Pilot Iroshizuku Fountain Pen Ink Cartridges - Take-sumi (Bamboo Charcoal)
Take-sumi translates from Japanese as bamboo charcoal, a material that has been fundamental to Japanese domestic life for centuries: used to purify water, regulate humidity, and for its reputed healing qualities.
Pilot's iroshizuku ink line draws its colour names from exactly this kind of deep cultural reference, and Take-sumi earns its place in the collection without effort. It is a black so dark and consistent that it reads as almost absolute on the page, with none of the cooler, bluer cast common to many fountain pen blacks. It is the ink for people who want black to mean black.
First released as a bottled ink in 2007, the iroshizuku range is now available in cartridge form, and Take-sumi translates beautifully to the format. The ink retains the qualities that made the bottled version a staple: a generously wet flow, fast drying at around 40 seconds, reliable medium water resistance, and smooth, consistent performance across a wide range of paper types and nibs. It neither feathers nor pools under normal writing conditions.
Each box contains six proprietary Pilot ink cartridges, with approximately 0.9 ml of ink per cartridge. The cartridges are compatible with the full range of Pilot and Namiki fountain pens that accept cartridges, including the Vanishing Point, Custom 74, Custom 91, Metropolitan, Kakuno, Prera, and Explorer, among others.
Each cartridge is printed with the ink name for easy identification, a practical detail when you carry more than one colour.
The packaging is worth a mention. Rather than a generic blister pack, the box mimics the blown-glass iroshizuku ink bottle packaging, with a sliding inner tray and an internal latch that prevents it from pulling out entirely. It is compact enough to slip into a bag or desk drawer and holds the cartridges securely in transit. For those who travel with a fountain pen and prefer not to carry a bottle, these cartridges are the obvious solution.
The iroshizuku name is a combination of two Japanese words: iro, meaning colour, and shizuku, meaning droplet. The range was designed to reflect the natural landscapes, plants, and seasonal changes of Japan, and each shade is developed with the kind of deliberate attention to colour character that distinguishes this line from standard pen manufacturer inks. Take-sumi is not simply black. It carries depth.
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