Pilot Iroshizuku Chiku-rin: Ink Review

Overview

Chiku-rin translates to “bamboo forest,” and the name fits — this is a bright, happy, energetic yellow-green that reads more like new spring shoots than deep forest cover. It’s one of the lighter, more unsaturated entries in the Iroshizuku line, which makes it a color people either fall for immediately or find a bit too pale for everyday writing.

Colour

Chiku-rin sits at the paler, brighter end of the green spectrum — “a cheery yellow-green that comes alive on paper” rather than a deep, brooding forest tone. On a wetter nib the green saturates more fully, but across most pens it lays down as a light green with yellow accents running through it. It’s a genuinely happy color, closer to fresh bamboo shoots than mature foliage, and it sits noticeably lighter than something like Sailor Manyo Ukikusa in side-by-side comparisons.

Swabbed out, Chiku-rin looks considerably darker and more saturated than it reads in actual handwriting — a common trait of pale Iroshizuku shades. The yellow-green base becomes more evident in a large pooled swab, and it’s a good reference point for seeing the ink’s full color range before committing it to a page.

Writing Experience

Pilot’s Iroshizuku line is known for being consistent and well-behaved, and Chiku-rin mostly lives up to that, though it runs slightly drier than its stablemates — “noticeably drier in flow than other Pilot Iroshizuku inks”, with a touch more nib feedback on steel nibs as a result. That said, it starts reliably with no hard starts or skipping, and it stays smooth enough to be pleasant for extended writing sessions.

Shading

Shading is rated medium, and multiple reviewers agree it’s genuinely good without being theatrical — “not as dramatic as some inks, but offering a solid range of color depth across most pens”, and importantly, “shading still comes through well even in smaller nibs thanks to how light the base color already is”. That’s a nice property: you don’t need a big wet nib to see Chiku-rin do something interesting on the page.

Sheen & Shimmer

Neither is present here. Chiku-rin is a flat-finish ink through and through — “no sheen” and no shimmer particles, which fits its identity as a clean, natural-feeling green rather than a special-effects ink.

Dry Time

This is where Chiku-rin stands out. Reported dry times run remarkably fast, “consistently dry after about 8 to 10 seconds” in one tester’s measurements, with other testers clocking it slightly slower around 10–20 seconds depending on paper and nib. Either way, it’s on the faster end of the spectrum for fountain pen inks generally, which matters if you’re a lefty, an overwriter, or just impatient.

Paper Performance

Menorah Paper — On smoother, less-absorbent stock, Chiku-rin’s pale yellow-green reads clean and bright, though the lighter saturation means it can look a little thin or washed out compared to darker Iroshizuku shades — this isn’t the ink to reach for if you want bold, high-contrast lines on glassy paper.

B7TRN Paper — On more absorbent or toothier stock, the ink’s shading opens up more, and the yellow-green base deepens slightly with more ink absorbed into the fibers. On cheaper, uncoated copy-paper-style stock, expect some feathering, though bleed-through stays minimal even there.

Water Resistance

Water resistance is rated medium rather than low, which is a pleasant surprise for such a pale ink. “Under a water drip test, the yellow component of the ink washes away, but a blue-green residue remains” — meaning the line survives moisture in a muted, shifted form rather than disappearing outright. Not a substitute for a waterproof ink, but better protected than most light greens.

Cleaning & Maintenance

Cleaning is easy, consistent with Pilot Iroshizuku’s reputation across the line — “it doesn’t clog pens and doesn’t age or turn gloppy over time”, and it flushes out of converters and feeds without a fight. That combination of easy cleaning and gentle formulation is also what makes it considered vintage-safe.

Sources referenced: Goulet Pens product listings and customer reviews; The Pen Addict ink review; Mountain of Ink ink review; Inky Inspirations ink review.