I’m going to do something really mean here: talk about two exceptionally good inks, one of which is sold out for the foreseeable future (though more is on the way). I wouldn’t normally do this, but I’ve had the post in the works for a while, and even though we sold through our initial stockpile of Teranishi Gentle Green in a little over a week, we do still have stock of Taccia Sabimidori. Because I’ve come to view these inks as two sides of the same proverbial coin, I wanted to discuss them together.
I would label Sabimidori a “dark teal”. It’s a workhorse for me and for some reason I think it looks great paired with an architect nib or Naginata-style/Kodachi grind.
How are the two inks related? Though technically from different brands, Teranishi Chemical Company and Taccia are both part of the Nakabayashi Group, a large Japanese stationery umbrella company that readers and customers will likely know due to their popular Logical Prime, Logical Air, and Yu-Sari papers. My understanding is that Teranishi makes the ink for both the Teranishi Guitar and Taccia ink lines, and they certainly behave similarly (all in a good way).
Taccia Sabimidori was “the” trendy ink from a few years ago, to the point where it was nearly impossible to get a hold of. I managed to snag this bottle at a pen show, but the craze has died down and it’s readily available.
Why do I like these inks so much? Because they’re both interesting and serviceable. 90% of the writing that I do on a daily basis is professional writing or personal journaling, and while I occasionally enjoy a wild fountain pen ink as much as the next person, most shimmer inks, “extreme sheeners,” and overly saturated colors are unusable for me because they tend to have long dry times.
Though perhaps not as intricate as the Taccia Ukioy-e artwork, Teranishi’s ink bottle and packaging also look very nice in your lineup!
Both Teranishi and Taccia inks flow extremely well (without being overly wet and soaking through paper), show depth of color (including some sheen) while maintaining reasonable dry times, and exist at a sub-$25 price point that I consider to be quite reasonable for imported inks in the modern fountain pen market. Taccia has long been a staple in my ink cabinet, though I only recently discovered Teranishi as the inks became available to more U.S. retailers.
Teranishi Gentle Green is also a blue-green, but I would say its the “opposite” of Sabimidori. On the whole, I consider Gentle Green to lean green overall, and Sabimidori to lean blue, though the distinct mixes of similar colors is what makes both inks complementary and fascinating to me.
Of the dozens of Nakabayashi-family inks available, Taccia Sabimidori and Teranishi Gentle Green are two of my absolute favorites. When wet, Sabimidori appears teal blue, only to take on a darker teal-green tinge with red undertones/sheen as it dries. Gentle Green is the opposite - it appears to be a straight-up green ink when wet, but blue and red tones appear as the ink settles in to the paper. The degree of color variation will depend on the paper you use - here I opted for classic (old formulation) 52gsm Tomoe River Paper, which is among the best ever at showing off the various tones in fountain pen ink.
Another shot of the depth Gentle Green has when drying - shown here on Col-o-Ring Paper.
Takeaways and Where to Buy
We currently stock both Taccia and Teranishi Guitar inks in our own shop. Taccia Sabimidori forms part of the Taccia Ukiyo-e line of inks, inspired by the work of four different artists from Japan’s Edo period. Hence the full name, “Taccia Hokusai Sabimidori”, referencing the specific Ukiyo-e artist who served as the inspiration for this color. As you might expect, the box artwork is gorgeous. Teranishi Gentle Green comes from the Teranishi Taisho Roman Haikara ink line, which also bears a historical reference to Japan’s Taisho period. Both ink lines are not super-expensive, priced at $20 and $23 per 40ml bottle respectively, which seems generally consistent with other imported Japanese specialty brands.
If you come see us in person, you can view swatches and the bottle artwork up close.
If I ever decided to do a “Workhorse Ink” series (similar to my “Workhorse Pens”), I would organize it by brand, not necessarily colors, and Teranishi/Taccia would be included in the first wave of recommendations. Across the board, I’ve found that these inks perform well, and the subtle color variation gets me every time. Look for more of these reviews as I work my way through the various bottles. There are many I’m really excited about, especially in the Ukiyo-e line!
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