I'm not likely to be able to visit Japan any time soon if ever, so enjoy the travel log feel with inks as the narrative through line for the travel.

@@spiderwrangler4457 Glad you're enjoying the travel part of it. Thanks!

I love the contrast between the scenery and the ink / pen presentation. Your choice of music is immaculate. Please don´t change the composition ;)

@@Asmodea01 Thank you 🙂

Thank you 🙂

Yes, I agree!

@@courtney9212 Thanks Courtney!

Thanks! Yes, I felt the same way about the pale inks... I don't use them very often, but they were interesting nonetheless.

I agree... Nagasaki was wonderful, and there was a bakery right around the corner from my apartment that was my favorite of the trip :-) I actually looked up "Zakka" during the first time watching this video, and it makes complete sense, having seen that CuLuRe store.

Thank you 🙂

Pretty cool! Though it does feather a bit too much for my taste 🙂

Thanks! 🙂

Now that I know what to expect from that ink, I think it's one of my favorites from the trip so far. Really unusual pink-brown, and interesting variation in color... and Midori seems to make just about any ink better.

Thanks :-) It always makes me happy to hear that people are enjoying these videos!

Thanks!

Thank you 😀

Thanks Karen 🙂

Thank you :-) Japan is wonderful. With the current exchange rate, it's a very inexpensive time to visit, if you can pull it off. Good luck!

Thanks David! I'm afraid that I don't know anything about the specific reasons that inks look different on different papers. My assumption has always been that some papers allow some dyes to absorb and others don't allow any inks to absorb into the paper, and that affects the mix of dyes that are visible on the surface. But that's pure speculation. It might have something to do with a reaction with the paper fibers or sizing (surface coating). I wonder who would be able to answer that question for us? I'll have to look into it. I feel terrible about the atomic bombs and generations of trouble that they caused for un-armed civilians who were going about their everyday lives. But it is also worth remembering that it was Japan that declared war on the US and attacked pearl harbor, and Japan perpetrated some horrific atrocities against other nations during that time as well (not to mention enslaving 400,000 women and young teenage girls as "comfort women" in brothels for Japanese soldier). In war, it is always the civilians who lose. I love Japan so much, it's sometimes tempting to overlook Japan's problems... but right there in Nagasaki, I was looking for lunch one day and ran across a shop that was selling whale strips in little cardboard boxes, like fish and chips, and that's pretty hard for me to accept as well. So, I guess we all have our problems, and we just have to keep our eyes open.

@@thewetpen Thanks for your thoughts on the inks and how they appear on different paper. I think you may well be onto something with your theories on why some inks can appear quite different on different papers. Here's a funny thing, India ink is extremely permanent on paper, but washers off one's hands easily, whereas even "washable" fountain pen inks are very difficult to wash off one's hands, but easier to get some off from paper. Thanks also for your thoughts regarding the war that was fought against Japan. My wife and I both have a keen interest in history, and do not accept the version of The Second World War that the winners have presented us with. We came to our opinions when digging into things from both World Wars that never quite added up. Obviously far too big a subject to go into on a video that is reviewing inks. Also, the censorship that revisionist history is subjected to means that open discussion is extremely difficult. I will say that in such a tremendously tragedy as The Second World War, crimes are committed by all the major belligerents. Anyway, my wife and I focus mainly on the National Socialist side of things, with a little on Japan. Always looking forward to your videos.

Thanks Roxie 🙂 I haven't seen you around much lately... everything OK? (Not that you have any responsibility to haunt my comment section...)

@@thewetpen Hey Matthew! How's it goin?! Work's been absolutely brutal which is why I'm still awake and haunting at this ungodly hour...though I suppose it's the best time to haunt. 😜😄

@@roxiesossa3210 Definitely my favorite time to be haunted :-) Hope that your work settles down and you get some time to relax! Or at least that you're making the money to travel to Japan...

@@thewetpen 😂 With the way things are going lately, I doubt it but a girl can hope...😊

Glad you enjoyed it :-) I've been traveling (locally) this week and have really been enjoying a new gold PenBBS nib.

Definitely parts of Japan are. Tokyo is really bustling, and Kyoto is so packed with tourists that serenity is hard to find... but they're beautiful nonetheless 🙂

@@thewetpen Thanks for sharing this! Appreciate it.

Thanks!

I know what you mean... just the act of going back through my photos and inks makes me want to go back again 🙂

Yeah, that one was out of the way, but a great shop and some of those inks were really beautiful... not to mention the bottles. There was an olive green that was awesome, but I had just purchased a couple of greens that were similar (or so I thought) in Tokyo, so I tried to pick something new.

@@thewetpen Yea, it was the time of travel that detracted me from making the trip there. But if I had seen those vase bottles... I probably would have convinced myself otherwise. Those inks look great, especially that bowl of noodles one. loved it! I too did pick too many of the same shades, realised I came back with a lot of blue-purples - needing more green now

I also tend to like blue purples, though I've been getting interested in red ones recently. Nagasaki was quite an experience, but oddly... I didn't feel the same way in Hiroshima. Maybe it was too big, with too many tourists for anything to feel very real.

Thanks! Yes, these Sailor inks in vase bottles seem to be very reliably good writers! I can't think of a single one of mine that has had disappointing flow... and they often feel lubricated.

Thanks! I had planned on doing writing samples, but got too busy and decided to just finish the video as it was. In the future, I'll do them again. I think I did post one on Instagram today.

