Thread: Where would you buy Shaptons in Japan

G'dday all,

I have a relation going to Japan in a couple of months. I am wondering if anyone knows where you could buy Shapton hones while they are over there? It would save me a bit on delivery charges. Shaptons are Japanese right?

They are Japanese made as are Naniwa. Send a PM to JimR . He lives in Japan and I know he has had occasion to speak with both companies. He is probably familiar with who, what and how.

When I was living there I bought a few at some of the larger hardware/homeware type stores in Tokyo. From memory one store is called Tokyu Hands and has a large branch in Shinjuku. They usually have Shaptons and others such as Kings etc (look in the woodworking /plane /chisel section). The Shaptons you buy in Japan are marked "Not for Export" in English and the grit sequences are different but that is no problem.
Hope this helps,
Cheers
Anthony

Ross

You relative should not have a problem finding a selection of Shapton over there from a hardware store in almost any town. The Pro Series made for that Japanese market are the best stones in my opinion. You will not save as much money as you think you might. To begin with you will need to pay retail and the dollar is very weak right now. good luck, Alex

I dont know where to buy them but a really good set up would be the 1/4/8/16k stones, and maybe the 500 grit as well if you want a more aggressive bevel setter.

I love mine, they're really good reliable stones.

@alx The Australian dollar is quite strong at the moment, but if it wasn't i would save on the 50+ dollars I pay for delivery from the US. Anyone know how i could look up the price in Japan. I went to Tokyu Hands but my Japanese is non existent.