It’s no secret that I enjoy darker, black-infused inks, ranging from my signature red-blacks to more conservative green-black and blue-black shades. If you’re looking for something a bit more adventurous than standard business-friendly blue-black, but which still won’t look out of place in everyday school or office use, why not consider a purple-black? The ink I’m reviewing today, Taccia Utamaro Aomurasaki from Taccia’s Ukiyo-e line, has been on the market for a while but is a relatively recent new discovery for me personally.
What Are the Taccia Ukiyo-e Inks?
Taccia is a brand that was created in the U.S. and sources its inks from Japan. It’s been all but confirmed that Taccia inks are made by Teranishi, which alongside Taccia is a member of the Nakabayashi group of companies. In recent years, Taccia has expanded their ink offerings from their original standard line to include the “Ukiyo-e” inks, the “Jeans” series, and the new “Roughna Sketch” series. The Ukiyo-e has probably received the most attention, due to both the intricate box artwork and the fact that this line includes some amazing and unusual colors. The inks are inspired by artwork from four different artists from Japan’s Edo period (17th Century), reflected on the packaging. “Aomurasaki”, shown here, is from the collection of four inks inspired by the work of Kitagawa Utamaro.
Aomurasaki is a deep purple-black. The purple will come out with broader, wetter nibs, while the ink will appear more black in finer nibs. (Fine nib writing sample shown here alongside a swatch.)
Aomurasaki: One of Three Takes on Dark Purple
Within the Ukiyo-e line, Taccia has included multiple takes on one color. For example, there are three different shades of purple (Nakamurasaki, Aomurasaki, and Umemurasaki), with the Aomurasaki shown here being the darkest. I was looking for the darkest of purple inks to pair with my Hinze Taschenstift in the “Violet Tendencies CrazyFibre, as I wanted the darker ink to offset the lighter barrel and lilac nib. I rarely find permanent pairings, but this might be one, and if I had enough ink to sell with the pen, I’d even consider packaging them together. Anyone have any other candidates for me to try?
The tone is EXACTLY what I was looking for.
Like their sibling brand Teranishi Guitar, Taccia inks offer solid performance across the entire line. They flow well while still drying in a reasonable amount of time, with Aomurasaki perfectly balanced in this regard - it’s a great ink to use for everyday writing and it’s worked quite well on multiple types of paper. The Itoya Profolio Oasis paper used here handled it without issue, of course, but I’ve also had great luck on ordinary office paper. The pen shown here has been inked with Aomurasaki for several weeks, without any clogging, skipping, or drying.
By the way, Itoya’s Profolio paper handles ink incredibly well. It dries relatively quickly, even with a q-tip swab like this one, and there was absolutely zero bleed-through.
Takeaways and Where to Buy
Taccia inks, in my opinion, have been unfairly overlooked, mainly because Taccia doesn’t do as much marketing as other major ink-focused Japanese brands like Sailor. I personally think these Taccia inks perform just as well as, if not better than, any other Japanese brand. While the standard Taccia lineup is excellent, I tend to lean towards the Ukiyo-e inks simply because the colors have so much depth. Other favorites of mine include Hokusai Sabimidori, as well as most of the other deep green, blue, and purple shades.
All of the Taccia Ukiyo-e inks are currently available in our shop, and if you enjoy the Taccia inks, you will also want to check out the Teranishi Guitar inks since they behave similarly, but the colors are distinct with very little overlap.
