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The Tachikawa T-44 Japanese nib (AKA Nihon-ji or 日本字) is a nib that occupies a unique niche in the world of dip nibs: it is build specifically for organic, flowing, swooping curves, scumbles, circles, and curls. It is a fanstastic all-around drawing nib, and I also think it is a great option for writing, too, as it excels at cursive!

ink capacity

This test is to check the ink capacity across the short side of an A5 sheet of paper (~5.8" across). The T-44 made it 2.25 times across the page! It has a great ink capacity, allowing you to tackle an illustration without constantly having to re-dip into ink. I think this works really well for larger drawings, where you may be employing long, continuous lines.

It would do even better with a nib cage, if you're looking to extend its mileage.

This nib can be used in many free-size holders, like the Tachikawa holders, or something like the Speedball standard holder, which I prefer for it (and other larger pen nibs).

flexibility

There are a few ways I can test flexibility- by making these swoops and modulating the pressure, making groups of lines, and then seeing how it performs in tests across the page.

This nib is pretty stiff, as Tachikawa nibs generally tend to be, but it can produce some line variation. I'd say this is firmly in the middle-of-the-pack as far as Tachikawa's nibs go.

It can be used tilted onto its side to produce thicker-width lines.

The T-44 snaps back to its original shape with ease and is quite durable, not prone to breaking like softer nibs can be.

hatching

Here, I did a grouping of single-line hatching to see how the nib fared.

The T-44 does a great job at hatching. It puts down a consistent stroke, and it handles speed very well. With its good ink capacity, large ares of hatching can be done without needing to constantly re-dip your pen.

scribbling

I scribbled back and forth in this test- many nibs do not do so well with this test (especially round/tubular nibs).

The T-44 is one of the best at scribbling in the game. It does not skip, it does not snag or pull on the paper. It puts down beautiful lines and handles the speed with ease!!

curlycues

Curlycues, swoops, scumbles, and circles can be very tricky for some nibs. Often times, they'll catch on the paper, skip, or split and spatter ink everywhere, so it's a useful test to know what you might find.

The T-44 is probably among the best at handling these organic, scumbling strokes this side of a fineliner pen. That's what this pen was meant for, after all. If you employ a lot of texture like this in your illustrations, I think you ought to pick this nib up, because it handles SO well here. It does not catch, it does not skip. It just glides.

conclusion

The Tachikawa T-44 is a wonderful nib for all skill levels. Tachikawa nibs are high-quality, and they do tend to be on the stiffer side (Compared to the Nikko nibs, which they also manufacture). The T-44's relative stiffness, combined with its high capacity and ability to make many kinds of lines means it's one I recommend for beginners to dip nibs. Actually, if I were hard-pressed to recommend just one nib to a new user of dip nibs, this one might be it because it's just so versatile and nice to use.

Tachikawa nibs are readily available, but they can occasionally be harder to find outside of the G-pen nib (which is quite popular with calligraphers). You likely won't find the nib in big-box stores, but smaller local art stores may carry it. Online, you can find them at places like Jet Pens and Paper and Ink Arts, in addition to Japanese retailers like Sekaido or Tools Webshop.

(This testing was done with FW Acrylic ink in black on Deleter Kent Paper, A5 size sheet.)