Shanghai Stationary - Shunan Bamboe Sea

Shanghai Stationary Shunan Bamboe Sea - Ink drop

Earthy, verdant, bamboo greens are among my favorite colors for personal writing. Shanghai Stationary’s (The Netherlands) Shunan Bamboe Sea is a lovely example. This is another in the 2025 additions to their catalog.

Ink Swatches on Cosmo Air Light and Tomoe River

Shunan Bamboe Sea’s (Shanghai Stationary is based in the Netherlands and uses the Dutch spelling for “bamboo”) base is a delicious olive green, but yellow undertones play a big part in what makes this nice shading ink so attractive. The combination screams bamboo (or “bamboe”!) There is shading on every stroke. My writing example (medium, Jowo nib) on Cosmo Air Snow is a good example of what you can expect.

Ink Swatches on Iroful and Takasago Bank papers

Writing experience was consistent and comfortable. This ink is neutral in flow, smooth on the page, and dries a bit more quickly than average. Performance was where things were less consistent. On many papers, strokes were clean and crisp with no issues with feathering or spreading. However, on others the ink was more sensitive and occasionally showed some spots of micro-spreading within the paper. It’s very stable on standard office copy and many of the higher-quality papers that I regularly use. When you find a good pairing, stick with it. There’s a good chance you won’t have to think about this at all. The beautiful and expressive shading creates vibrant color variation, and this makes Shunan Bamboe Sea stand out from many of the olive greens that I own.

Writing sample on Cosmo Air Snow paper

Special thanks to Shanghai Stationary for sending this and several other inks over to try! As usual, when I accept inks or pens to try, I review the ones I want, and I always include all the negatives and positives that I find. I write these reviews based solely on my own user experience, and to give you the info that I’d want as a potential customer. Enjoy!

Shanghai Stationary Shunan Bamboe Sea - Swatch Card

Shanghai Stationary Shunan Bamboe Sea - Comparisons

Shanghai Stationary Shunan Bamboe Sea - 10 ml Bottle