Rakuju inkstick ( Brownish black, 楽寿 )

Rakuju takes its name from two characters that read like a small blessing: Raku (楽), joy, and Ju (寿), longevity. 

It's made from the smoke of superb rapeseed oil, and its personality shows most clearly in how it shifts with dilution — ground thick and dark, it settles into a glossy, almost lacquered black; thinned down for pale washes, that same black turns warm and brownish, closer to sepia than charcoal. 

That range makes it a natural choice for sumi-e painters who like to build a piece from deep, saturated strokes down to soft, atmospheric fades, all from a single stick. It comes in three sizes — 1.0 at 18mm x 79mm x 8mm and 15 grams, 2.0 at 24mm x 94mm x 11mm and 30 grams, and 3.0 at 29mm x 109mm x 13mm and 45 grams — so you can pick the scale that suits a sketchbook practice or a full sheet of washi.

With a name built around joy and long life, Rakuju feels less like a tool for a single sitting and more like an ink meant to be returned to, stick after stick, over years of painting.