Kinshinsen ( 金神仙 ) sumi ink stick - Koboku ( 古墨 Antique Inkstick )

Production Year: 1980

SIZE: Width:21mm Length:83mm Thickness:13mm Weight:27gram

Kinshinsen — 金 (kin, gold) 神仙 (shinsen, enchanted land) — is made from superfine rapeseed-oil soot and finished with gold leaf, and this particular piece was produced in 1980, making it a genuine koboku: an inkstick aged for over four decades. Ink connoisseurs prize koboku for what time alone can do to it — after around five years, the colour settles and the ink's individual character begins to emerge; by a decade or more, the stick gains depth, its pale washes show a sharper, more defined bleed, and it glides more smoothly across the stone, pulling more easily with each stroke.

Four decades in, this piece sits well past that threshold. Kobaien applies gold leaf for three reasons: for beauty, for preservation since gold resists chemical change over long years, and for practice — calligraphers have long said gold particles smooth the brush's glide, making it especially suited to Kuzushiji, Japanese cursive script.

A rare chance to own a piece of Kobaien's history, matured well beyond the point where most inksticks are ever used.