I'm a complete beginner. Which inkstick should I start with?

We recommend starting from our "🔗Inksticks for beginner practice" collection — these are formulated to be affordable and easy to grind evenly, so you can focus on getting used to the grinding process itself before exploring more specialized inks.

Within that collection, our flagship Koukaboku series is a reliable, well-rounded first choice.

Once you're comfortable with basic grinding and dilution, you can explore 🔗5Star Koukaboku,  🔗bluish-black (seiboku) or 🔗pine-soot (shouenboku) inks for more specific effects.