Japanese Watercolor Paints Compared: Tubes, Pans, Gouache

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If you want one answer: for most people starting with Japanese watercolor paints, the Holbein Transparent Watercolor Paint Set No. 2, 24 colors at 5,219 JPY (about $33) is the right first buy — professional-grade pigment in 5ml tubes, in the format that lets you mix freely. But “watercolor paint” in Holbein’s catalog actually covers five different products that behave nothing alike: transparent tube watercolor, solid pan color, cake color, opaque gouache, and Acryla Gouache. Pick the wrong family and you’ll spend $50 on paint that refuses to do what you wanted. Below is each family with real, currently-stocked sets, what it’s actually good at, and the honest downside.

All prices are the mall’s listed JPY converted at roughly ¥159/USD as of August 21, 2026. The exchange rate moves and so do listings, so treat the dollar figures as ballpark rather than checkout totals.

The five families, in one paragraph

Transparent watercolor is pigment in gum arabic — it stays re-wettable forever, it lets the paper’s white do the lighting, and it’s what most people mean by “watercolor.” Pan color is the same artist-grade paint pre-dried into half pans in a metal or resin box, for travel. Cake color is a cheaper solid format in round discs, the kind you probably used in school. Gouache is also pigment and gum arabic, but with a much higher pigment load, so it dries opaque and covers what’s underneath — and stays re-wettable, which is both its gift and its curse. Acryla Gouache is the odd one out: opaque, matte, water-soluble while wet, and permanently waterproof once dry.

1. Transparent watercolor tubes — the default starting point

The Transparent Watercolor Paint Set No. 2, 24 colors is Holbein’s core line — a range the brand has been selling since 1946 — in No. 2 (5ml) tubes, 24 of them, for 5,219 JPY (about $33). The listing is unusually specific about why it behaves the way it does: high pigment concentration so the color range widens dramatically as you add water, “moderate familiarity” (a slightly awkward translation of the fact that it doesn’t sink into the paper too aggressively, so it stays workable on the surface), and strong lightfastness.

That last point is the practical reason to buy artist-grade paint rather than a craft set. Cheap watercolor fades; this doesn’t, or at least fades much slower.

There’s a second, pricier 24-color transparent set in stock, the W444 set at 10,664 JPY (about $67). Same paint, same line — the listing text is nearly identical — but at double the price for the same number of colors, what you’re buying is larger tubes, not more range. Skip it unless you already know you burn through paint.

The caveat: 5ml tubes are genuinely small, and a 24-color set includes several colors you will realistically never reach for while you run out of the three you use constantly. Tube watercolor also dries hard in your palette between sessions and needs a minute of rewetting before it behaves, which is exactly the annoyance pan color exists to solve. And no palette or case is included — budget for one.

2. Specialist transparent palettes — only worth it as a second set

Two curated 24- and 12-color transparent sets sit alongside the core range. The Botanical Art 24 Color Set (6,374 JPY, about $40) is a reworked selection aimed at botanical illustration; the listing notes the palette was revised to add more frequently-used colors like cobalt blue and cobalt violet light. The Pastel Color 12 Color Set W452 (4,003 JPY, about $25) collects 12 pale colors — Brilliant Pink, Shell Pink, Naples Yellow, Leaf Green, Compose Green, Emerald Green Nova, Compose Blue, Horizon Blue, Lavender, Lilac and two more — chosen for comic and character illustration.

The caveat: the Pastel set’s own listing says the quiet part out loud — it deliberately contains no colors from the regular 12-color set, and it’s “recommended as a second set.” There are no darks and no real primaries in it, so it cannot be your only palette. The Botanical set has the opposite problem: it’s a coherent standalone palette, but it’s tuned toward muted, naturalistic greens and earths, so if you mostly draw bold characters it will feel washed out. Either way, buy the core set first.

3. Solid pan color — the travel format, at a real premium

Pan color is the same artist-grade paint, pre-poured and dried into half pans so you can open a box, wet a brush, and start. The Artist Pan Color 12 Color Set, Palm Box PN691 is 8,411 JPY (about $53) in a 133 × 30 × 76mm box that genuinely fits a palm. If you want the full range, the 36 Colors Set in a resin case, PN698 is 21,225 JPY (about $133) at 163 × 28 × 116mm — closer to a paperback footprint.

There’s also a Palm Box Plus Case PN701 at 2,989 JPY (about $19), which is the case-and-starter format rather than a full 12- or 36-color kit — a reasonable low-commitment way to find out whether you’re actually a pan person.

The caveat: the per-color math is brutal. Twelve half pans for $53 works out to roughly $4.40 a color, against roughly $1.40 a color for the 24-tube set — you’re paying a large premium for the pouring and the box. Half pans are also small, so if you paint at anything above sketchbook scale you’ll be scrubbing at the pan to lift enough pigment for a wash, which wears down both the pan and your brush tips.