Thanks :-) This was an odd collection of inks, I thought... the Sunset Grey was pretty cool, and I like any ink that's mostly blue, so the Firefly was very pretty. I wanted to drone on a bit about the atomic bomb site quite a bit more, but in the end, I decided that this is a Fountain Pen video, after all 🙂

I agree completely. The saddest thing about the atomic bombs was how indiscriminate they were.

Thanks 🙂 I'm not one of these people that feel that "the sins of the father are carried by the son", in general, but I definitely did feel a weird sort of personal connection and responsibility at that site... but pretty much nothing in Hiroshima, fwiw. Maybe it was just too crowded. Anyway, I loved both of these pen shops, and the cities were wonderful... but Nagasaki in particular.

@@thewetpen just as an American I felt something in both cities, although I was also frustrated at the Hiroshima museum that there was so little about what led to the war. I agree that Kyushu has a different vibe in many ways. If you end up in Hiroshima again and are interested in non ink destinations I suggest onomichi, tonomura, and neighboring Okayams Prefecture has cool guest houses.

@@AndrewWertheimer Ahh, thanks for the suggestions! I'm sure I'll end up in Japan again before too long.

It really was a wonderful trip... but I'll have to make at least one more to feel like I've covered enough :-)

So true. 🙂

@@thewetpen …I’m not trying to put you on the spot, but any thoughts about expanding the initial Wet Pen three ink color release? 🙏

@@edwardrutledge2765 🙂 Soon, although I'm not sure that you'll like the initial inks that I'll be adding. I have made several different colors, but most of them still need a lot of time for testing (I like to let them sit and make sure that there aren't any slow reactions between dyes, etc), and the re-stock will be soon. Either this week or, if I can't manage it before I have to spend a couple weeks out of town, then early July.

Thanks :-) I think that at the time, I assumed that it just said the same thing, top and bottom, in different languages. Great store in any case!

Yes, me too. Part of that, I just discovered, is that I got the wrong ink! The Glover Garden is not Glover Garden... it's an ink called "Dutch Slope Rainy Grey". *sigh*

That is a PenBBS 323 in the Aurora material. tidd.ly/4elJRzw

@@thewetpen Oh wow, thanks! I was afraid you were going to say it's some $250 custom pen or something!

@@plainwater Nope! I'm generally a cheap pen guy 🙂

In general, I'd say that Sailor follows (or maybe sets) the trends with inks... and low saturation inks have been very popular for the past few years. A lot of the older Sailor inks that I get (virtually all of the ones in vase bottles, for example) are higher saturation, often to the point of sheening. So, I'm not sure that we're seeing something specifically about Japan so much as overall trends. However, there IS a phenomenon in Japan, mainly (but not exclusively) among young women, often referred to as "Inku Numa" or "The Ink Swamp", which is the equivalent of saying "going down the 'ink' ribbit hole" or something like that. But for those who are interested in ink, they buy ink to just play with it... often with glass pens and "puddles" which are small dishes for holding ink (again, usually glass), and then they draw or write or drip or just smear the ink around paper. So, if Sailor is the trend setter, this might be the reason for the trend. That said, I've been in Japan pretty much as a tourist... I don't have any good Japanese friends who are in the hobby, so I don't know all of the details :-)

@@thewetpen Thanks, that makes a lot of sense, "The Ink Swamp" I do know women young and old in the US that do the exact same thing, the only difference is they use inks with very heavy shimmer. I was just wondering as I see that trend growing mainly from Japan. When you look at inks from Europe, Diamine, Jacques Herbin, etc, and Noodlers from the US. They are way more saturated. They do have some lower saturated inks but not like Japan. Thanks again I really enjoy your video and how you tell a story. I love fountain pens and inks but you add a really nice touch.

Not at the moment. It will be on the back burner until I finish this Japan series.

@@thewetpen Thanks for the reply. I will wait for it. Btw you can check out Kanwrite nibs (just the nibs without the nib unit). Here in India these are available for

Actually, there's nothing too it. The ink has to go in your checked luggage, but the glass is so thick on these bottles that they're really not fragile at all. I brought along a bit of bubble wrap for insurance, but I put the bottles in large ziplock bags and mostly padded them with my dirty laundry, and that was it. I do have a hard-sided suitcase, which helps. Same for the glass pens... they went in slightly wrapped in bubble wrap in their boxes, and stabilized with my clothes.

@@thewetpen thanks for reply. Do fountain pen leaks in air plane?

@@jayantghodke1796 Sometimes, but it depends on the pen's filling system and how full it is. The problem comes when the air in the ink chamber expands at altitude and forces the ink out of the nib, so if the pen is completely full, then there's no air to expand, and the ink stays put. Alternately, a lot of pens (some vac fillers and all Japanese style eyedroppers) block off flow to the nib with a plunger, and they won't leak. I generally travel with empty pens plus one that is travel-safe.

@@thewetpen Thank you Sir

I actually was just looking online myself... wanted to buy one of the other colors... but alas! No luck. If I find a place, I'll let you know 🙂

I'm sorry to say that I don't own any Sailor pens... for some reason, they've never grabbed me. In fact, I hardly have any gold-nibbed Japanese pens: just a Pilot Custom Heritage 912 and a Platinum 3776. I'm not really much of a pen collector... my main interest is in inks 🙂

@@thewetpen Whatever, you are doing a nice job for us 👍🏼Appreciated!! 🙏🏼 ❤ When you are not in Japan, from which website do you order pens or inks? I may choose Amazon the most.

@@arghyadipghoshg18 For pens, I tend to go with Endless Pens and Pen Chalet in the US, but also Amazon and Ebay and Etsy. I wouldn't say that I have any sort of brand loyalty when it comes to pen shops... I shop around and buy good deals where I find them. Good luck!