Pilot 100th Anniversary Iroshizuku - Jurojin

Jurojin is another of the Pilot 100th anniversary Iroshizuku inks.  Seven anniversary inks were released each named after one of the seven Japanese gods of luck and good fortune.  Background to these gods is in my review of Fukurokuju.  

Jurojin originated from the Chinese god ‘the old man of the South Pole’ and is the god of longevity. He is seen as the personification of the the Southern Polar Star, and though images of him are considered auspicious he has never developed any following independent of the Seven Gods of Fortune.  He walks with a staff and a fan, is always depicted as an old man and traditionally less than 90cm tall.   He usually has a scroll tied to his staff which lists the lifespan of all living things and is accompanied by a deer.  The deer is a symbol of longevity and accompanies him (usually) as a messenger.

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​The packaging for the ink is the standard Iroshizuku packaging though the boxes are gold not silver.

The colour on the box is of a pale lilac ink.  On opening the bottle it is a bluey-purple almost ultramarine.

​Chromatography didn’t reveal much except to confirm this is a purple ink and not all like the colour on the packaging it comes in.

Col-o-ring swatch hinted at lilac more than purple, it is hard to demonstrate in a photo but there is a hint of pink.  The ink reminded me of a Bungbox (Sailor) favourite which I had spilt so I was happy to see this ink.  In the Bungbox swatch the hint of pink is a easier to see.

Tomoe swatch is definitely lilac.

The first writing sample was on copy paper.  The ink performed well, dried reasonably quickly and did not feather or bleed through.  Interestingly the writing is darker than the swatches suggested it would be.

Midori next – very quick drying and a lovely deep purple shade.

As usual finishing with Tomoe river and still on my Queen / Freddy Mercury kick.  A nice purple.

I bought this ink because it was purple.  The colour on the box put me off when the inks were first released then I saw pictures and noticed it was darker so bought a bottle when I had the opportunity.  It is much nicer than the washed-out colour on the packaging but surprisingly I don’t think Tomoe brings out the best in this ink.  It was darker and therefore nicer to me on Midori and the cheap paper.
I know the inks came out as a limited edition however I like many other expect the anniversary inks to go into regular production at some stage in the future.  Pilots Iroshizuku inks are not cheap but they are some of the best you can buy.
In summary -
Saturation – moderate to high
Shading - no
Sheen – no
Shimmer - no
Flow – good
Nib dry-out - none
Nib creep - none
Start-up – immediate
Feathering - no
Drying – impressively quick
Cleaning – easy
Water resistance – not sold as waterproof but very impressive water resistance