Kobaïen 古梅園
Black is black!
For four hundred years, not a single day has gone by without the old imperial city making ink flow. With 90% of national production, Nara is the capital of the most lettered of liquids. The Kobaïen workshop offers a journey into the night.
Dozens of flames flicker gently in the dark. The soot obtained after the slow combustion of sesame or paulownia oil is mixed with glue of vegetable origin, to form sumi sticks, or sumi-e, this traditional ink used for Japanese calligraphy.
It gets better with age. Good bottles are put on sale after a few years. The shades develop, offering a unique character to this quality preparation for paper. Centenarian vintages are collector items, which escape the influence of time once transformed into nebulous landscapes or slender signs.
The store is one of the oldest in the city. The workshops can be visited for the price of a smile, the store impresses with its beautiful ink sticks. Enough to create indelible memories.