisho Roman Nostalgic Honey Ink Review

Let’s play a game: what color is Taisho Roman Nostalgic Honey?

Regardless of what I want to call it, it’s a beautiful shade of ink.

I never thought this color-let’s call it honey for obvious reasons-would be a color I would want to use in a fountain pen. Sure, I never disliked shades in this realm, but never saw any reason to choose it on purpose.

I was missing out.

Teranishi Taisho Roman Nostalgic Honey Ink Review

The main issue was my choice of nib. With my preference for the extra fine things in life, I always chose a darker or brighter ink. Any blue black? yes. Bright blue, like Pilot Iroshizuku Kon-peki? Yes. Even brighter, like Akkerman #28 Hofkwartier Groen? Yes. A dullish brown, grey, or the like? No.

Finding a good brown ink started me down the path of choosing wider nibs to write with, especially ones that show off ink on the page better than my standard steel extra fine nibs. Stub nibs were an easy choice for me to expand in to with my block-style handwriting. A stock medium nib? The horror! But ok, yes. I do sometimes dabble in the medium realm. And you know what? I like how I can see what is happening with the ink on the page. That’s important with many of the new types of inks on the market, such as pastels, or multi-shaders.

Teranishi Taisho Roman Nostalgic Honey Ink Review

Nostalgic Honey is neither a pastel or a multi-shader, but it is a joy to see on the page. The color is a rich golden brown, with notes of caramel, cacao, satsuma, and Bulleit Bourbon. Ok, I’m not writing coffee tasting notes here, but the color gains complexity the more you look it. And I can’t stop looking at it.

Manufactured by Teranishi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. in Japan, you may also have seen these inks as Guitar Ink, which is the name used on the bottle cap. It appears that they manufacture Taccia inks as well, which have been well-received since their launch a few years ago.

This ink performs wonderfully in my 1.1 mm Jowo Steel nib fitted in my Carolina Pen Co. Best Seller (aka Warm Tone Primary Manipulation,) because I know you want to know. I chose it not to match the pen, but to compliment it. Maybe that choice has me seeing more orange in the ink that is has naturally, but it has been a great choice regardless.

Teranishi Taisho Roman Nostalgic Honey Ink Review

Performance-wise, Nostalgic Honey is mid-range in any category you want to assign it to: flow, lubrication, dry time, and shading. There is no sheen. It may be a slightly better than average shader on pages other than the bank paper that I used for the handwritten review, but maybe less shading from a standard round-tip nib. Your mileage may vary.

My milage with this ink, and the six other Teranishi Taisho Roman Fountain Pen inks, will only increase. At $18.95 for each 40 ml bottle they certainly have me interested.

(St. Louis Art Supply provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)


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Teranishi Taisho Roman Nostalgic Honey Ink Review
Posted on August 8, 2022 and filed under Teranishi, Ink Reviews.