An introduction to Kobayashi ink and Kobabun
Kobayashi or Kobabun (short for Kobayashi Bungukan which translates to Kobayashi Stationery Store) is a well known brand and store in the Japanese stationery market. Their stores are located in the Shizuoka prefecture and have various stores with each their own specialty or field of expertise. Besides running a succesfull stationery store, they also have created some of the most beautyful ink and stationery collaborations. Their original products range from pencases, fountain pens, ink wells, inks to washi tapes!
In 2023 we were able to visit their flagship store in person and fell in love with their aesthetic, service and amazing goods. We ofcourse could not leave without adding alot of products to our basket. We ofcourse added atleast one of each of their original product series. Their products are all based on locations, landmarks and seasons in and around Shizuoka which gives their products an authentic and relateable feeling once you've visited the area. We fell in love with their products and after 3 years Furinink reached out to Kobayashi to become the stockist of their products in Europe. As of today we can say that we're enlightend to be able to bring these products to the European market as the first and currently only retail shop selling Kobayashi products in Europe.
The products we carry are their original inks (all series apart from their shimmer series) alongside a limited selection of their washi's.
The Kobayashi Original Fountain Pen Ink is a series in collaboration with Sailor. The creativity of Kobayashi and the ink making expertise of Sailor have brought a variety of amazing inks that have well behaved properties and unique colors. The full series is a collection of 40 inks in total, we currently carry all 40 of their varieties.
The Kobayashi Ken Takeda is a series based on the ever changing colors of and around Mt. Fuji. Ink expert Ken Takeda has tried to capture various moments in time where Mount Fuji shows its most beautifull colors. A small collection of 4 inks, with each and every one of them resembling the moments where Fuji shows is beauty.
The Kobayashi Shizuoka Original inks, based on Shizuoka themes and moments. This series is a collection of products, wildlife and areas within the Shizuoka prefecture.
Bungukan Kobayashi and the well known calligrapher Bechori collaborated on a series of ink which best resembles the calligraphy style of Bechori. The bold vibrant and heavily shading inks are a great pairing for anyone writing in bold lettering or who enjoys calligraphy. The inks are produced by Tono & Lims and the entire series is made out of 10 different inks.
