Thread: What kind of japanese hone is this ?

Originally Posted by brooksie967

I think your nagura is a Mejiro, but i'm confused cause it looks like it has a nakayama stamp in the corners? I'll shut up now

The kanji on Nagura is 中, the meaning is here Kanji details for 中

So the 中 is here not for Nakayama ( which is written as 中山 ), but for so-called Chu-Nagura ( 中名倉 ).
Chu-Nagura is not as fine as Koma-Nagura
it could be Meijiro or Tenjou or something like, but not the BOTAN Nagura which is more coarse grained than any Chu-Nagura.

The hone above is looking as quite hard one. And of good quality.
So I think it is suitable for razors.

But I am not able to identify for sure where has it been mined.

The stamp 別上品 has meaning like "Superior selected grade goods".
The stamp 正本山合砥 is for Shou Hon Zan Awasedo
Shou Hon Zan = True source mountain which is usually interpreted as that stone is from Nakayama mine
合砥 ( Awasedo ) = honing stone

the 天然 in the center of stamp on the upper right is for 天然砥石 - "Natural whetstone"


I use water spray bottle for irrigation. It's very handy.
Don't use too much water.
Use some slurry when beginning
avoid to get very thick slurry, add some water time by time
flush all the slurry and hone on clean stone when finishing to get the best result.

Read this book http://strazors.com/uploads/images/a...onkamisori.pdf for more detailed instrustions on how to use japanese natural hones.

There is also some useful info and videos on the site http://easternsmooth.com