Kanzan and Jittoku take their names from two legendary Tang Dynasty monks — Kanzan (寒山, "cold mountain") and Jittoku (拾得, "to pick up and attain") — celebrated in Chinese and Japanese art as inseparable, laughing hermit-sages.
Tradition holds that Kanzan was a reincarnation of the bodhisattva Manjusri and Jittoku of Samantabhadra, a pairing of wisdom and practice that has inspired painters for centuries.
This inkstick carries its own kind of duality: made in the ikimatsu style from pure pine soot rather than oil, it produces a bright, full black at full strength, but as it thins into pale washes, a quietly mysterious blue tone emerges, since pine soot's coarser particles behave differently from the finer grain of oil soot.
That bluish character is said to deepen the longer the ink is kept, giving painters a reason to hold onto a stick rather than use it up quickly. At 40mm wide, 166mm long, 18mm thick, and roughly 145 grams, it has real heft for sustained grinding and serious work.
Suited to both calligraphy and painting, it's an inkstick built for people who want their black to carry a little mystery in reserve.
Width: 40mm, Length: 166mm, Thickness: 18mm, Weight: 145grams
