Ink Review: Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun

Review by Laura Cameron

What color ink I’m craving pretty much changes every week, and last week was a grey week.  It’s still bright and sunny here and sometimes way too hot, so a cool grey is a nice contrast.  Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun (15mL for $9.90), or “Old Man Winter” is that cool grey.

Fuyu-syogun is reminiscent of grey winter skies, perhaps even that interminable January and February period where the world is still and cold and crisp.


Which is not to say that Fuyu-syogun isn’t a great color; it is. It ranges from a cool, pale grey to a darker, foreboding storm cloud grey.  There’s no shimmer or sheen, but plenty of shading.


I don’t have a ton of greys to compare Fuyu-syogun to.  Pilot Iroshizuku Kiri-same has more brown and mushroom tones to its grey, and Sailor Shikiori Shimoyo is more of a slate color with shades of blue and black.

I think of the three swatches above, I am actually drawn to Fuyu-syogun as my favorite grey of the batch.  What are your favorite grey inks?



DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Jetpens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

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5 comments / Add your comment below

  1. This is one of my favorite inks as of late. It’s such a beautiful color that changes drastically between white and cream papers, fine line vs. wet stubs. Great ink!

  2. Kiri-Same is one of my favorite inks but for some reason I thought Fuyu-Syogun was much darker. I’ll have to check it out.

  3. This is probably my favorite gray ink, too. I fill a waterbrush with it and use it to paint the Seattle sky with (well, at least 10 months of the year). 😉

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