Nikyo inkstick ( Bluish black, Pine smoke, 二喬 松煙墨 )

Nikyo takes its name from Ni (二), two, and Kyo (喬), bridge — though the name itself is really a nickname, the common way of referring to Daikyo and Shokyo, two sisters from China's Three Kingdoms period who were celebrated as peerless beauties.

It's an evocative pairing for an ink whose own character shifts depending on how you look at it.

Like Kobaien's other ikimatsu-style sticks, Nikyo is made from pure pine soot rather than oil, giving it a bright, full black at full strength and a quietly mysterious blue tone as it thins into pale washes — a bluish character said to deepen the longer the ink is kept, so the stick becomes, in its own slow way, more beautiful with age. 

At 30mm wide, 130mm long, 15mm thick, and 50 grams, it's a substantial size for sustained grinding and serious work.

Suited to both calligraphy and painting, Nikyo carries a legend of beauty two thousand years old into a black that reveals its own hidden color only when you take the time to look closely.

Width: 30mm, Length: 130mm, Thickness: 15mm, Weight: 50grams