4. Cake color — the cheapest way into solid paint

Cake color is watercolor with the water removed and pressed into discs — same principle as pans, different (older, cheaper) format. Holbein stocks it in two versions at the same price, 4,071 JPY (about $26) each: Transparent Cake Color C010 in 25mm discs, and Opaque Cake Color C030 in slightly larger 30mm discs. Both listings make the same pitch: it dissolves as soon as you stroke it with a wet brush, which makes it convenient outdoors.

At $26 for 12 colors, cake color is roughly half the per-color cost of the artist pans, and the larger disc surface is genuinely easier to load a big brush from than a half pan.

The caveat: this is a step down in grade, not just in format. Cake color is the school-and-sketching tier — expect less pigment density and more chalkiness than the artist pan color above, and don’t expect the same lightfastness claims Holbein makes for the professional transparent line. Note also that “opaque cake color” is not the same thing as gouache; it’s a coverage-leaning watercolor, not a high-pigment paint body.

5. Opaque gouache — for flat color and covering mistakes

Gouache is the same pigment-and-gum-arabic recipe as transparent watercolor with far more pigment in it, which is why it dries as a flat opaque field that hides whatever was underneath. The Gouache 12 Color Set G711 is 6,311 JPY (about $40) in No. 5 (15ml) tubes, and the listing spells out the palette: Carmine, Frame Red, Permanent Yellow Deep, Lemon Yellow, Permanent Green Light, Permanent Green Deep, Turquoise Blue, Ultramarine Deep, Violet, Burnt Sienna, Ivory Black and Permanent White.

If $40 is more than you want to gamble, the Gouache Basic Color 5 Color Set G741 is 3,429 JPY (about $22) for five 15ml tubes — enough to find out whether opaque paint suits how you work. At the far end, the 84 Color Set G731 exists at 51,079 JPY (about $321), which is a studio purchase, not a starter one.

The caveat: gouache stays re-wettable after it dries, and that cuts both ways. Lay a second color over a dried first layer and the brush will lift and muddy what’s underneath unless you’re quick and light-handed. It also uses paint fast because you’re applying it thickly rather than diluting it, so 15ml tubes go quicker than the number suggests. And because it covers the paper, you lose the thing that makes watercolor watercolor — the paper’s white glowing through.

6. Acryla Gouache — the one that dries waterproof

Acryla Gouache solves the layering problem by swapping gum arabic for acrylic resin. It thins with water like gouache, but once it dries it’s insoluble — you can paint over it as many times as you like without disturbing the layer below. The finish is dead matte, so it doesn’t gloss up at an angle the way ordinary acrylic does. The Master Set 12 Color D411 is 4,826 JPY (about $30) in No. 6 (20ml) tubes: Carmine, Scarlet, Deep Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Light Green, Viridian, Ultramarine Blue, Sky Blue, Violet, Burnt Sienna, Jet Black, Titanium White.

Notably, that’s cheaper than the 12-color traditional gouache set above, with larger 20ml tubes. If you want more range, the 24 Color Set D416 is 8,002 JPY (about $50), and the 109-Color Full Set D436 tops the whole catalog at 41,247 JPY (about $259).

The caveat: irreversibility is the price of layering. Whatever you squeeze onto the palette and don’t use is gone — it hardens and won’t rewet, so palette waste is a genuine running cost that tube watercolor simply doesn’t have. It’ll also permanently ruin a brush you leave sitting in water. And Holbein’s own listing warns against thick application and recommends thin coats, so this isn’t a paint for heavy impasto texture.

7. Topping up: open-stock single tubes

You don’t have to replace a whole set when one color runs out. Holbein sells the transparent line as open stock, from around 1,301 JPY (about $8) for a No. 2 (5ml) tube of a standard color like Indian Red up to roughly 1,649 JPY (about $10) for the cadmiums and Viridian, which cost more because the pigments do. The cult favorite Opera W213 — Holbein’s fluorescent pink-magenta, the color people specifically import Holbein for — is 1,573 JPY (about $10) in a 15ml tube.

The caveat: at $8 to $10 a 5ml tube, replacing six colors costs more than a third of a fresh 24-color set, and ordering a single tube from Japan means paying international shipping on one small item. Batch your top-ups.

So which one should you actually buy first?

If you’re painting in a journal or sketchbook and want the classic luminous watercolor look, buy the 24-color transparent tube set ($33) and nothing else until you’ve used it up. If you already know you paint outdoors or on a commute, the Palm Box PN691 ($53) buys you convenience at a real premium — pay it knowingly. If you’re an illustrator who wants flat, poster-like color and clean layering, skip watercolor entirely and start with the Acryla Gouache Master Set 12 ($30), which is both cheaper and better suited to that job than traditional gouache. And if you’re not sure, the 5-color gouache basic set ($22) and the Palm Box Plus Case ($19) are the two cheapest ways to test a format without committing.

