The Pilot Iroshizuku Ink 15ml Bottle exists because most people do not want twenty-four bottles of ink, but would quite like to have tried twenty-four bottles of ink. Each colour is drawn from a particular Japanese scene: Tsuki-yo is a night sky, Momiji an autumn maple, Shin-kai the deep sea. The ink is the same formulation as the full-size bottle, simply poured into a smaller one.

The bottle is proper glass, cool and squat in the palm, with a lid that closes with a small, satisfying resistance. Fifteen millilitres fills a converter many times over, which is the point. You buy three, discover that one of them is yours, and only then commit to the 50ml.

Small Details, Big Difference

• Behaves in any pen: You put it in a fine Japanese nib or a broad steel one and it flows evenly in both, without hard starts or the feathering that cheaper inks leave on decent paper.
• Cleans out without drama: You flush the pen with water and it goes, so switching between three colours in a week never feels like a chore.
• Earns its space in a bag: You carry it to a caf or a desk that isn’t yours and it never leaks, which is more than can be said for the full-size bottle.

Details

• Brand: Pilot
• Product Line: Iroshizuku
• Type: Bottled fountain pen ink
• Volume: 15ml
• Ink Type: Water-based dye ink
• Bottle: Glass with screw-top lid
• Colours: Ajisai, Ama-iro, Asa-gao, Chiku-rin, Fuyu-gaki, Fuyu-syogun, Hana-ikada, Hotaru-bi, Kon-peki, Ku-jaku, Momiji, Murasaki-shikibu, Rikka, Shin-kai, Shin-ryoku, Sui-gyoku, Syo-ro, Syun-gyo, Take-sumi, To-ro, Tsuki-yo, Yama-budo, Yama-guri, Yu-yake
• Country of Origin: Japan