Thread: Mikawa Toishi

There is a number of fine knife shops here in downtown Tokyo, many within walking distance of my workplace. I have been eyeing some new arrival hones at one of the shops and decided to pick one up the other day.


What I got is labeled "Mikawa Toishi". It is a hone sized peice of 'Nagura'. The stock that the store had wasn't labeled as to which 'type' of nagura they are, and one or two of them looked to have some flaws if you looked really close.


I got the largest one without any appearant flaws and here is a few pics of it brand new.










A beautiful stone with a beautiful patterning. The top right kanji read Mikawa Toishi. The lower left ones read Naka Shima (internal stripes). And the number 80 is the size designation of the hone.

The bottom was quite flat, so I decided to lap it instead of the stamped side. After some quick preliminary testing (I'm not sure yet) I think it may be in the #5000+ range. I will have to do a couple of more tests than what I did the other night, but the shave off of it only pulled a little. I will investigate further.


I had my hones out the other night for a honing session and decided to also take a picture of my current line up of natural hones. I have this Mikawa Toishi, a Belgian Coticule, a 'Thuringian' (Escher-type), and a Renge Suita. All beautiful hones in their own right. The only hone with a wet surface is the Mikawa.

I really love the look of the Mikawa and am excited to test it further. I hope it finds a place in my honing regime. Lastly a couple of shots of my new Kitchen with my honing set up taking over the sink area after the kids are in bed for the night.

That's Iyo. Looks nice.

Coll looking stones.
I have Iyo nagura that has pretty much identical looks, but irregular shape.
Coarser too I think

Originally Posted by kevint

That's Iyo. Looks nice.

Why do you say so? Do you think it's a counterfeit Mikawa? It looks like Iyo, but it also looks like my Mikawa nagura, as well as some Amakusa and some Binsui stones I've seen.

Hard to tell from a picture, I guess.

It is suspicious that it doesn't have the red Asano stamp.

Originally Posted by JimR

Why do you say so? Do you think it's a counterfeit Mikawa? It looks like Iyo, but it also looks like my Mikawa nagura, as well as some Amakusa and some Binsui stones I've seen.

Hard to tell from a picture, I guess.

It is suspicious that it doesn't have the red Asano stamp.

all good questions. As I posted I even questioned myself but decided not to edit. I guess I dont know my nagura. I will accept pieces for testing.

I don't think it's a counterfeit Mikawa. The kinife shop has a Hones 'Expert' who I have had many discusions with and seems to know what he is talking about. So I am not totally suspect of it as of yet.

There is a little bit of absorption when honing. As for the hardness of the hone, it took about 15 minutes on my #600 diamond plate and appears to be quite hard.

From my own online research (I did do some prior to buying it) this Iyo look is also found in many Mikawa nagura, both the small rubbing stones and the larger hone sized stones, like mine.

In fact to most expensive 'Koma' nagura that I have seen is heavily marked similar to this one. I am not claiming this a Koma nagura though.

They are most often rated in the 'naka-to' range and are probably not shiage-to range. I look forward to testing it out in a number of ways.



Jim, if you want to borrow it to try out at some time in the future, send me a PM.

Lovely hones Seth, especially the latest. I also very much like the coticule speckled with manganese. Nice set up you have with your new sink. I'm a sink honer too.

I really like your set up Seth. Especially the size of the Thuringian(escher type) hone. That has to be worth a pretty penny for a vintage?

Originally Posted by ZethLent

I don't think it's a counterfeit Mikawa. The kinife shop has a Hones 'Expert' who I have had many discusions with and seems to know what he is talking about. So I am not totally suspect of it as of yet.

There is a little bit of absorption when honing. As for the hardness of the hone, it took about 15 minutes on my #600 diamond plate and appears to be quite hard.

From my own online research (I did do some prior to buying it) this Iyo look is also found in many Mikawa nagura, both the small rubbing stones and the larger hone sized stones, like mine.

In fact to most expensive 'Koma' nagura that I have seen is heavily marked similar to this one. I am not claiming this a Koma nagura though.

They are most often rated in the 'naka-to' range and are probably not shiage-to range. I look forward to testing it out in a number of ways.



Jim, if you want to borrow it to try out at some time in the future, send me a PM.

Seth, I have no doubt about the hones, but I'd imagine it's not a "Koma" just because that would be one heck of a pricey stone.

Thanks for your offer...PM coming.