(RO: sumi; PR: "soo-mee")
The ink used by calligraphers.

It is made from a mixture of soot particles and glue. This mixture is dried into sticks of solid ink which can be rubbed in water to produce liquid ink. Pre-made liquid ink is also widely available, and because rubbing solid ink sticks is time consuming, liquid ink is used for most calligraphy practice these days.

Abbreviations

JP Term in Japanese
RO Romanization of Japanese term
PR Pronunciation of Japanese term
PY Pinyin version of term