Whatever you pick, the paper matters as much as the paint — 300gsm cotton behaves completely differently from a 60gsm sketch pad under a wash. Our guide to Japanese watercolor paper for art journaling covers the specific sheets and blocks worth pairing with these paints.

Comparison table

Product	Type	Format / size	Approx. price	Best for
Transparent Watercolor Set No. 2, 24 colors	Transparent watercolor	5ml tubes × 24	~$33	The all-purpose first purchase
Transparent Watercolor 24 Color Set W444	Transparent watercolor	Larger tubes × 24	~$67	Heavy users who empty tubes
Botanical Art 24 Color Set	Transparent watercolor	5ml tubes × 24	~$40	Botanical and naturalist work
Pastel Color 12 Color Set W452	Transparent watercolor	5ml tubes × 12	~$25	A second set for pale character art
Artist Pan Color 12, Palm Box PN691	Solid pan color	Half pans × 12, 133×30×76mm	~$53	Travel and plein air
Artist Pan Color 36, Resin Case PN698	Solid pan color	Half pans × 36, 163×28×116mm	~$133	A complete portable studio palette
Transparent Cake Color C010	Cake color	25mm discs × 12	~$26	Budget solid paint, outdoor sketching
Opaque Cake Color C030	Cake color	30mm discs × 12	~$26	Budget solid paint with more coverage
Gouache 12 Color Set G711	Opaque gouache	15ml tubes × 12	~$40	Flat opaque color, poster work
Gouache Basic 5 Color Set G741	Opaque gouache	15ml tubes × 5	~$22	Testing gouache cheaply
Acryla Gouache Master Set 12 D411	Acrylic gouache	20ml tubes × 12	~$30	Clean layering, matte illustration
Acryla Gouache 24 Color Set D416	Acrylic gouache	20ml tubes × 24	~$50	Serious illustration palette

FAQ

Transparent watercolor, gouache, or Acryla Gouache — which should I use for art journaling?
Transparent watercolor if you want washes, bleeds and the paper glowing through, which is the classic art-journaling look. Acryla Gouache if you want flat blocks of color you can letter or draw on top of cleanly, since it dries insoluble and won’t lift when you layer. Traditional gouache sits awkwardly between the two for journaling — it’s opaque like Acryla but re-wettable like watercolor, so overpainting tends to muddy, which is why it’s more at home in finished illustration than in a working journal.

Are pans or tubes better if I want to paint away from my desk?
Pans, clearly — the Palm Box PN691 opens and works with nothing but a waterbrush, whereas tubes need a palette, squeezing, and cleanup. But be honest about the cost: you’re paying roughly three times as much per color for the pan format. A cheap middle path a lot of people use is to buy the tube set and squeeze paint into an empty pan palette yourself, letting it dry solid. It’s the same paint, and you keep the option of mixing fresh from the tube.

What paper weight do I need so these don’t buckle or bleed through?
For anything genuinely wet — transparent watercolor washes, thinned gouache — go to at least 200gsm, and 300gsm cotton if you want the sheet to stay flat without taping it down first. Acryla Gouache applied in thin coats is more forgiving because you’re using less water. A 60-90gsm sketch pad will cockle badly under any real wash regardless of which of these paints you use.

Do these ship internationally, and will I pay customs?
Yes — these are sourced through Discovery Japan Mall, which ships from Japan to more than 120 countries. Expect roughly 10 business days for processing plus transit time. The listed prices don’t include destination-country customs duties or VAT, which some countries apply above a certain order value, so factor that in on the larger sets like the 36-color pan box or the 84-color gouache set.

What’s the cheapest complete kit that isn’t a false economy?
The 24-color transparent tube set at about $33, a pad of 200gsm-plus paper, and one decent round brush. That’s a genuinely capable setup, and the paint is the same professional-grade line Holbein sells to working illustrators — you’re not buying a student version and upgrading later. Skip the specialist palettes, the W444 set and the big pan boxes until you know what you actually run out of.

Takeaway

The mistake worth avoiding here isn’t buying the wrong brand — Holbein’s paint is consistently good across all five families — it’s buying the wrong family for the work you actually do. Washes and luminosity mean transparent watercolor. Flat color and clean layers mean Acryla Gouache. Travel means pans, at a price. Start with the $33 24-color transparent set unless you already know you’re an opaque-color person, and let what you run out of tell you what to buy next. If you’d rather work in dry media, our Holbein colored pencils size-by-size guide covers the other end of the same brand’s range, and our Copic markers deep dive covers the alcohol-marker system that most illustrators reach for instead of paint.

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