Natural Japanese Whetstones, or "Ten-nen Toishi^?," have gained a reputation as being among, if not the, best whetstones in the world for blades of all sorts. In recentyears, they have become particularly sought after by straight razor users all around the world. However, along that that growth in popularity has come confusion and frustration at the variety of names and colors and everything associated with them. 

It is often said, when buying a natural hone in Japan, your best tool is a trusted seller. Sometimes, even that is not enough.

I was recently given a lovely gift, a beautiful Kiita^? hone. The giver told me that he had got it from an old supplier of professional tools, including barber's tools, and that this stone had been in his storehouse for decades. It was especially for razors, so he thought it would be a good present for me.

Let's take a little break from talking Iwasaki (there's more to come) and talk about some stones.

Occasionally, straight razor users and honers talk a bit about the Japanese "Aoto." The name translates directly as "blue hone," and they do sometimes have a blue-black color, but they are also found in light grey or brown, sometimes with streaks of red. They are a "Middle stone", something like a 2000-5000 grit artificial stone, but we all know how much I dislike putting grit numbers on natural stones. Let's just say that, once you've got the damage taken out of a blade's edge, you can go to this stone and put a smoother cutting edge on.

I've been holding back on this post for a bit, but I reckon it's time to get going.
(This is a very long post)

I learned so much at Iwasaki-san's house that it's hard to parse all of it. Indeed, I found myself jotting down random bits of wisdom almost constantly, and I ended up with several A4-sized pages of notes. The hard part is, the conversation was so organic and meandering, I'm having a hard time putting the ideas together in a way meaningful to anyone but myself.

So let's see how it goes.

I made a translation error, of course.

On my recent visit to Iwasaki-san, I asked him about the particularly confusing section, 3.5 Edge Finishing.

What I translated as "standing" should have been translated as "lengthwise."

Instead of honing the razor standing, you hone it flat but pull it parallel to the edge...meaning, not forward or backward, but sideways, 1mm or 2mm.

Hey there...

Long time no see.

Anyway.

After things here in my brain settled down, things down lower in my abdomen decided to go a bit crazy, but after a couple of doctor's trips, some anti-biotics and a few days' bedrest, I'm back to my former rocky ways.

Oddly enough, for the first time in more than 3 years here in Hikari, I went to a flea market. What fun!

It's held on the grounds of a temple near the sea, on the last Sunday of every month. There was all manner of things...dodgy katanas, old kimonos, "antique coins" and all kinds of stuff. I was shown around by a Temple-carpenter from Iwakuni, a "Blog friend" and fellow traveler down the path of hones. (He also gave me a huge Koppa that I need to investigate...)

There's a Japanese word that's been running around in my brain for a while...

The word is "Shokunin". It's usually used with the honorific "san", as most Japanese nouns for people are, and it is loosely translated as "Professional."

People keep telling me that diamond plates are the way to make slurry. I've tried it before but not liked it as much as my Tomonagura.

In my previous tries I'd been using my old, rather cheap, Diamond plate. It's a multi duty hone--I use it for lapping, for serious bevel correction, and for some knives.