#684 Shoubudani Iromono Nashiji Lv4.5 Hard Lv4.5+ Fine 1508 G Type 30 Toku Sen Hin Special Selection

Buttery, smooth easy to use with a fairly fast finishing power, can be graded a little bit to make a finer finish if worked with a drying used mud and very light pressure. Finish ranges from a bright milky kasumi to a bright sub mirror kasumi. A really friendly stone. 

This Shoubudani stone is a premium type 30 size. Stone has been graded as Toku Sen Hin; special selection. It is hard but not too terribly difficult to use, it produces a near mirror finish on hagane while leaving a little contrast on the jigane. 

A big stone weighing 1508 grams and measuring 200x75x40mm

Shoubudani:

A ‘Higashi-mono’ (Eastern Mine Stone), Shoubudani is well known for producing a wide range of stones with different hardness and fineness. The Shoubudani mine produces some of the higher quality natural whetstones that are akin to Nakayama mine stones in their beautiful finish.

Iromono:

Iromono is a term that represents a broad range of colors, usually purples, oranges, yellows, and greens. Usually the colors are shown in swirls and waves. A lot of nice Shoubudani and Ohira polishing stones feature Iromono color palettes.

Nashiji:

Meaning ‘pear-skin’, this aesthetic quality looks like tiny brown/pale dots on the stone. This quality can look similar to Su-holes on Suita stones as well as be a quality on Suita.

Namazu:

Translating to ‘cat-fish’, this aesthetic quality looks like white blotches on the stone. Usually this quality has a great sharpening feel that is smooth and tactile. In extreme cases of Namazu where the stone is very hard, it can be scratchy with too much pressure.