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Kanji for Ink
The kanji most commonly used for "Ink" is 墨.
墨
Kanji that mean Ink
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墨
ink, black
Also associated with calligraphy.
Onyomi: boku Kunyomi: sumi 14 strokes Jōyō
墨 is ink in the traditional sense: the solid stick of soot and glue that is ground with water on a stone, and the black liquid it produces. It is read sumi on its own and boku in compounds — 墨汁 is bottled ink for calligraphy, 水墨画 is ink-wash painting, and 白墨 is chalk. The stick is ground on a 硯 (suzuri), an inkstone, and the same character names the result as well as the material: a brush painting made in ink alone is 墨絵.
Because 墨 names that specific black, it is not the word for what is in a pen or a printer cartridge. Modern ink is インク, written in katakana; asking for 墨 in a stationery shop asks for calligraphy supplies.
The character also stands for Mexico in older writing, as an abbreviation of the phonetic spelling 墨西哥, which is why dictionaries list that meaning alongside the ink.
Before you use Ink kanji
墨 is the only character for ink and reads clearly as calligraphy ink, with a strong association to brushwork and to deep black. It is also the character in 入れ墨, the ordinary word for a tattoo in the traditional Japanese style — fitting, but worth knowing before you wear it.