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...
No Longer Unearthed—Inoshiriyama’s Lesson in the Art of Subtle, Hazy Sharpening Umegahata, Kyoto. This area was once home to a concentration of Japan’s leading natural whetstone mines. Nakayama, Okudono, Kitayama, Beniyama, and Mukoda – these names are still talked about among grinding stone enthusiasts today, but there is one mine in particular that is particularly mysterious and about which little information...
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...
