Kobe Ink - #8 Arima Amber
Kobe Ink - #8 Arima Amber - Ink drop
Arima Amber is number eight in the extensive Kobe INK catalog from Nagasawa. Sailor makes the inks, and the colors Nagasawa chooses are consistently beautiful. For me, that’s definitely true for Arima Amber, too.
Kobe #8 Arima Amber Color Range
The name Arima Amber comes from the long enjoyed Arima onsen (hot springs) in Kita-Kobe, Japan. The waters of Arima have a distinctive reddish-brown amber color due to high levels of iron and salt. They have been highly regarded in Japan for their restorative properties for many centuries.
#8 Arima Amber on Cosmo Air Light and Tomoe River
Like the onsen, Arima Amber is a rich, red fox orange brown. It reminds me of Thai milk tea, but slightly darker. Delicious!
Kobe Ink - #8 Arima Amber - Cosmo Air Snow
In general, this isn’t a strong shading ink, but you do get some variation. I also found some silver, stroke-edge sheening on Fabriano paper, but little to none on others. This ink is all about the rich color and the writing experience.
Kobe Ink - #8 Arima Amber - Writing Samples
Arima Amber is a wonderful writing ink. It’s wet and very comfortable on the page. (That’s no surprise as it’s made by Sailor.) Drying time is better than average, too.
My writing samples have a bit of feathering in places, but this is largely due to fingerprints on the paper. In my experience, feathering wasn’t much of a problem. There’s a bit of show-through on most papers, but bleeding is not too bad. Unless you use cheap copy paper, neither is a real concern.
Kobe Ink - #8 Arima Amber - Swatch Card
Kobe inks are very reasonable (US$15) if you buy them direct from Nagasawa or from a retailer in Asia. Outside Asia, they are a bit more expensive than I would like, but if you shop around, you can find them for around US$30 a bottle. These are high-quality, consistent inks, and come in the 50 ml, pot bottles that Sailor used for their Jentle series inks. It’s not my favorite bottle, but the mouth is wide. For a color that really grabs you, I think it’s worth the price. I like Arima Amber, and I think you will, too!
Kobe Ink - #8 Arima Amber - Comparisons
Kobe Ink - #8 Arima Amber - 50 ml Bottle