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Japanese · Korean · German · British
Inks, nibs, and papers from Japan, Korea, Germany, and the UK — for illustrators, calligraphers, manga artists, journallers, and everyone who takes their craft seriously.
Manga & Comic
Calligraphers & Hand Letterers
Fountain Pen Enthusiasts
Botanical & Scientific Illustrators
Art Journallers & Sketchers
Zine Makers
Gifts & Sets
50 billion plastic pens enter landfill every year — and too many end up in our oceans and ecosystems. Single-use pens aren't going anywhere, and they shouldn't have to. They just shouldn't have to end up there either.
While most of what we sell is refillable by nature, the Inkwell Circle is here for everything else. Send back any single-use pens — any brand, not just ours — using your freepost returnable bag, and we'll make sure they don't go to waste. We've partnered with specialist recyclers to ensure every pen is repurposed into something new, keeping materials in circulation and out of the ground.
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Start here — not sure where to begin?
Not sure which ink to buy? Try it first.
THE SWATCH DROP:
Try Before You Commit
3.5ml samples, hand-filled to order. Choose your own or let us choose for you.
The brands — where they come from
Made in a small workshop in Kuramae, Tokyo's traditional craft district. Kakimori's pigment inks are waterproof, archival, and remarkably well-behaved in a fountain pen — a combination most pigment inks fail to achieve. Six colours, each one considered. Not a large range. Every one worth having.
Nagoya, Japan
Used in professional animation studios across Japan for decades, Nicker Poster Colour is almost impossible to find in UK retail. The white — Designers White — is the most opaque, consistent white we know of for illustration highlights and calligraphy on dark paper. Made to exacting studio standards since 1955.
Liverpool, England
The definitive supplier to the Japanese manga industry. Deleter's manuscript paper, screentone sheets, and inks define the analogue production workflow that professional manga artists have used for sixty years. None of it is available in UK high-street art shops. It is here because the work requires it.
Seoul, South Korea
Every working manga and comic artist in Japan uses a Tachikawa G-nib. The T-25 straight holder has not meaningfully changed in sixty years. Both are manufactured at Tachikawa's Iga City factory, founded in 1935. They are industry-standard tools that happen to be almost completely unknown outside Japan.
Tokyo, Japan
Every working manga and comic artist in Japan uses a Tachikawa G-nib. The T-25 straight holder has not meaningfully changed in sixty years. Both are manufactured at Tachikawa's Iga City factory, founded in 1935. They are industry-standard tools that happen to be almost completely unknown outside Japan.
Tokyo, Japan
The definitive supplier to the Japanese manga industry. Deleter's manuscript paper, screentone sheets, and inks define the analogue production workflow that professional manga artists have used for sixty years. None of it is available in UK high-street art shops. It is here because the work requires it.
Hassle free returns
Free UK delivery on all orders over £30
Your peace of mind matters
Guides and Resources
Fude & Inking Pen Comparison Guide
This guide compares top-tier fude and brush pens based on their ink properties, nib flexibility, and artistic control
THE STATIONARY & ILLUSTRATION GLOSSARY
An explantation of common techinical terms and why they matter.
Paper Weight 101
Why GSM matters for ink work, and the one thing most beginners get wrong.
Top 5 Brush Pens for Comic and Manga Illustration
What makes a brush pen different, how to choose, and the one to start with.
Waterproof vs Non-Waterproof Inks
When the distinction matters, when it doesn't, and what happens when you get it wrong.
