A wonderful ink stick made from the smoke of the finest canola oil with ultra-fine particles.
Natsum Soseki, a Japanese novelist active from the late 19th to the early 20th century, wrote a haiku about Kobaien. He sent the haiku to his friend Masaoka Shiki, a haiku poet.
The haiku is shown on the front of this sumi inkstick. On its reverse side is the plum blossoms of Kobaien.
墨の香や
( "Sumi no Ka ya", Oh, I sense the scent of sumi ink.)
奈良の都の
( "Nara no Miyako no", It represents the ancient capital, Nara.)
古梅園
( "Kobaien", That is what Kobaien is all about. )
漱石
( "Soseki", the signature of Natsume Soseki )
The plum tree in Kobaien, Nara, Japan
Width: 86 mm Length: 86 mm Thickness: 17 mm Weight:90.1 grams ( inkstick only ), 155.8 grams ( inclucing paulownia wood box )
墨の ( Sumi no : Of Sumi ink )
香や ( Ka ya: Oh it's the scent )
Ms. Junko Azukawa, a contemporary calligrapher and ink painter in Australia, explains how to use stickinks.
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