Taccia Ukiyo-e Fountain Pen Ink Natane - Rapeseed Yellow

Natane means rapeseed – and that is precisely the colour this ink carries: a muted, slightly desaturated yellow with a barely perceptible green undertone, as seen in the garments of Kabuki actors in Sharaku's woodblock prints. The Taccia Ukiyo-e collection translates the colours of Japanese woodblock prints from the Edo period into water-based fountain pen inks – developed under the supervision of a Japanese colour consultant and formulated with safe raw materials. Each colour in the Sharaku series is taken from a specific work by the enigmatic artist Tōshūsai Sharaku, whose entire known body of work was created in less than a year.

Features

• Natane colour (rapeseed yellow): a bright, slightly desaturated yellow with green undertones – delicate enough to show fine colour gradations on smooth, ink-fast paper, yet contrasty enough to remain legible with a broad nib.
• Water-based dye ink: easy to rinse from nib and converter, flows evenly through fine and broad nibs alike.
• Not document-permanent and not water-resistant – typical for this ink class; on contact with water, the yellow washes out and leaves a grey residue.
• Wide-mouth glass with 40 ml: the broad opening allows direct immersion of the converter or ink dropper without decanting.
• Illustrated packaging: the cardboard box features historical Ukiyo-e graphics from Sharaku's cycle of works – collectable as an object in itself.
• Colour palette curated by a colour consultant (Hanae Matsumoto) and matched to the historical pigment colours of Edo-period prints.

Use & Tips

• Medium or broad nibs bring out the delicate colour of Natane best – in fine nibs, the yellow appears even lighter and can appear very subtle on light paper.
• On smooth, calendered paper, the ink shows its full tone without feathering; on absorbent paper, it tends to feather, particularly with broad nibs.
• Tomoe River paper (available in the LUIBAN range) works well: the ink appears slightly lighter and less saturated there, which emphasises the pastel character.
• Ideal for sketching, illustration and calligraphy where the yellow is used as a secondary colour or for background areas – the colour family of the Sharaku series (brown, red-pink, orange, rapeseed yellow) harmonises as a complete palette.
• To clean the pen after prolonged standing: lukewarm water is usually sufficient for this water-based formulation.
• The ink is also suitable for drawing with a glass pen holder or brush holder with converter – the flowing character supports even brush strokes.

For Ukiyo-e and Ink Enthusiasts

Natane is specifically taken from the garment of a figure in Sharaku's print "Segawa Kikujūrō III as Oshizu, wife of Tanabe" – so the ink is not a free interpretation, but a colour sample from a historical original. Sharaku himself remains one of the most enigmatic figures in art history: he appeared in 1794, published over 140 prints in just under ten months with unusually realistic, expressive caricature portraits of Kabuki actors, and disappeared again as abruptly in 1795 – his true identity remains unclear to this day. The Sharaku series of the Taccia Ukiyo-e collection comprises four colours (Kurocha, Akasakura, Koiame, Natane), all distilled from the colour spectrum of his surviving prints. The collection was developed by stationery expert Hiroshi Ishizu and curated by colour consultant Hanae Matsumoto – a working method typical of Japan, where colour expertise is treated as an independent discipline.

Technical Specifications