Teranishi Guitar TR - Modern Red

Ink ReviewTeranishiGuitar Taisho Roman HaikaraRedCardinal RedDark Red

Apr 19

Teranishi Guitar Taisho-Roman Haikara Modern Red fountain pen ink review — **Teranishi Guitar TR - Modern Red -** **Ink Drop**

Based in Osaka, Japan, Teranishi Chemical Industry Co. has been making inks since 1916. In 2021, they released the Guitar Taisho-Roman Haikara series and caught the eye of many. They’ve expanded the series to sixteen attractive inks. Both the inks and the packaging have a strong visual identity.

Teranishi Guitar Taisho-Roman Haikara Modern Red fountain pen ink on Cosmo Air Light paper — **Teranishi Guitar TR - Modern Red - on Cosmo Air Light**

Modern Red is a beautifully bold cardinal red. It has a touch more body than middle red, and I think it’s more effective as a writing ink as a result. It stands out proudly on the page, but doesn’t blind you as a lighter, more candy red might.

Teranishi Guitar Taisho-Roman Haikara Modern Red fountain pen ink color range — **Teranishi Guitar TR - Modern Red - Color Range**

There’s nice shading, but it isn’t extreme. It’s a gentle transition from dark to medium on uncoated papers and reaches a bit lighter and darker on coated papers. Rather than the lights that traditionally catch the eye in shading inks, it’s the darker stroke ends that steal the show. I like it!

Teranishi Guitar Taisho-Roman Haikara Modern Red fountain pen ink on Rhodia paper — **Teranishi Guitar TR - Modern Red - on Rhodia**

In 2021, this series won excellence awards in both the functionality and design categories at the Japanese Stationery Awards, and I can see why. The writing experience is exceptionally comfortable. It’s wet and smooth flowing but maintains decent drying times. I haven’t found any problems with feathering, but on uncoated papers there is moderate show-through and a bit of bleed-through on really saturated spots of paragraphs. Coated papers solve this problem entirely and show neither.

Teranishi Guitar Taisho-Roman Haikara Modern Red fountain pen ink writing samples — **Teranishi Guitar TR - Modern Red - Writing Samples**

Modern Red and the other Teranishi Guitar Taisho-Roman Haikara series inks were a bit difficult to find a year ago. Thesedays, they are more widely distributed, and that’s not a problem. The packaging and bottle are both quite nicely done and of high-quality. With the expanded selection of colors, there’s probably quite a few that you’ll want to try. Enjoy!

Keep scrolling down for the swatch card, swatch comparisons, and the bottle and box.