Diversity of Ozuku stone, which is full of attractions other than its ultra-hard mouth. Among natural whetstones, there are some that are called “phantom whetstones” because their distribution in the market is extremely rare due to the fact that mining has already ended. One of them is the “Ozuku” whetstone, which lies in Umegahata, Kyoto. In this article, we will introduce the depth of...
Kato Mine and the Mystery of Marka: The History of Nakayama Grinding Wheel as Deciphered from Distribution Nakayama whetstone is known as the “king” among Japanese natural whetstones. Its overwhelming sharpening performance and beauty of finish have made it the object of admiration of knife enthusiasts and sharpeners around the world. Behind the stone, however, there is a story of “history” and “distribution” that is more than...
Miracle at 200 meters above sea level: How Nakayama Hill became a sacred place for grinding stones 1. where is Nakayama? What kind of terrain? Nakayama whetstone—it is a legendary existence that is not unknown in the world of natural whetstones. Among them, “Nakayama’s Tozen, Asagi, and Zuita” and “Kurumaguchi” are regarded as the pinnacle of final sharpening, and are outstanding in both rarity and performance. So,...
East vs. West: A Showdown of Grinding Wheel Strata──Changes in Geology Lead to Changes in Sharpening Performance In my previous blog entry, I wrote about the peculiarities of geological formations in the suburbs of Kyoto. However, if we look more closely at the geological formations even in the Kyoto area, we can see that the formations vary greatly. The “individuality of natural whetstone” is very important for...
