Kyo No Oto - Adzuki-iro

Kyo No Oto Adzuki-iro - ink drop

This is Adzuki-iro, from Takeda Jimuki’s Kyo No Oto line for their Kyoto-based TAG stationery stores. The TAG inks are elegant and tasteful, and this ink fits that description. The name Adzuki-iro refers to the color (iro) of Adzuki beans (red mung beans). When I think of adzuki beans, I smile and think of delicious, sweet treats. Grown in East Asia, they’re most commonly sweetened whole or as a paste, and added to baked-goods and desserts.

Adzuki beans are a dusty, pinkish-crimson, and this ink is a perfect match. It isn’t a heavy shading ink, but when it does, you get a good range. Lighter areas are a translucent, powdery deep pink, while darker areas are a well-saturated, luscious deep red. In the splatter, you can see a silver sheen edging areas of pooling and strokes on certain papers.

Kyo No Oto Adzuki-iro - ink swatch card

Adzuki-iro is a nice writing ink, but it isn’t as wet as I normally prefer. Despite this, it flows well. I’d pair it with a wet writing pen to balance things out. On my five test papers, it was best on Rhodia, with no feather, crisp stroke profiles, some shading and halo, and a subtle sheen edge. It performed pretty well on Mnemosyne, Kokuyo, Apica, and office copy paper, but strokes were not quite as sharp. Drying times ranged from 20-35 seconds.

I really like Kyoto TAG inks. Like Adzuki-iro, many of them are slightly dry, but they all perform well. This is a beautiful deep crimson, and well worth giving a try!

October 2020