Sailor - Manyo - Yomogi

Sailor - Manyo - Yomogi - Ink drop

Today’s ink, Yomogi, is from Sailor’s Manyo series. Manyo inks are named for flowers mentioned in the Manyoshu, an 8th century anthology of classical Japanese poetry. Yomogi (or mugwort in English), is a leafy, green, aromatic herb common to Japan, Korea, and China. It’s favored for its medicinal properties and is used as a culinary ingredient. Dried, and powdered, it’s used as a natural dye to make sweet and savory rice cakes. The leaves are a common ingredient in soups, rice, or as a tea. I don’t see any relationship between the plant, and the color of the ink, but there must be a connection.

Sailor - Manyo - Yomogi - Color Variation

Manyo Yomogi is a heavily saturated, bright, peacock blue teal. It was extremely difficult to capture the true color in photo. I have come reasonably close, but on paper I would say it is slightly more aggressive and brighter. As you can see from the ink splatter, there is a gorgeous, crunchy cinnamon sheen. This carries over to written strokes when using a wet nib. It really is quite striking.

Sailor - Manyo - Yomogi - Ink Swatch Card

As a writing ink, I had mixed results. Drying times were slightly faster than average. On Rhodia (80g), it performed very well. Strokes were clean and crisp. There was a slight halo, and no feathering. However, on Mnemosyne, Kokuyo, and Apica papers, feathering became an issue. Using a finer nib helped, but that won’t be an appealing solution to some.

I like Sailor inks. Visually, Manyo Yomogi is a beautiful peacock blue, accented with hints of fiery red sheen. In finer nibs, this is a fantastic ink. Broader, wetter nib users need to take the possibility of feathering into consideration before purchasing. In the end, Manyo Yomogi might just be too beautiful to pass up!