Kyo No Oto - Hisoku

Kyo No Oto - Hisoku - ink drop

Hisoku is part of Takeda Jimuki’s Kyo No Oto line for their Kyoto-based TAG Stationery. Kyo No Oto colors are inspired by Kyoto’s long history of traditional dye craft (in this case, a porcelain glaze). Hisoku is called “the secret color” and a color of mysterious beauty. It’s a famed color in traditional ceramics of Japan, Korea, and China. Celadon porcelain is highly prized for its delicate, powdery soft, emerald-blue glaze.

Kyo No Oto - Hisoku - ink color range

Visually, this is indeed a lovely, soft blue with slight, subtle, green undertones. Kyoto TAG inks have a signature powdery look, and that plays well with such a delicate color such as this. This is an eager shading ink. It lightens and darkens, adding character and grace to written strokes. A black sheen surrounds pooling in the splatter, but none was seen in writing. Instead, a wonderful, darkened stroke halo appears on premium papers. Strokes almost look cut from paper, giving writing a bold confidence.

Kyo No Oto - Hisoku - ink swatch card

As a writing ink, Hisoku performs beautifully. Kyoto TAG can be slightly dry in some pens and have a unique feel, but when a match is made there is magic! I really like Hisoku on premium papers. Strokes were razor-sharp, with a consistent, dark halo. This steely technical prowess is tempered by equally consistent shading. It softens the ink and really brings it to life. Drying ranged from 10-20 seconds. It performed very well on office copy, too. There wasn’t any halo, but some shading was visible, and drying was 5 seconds.

I’m a big fan of Kyoto TAG inks, and Hisoku is one of the easiest to immediately love. If you haven’t tried Kyoto TAG inks, treat yourself to Hisoku, and enjoy!

November 2020