Sailor - Manyo - Hinoki

Sailor - Manyo - Hinoki - Ink drop

Sailor added four new inks to the Manyo series in the spring of 2022, and I’ve been excited to try them ever since. All four are moderately undersaturated, multichromatic, shading inks, and they offer a lot of personality and surprise. This first ink is Hinoki.

Sailor - Manyo - Hinoki - Color Variation

Like the Japanese Cypress tree that it is named for, Hinoki begins with a greyish-green, but blues and pinkish-purples play significant roles in the final result. What you get has a lot to do with aspects of the paper, nib, and wetness of your pen’s flow. It’s a wet ink naturally, and as it dries the colors wrestle for their places. The splatter shows the beautiful, powdery pink-purples that develop in wetter areas, and a dramatic ring of aquamarine green. In writing, a somewhat muted grey-green base is the primary color (especially on uncoated papers), but the dramatic shading allows the pinks and purples to show, as well. Light areas brighten the overall look.

Sailor - Manyo - Hinoki - Dark Edge

This is a Sailor ink, so it’s no surprise that it is generally a pretty nice writing ink. In my six test papers, there were no issues with feather or bleed. On uncoated papers, it doesn’t give the crispest profile, but it isn’t sloppy. On coated papers, it can be razor sharp, and it’s much darker overall. Drying is neither fast, nor slow. I found that it likes some nibs more than others, but I wasn’t able to decode a pattern or reason.

Sailor - Manyo - Hinoki - Strokes on Rhodia

I like Hinoki best on coated papers. The blending and differentiation of colors is really impressive, but I wouldn’t call this a happy color. In fact, it has a sadness or depressive quality that influenced my first impression of the color. As an art ink, I think it may feel less glum. Despite this, it’s definitely an interesting addition to the series!

Sailor - Manyo - Hinoki - Ink Swatch Card

Sailor - Manyo - Hinoki - Ink Swatch Comparisons