Maybe it's just me, but it seems there has been a lot of talk about Japanese naturals recently. One that seems to come up a lot is the Aoto. Off the top of my head, I seem to recall hearing that it cuts like a 1k with slurry (and is rather soft, so slurry is formed rather easily) but can polish more like a 4-5k with just water. As such, it seems like the Aoto may be a low grit natural that members may be interested in.

I thought I would open up a thread for discussion of the Aoto, and I would be particularly interested to hear what those who have used this stone have to say about it. The more information you can provide, the better. (What razors (grind and country of origin), slurry vs no slurry, cutting speed, softness, final polish, number of strokes, previous hone in progression, next hone in progression, shave off it, etc.)

Thanks in advance.

Oh, I should mention that I do have one on it's way to me, and I'll be chiming in with test results as soon as I can.