For my next Inkvent adventure, I thought I would spend some time with an ink that’s a little more obscure. I scanned my ink collection with one goal in mind: could I find an ink that would be new to both Ana and Jesi? Pretty lofty goal, but let’s give it a go.
I remembered a series of inks I purchased directly from Japan. There are five inks in the “Dangouo” series which are part of the the larger “Japanese Biological Series.” The Kingdom Note website describes “Dangouo” as “popular among divers due to its small size and round and lovely appearance.”
The series as a whole is a post for another day, but for Inkmas I focused in on the green ink of the group called… are you ready for this name?…. Konpeito (Eumicrotremus asperrimus). The Kingdom Note site says this particular ink is named for “a dangouo whose name is already cute.” There have already been several great green inks this Inkmas, including Pen BBS398 and Van Dieman’s Styx Valley Forest Green (Green is the Well-Appointed color after all!)- so we have a lot to live up to!
One thing I noticed immediately is that this is one of those inks where the ink is not a very close match to the color of the bottle. In the world of green inks Konpeito is somewhere between what I would consider “jade” and “olive” greens. It is darker than other lime greens I have, but lighter than forest greens. It has yellowish undertones instead of blue undertones like the emerald shades I own.
Of the inks I have swabbed in my collection Konpeito is probably closest to Robert Oster Jade. It is a little lighter than the Jade and has less shading and much more subtle sheen. When it does sheen however, it sheens towards black similarly to the Robert Oster Jade. Although I love the complex brown sheen of inks like Sailor Epinard, it’s nice to have an olive-ish green that doesn’t lean brown and stays true to green.
In writing (and doodling) it has just enough shading to make the color interesting. Although it is missing the pizzazz of shimmer or mega-sheen, it gets full marks from me for the shade/ hue of green. I’ve shared similar sentiments before, but it always seems to be worth repeating: sometimes just the right color is the ultimate pizzazz.
Although obtaining a ink from Japan requires some extra hoops and shipping costs, I’m not a total grinch because this ink is still available at the Kingdom Note site at the time of publishing this post. I would also be curious to compare this ink to the another olive-leaning ink (Pen BBS #342 Matcha Green Tea) Ana suggested in her epic More than Top Ten Fountain Pen Inks post. I’ve been meaning to pick that ink up for months. Do you think Santa is still taking last minute requests?
Tools:
- Paper: Tomoe River 52gsm loose leaf paper ($12.50) and Col-o-Ring Oversize ($15)
- Pens: Kenny’s Labo Glass Dip Pens $20-$65
- Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10), “The Daily Grind” Rubber Stamps ($11), Col-o-Ring “Little Dipper” ($5)
- Ink: Kingdom Note Dangouo Konpeito (Appox. $13 for 20mL bottle)
Kingdom Note made a series of inks based on lumpsucker fish…? Oh no, I was trying to stay away from boutique Japanese inks, but my resolve might break with these.
I also have Matcha Ice Cream and I think it leans a little more yellow (like R&K Alt-Goldgrün) than this one, at least from the photos.