Mikawa Shiro Nagura Koma Japanese Natural Whetstone

Selected by us and imported directly from Japan, this Japanese whetstone has been sealed on the sides and back with clear lacquer for protection and extensively tested to assess its performance. Complete details of our testing results are provided below.

Beautiful Asano Stamped Mikawa Shiro Nagura Botan Tokkyuju. This rare and valuable Botan features a pure white base with vivid, multi-faceted orange and brown stripes. This Botan is quite firm and very fast cutting when used for direct honing, sharpening and polishing. It performs a high level for all applications and is capable of amazing refinement, especially for a Botan. This piece is nice and wide and devoid of any flaws/issues. Larger, Asano stamped striped Botan are more rare and less commonly seen than their white, Betsuju/Daiju counterparts. This piece also performs exceptional when used as a slurry medium with a highly nuanced, satin - like honing feel. When used for direct razor honing, you can expect Mikawa nagura to perform more fine than when used as a slurry medium, which is interesting. When honing direct, this Botan can be used with water only which yields the most fine results when used with light pressure. When slurried, it performs much more aggressively and cuts impressively fast with even and consistent grit which can be felt during honing. If slurry is worked, the edge can be pre finished and is ready for a semi finishing stone or a faster finishing stone. When used for knife/tool polishing, the Nagura performs fast and inky with impressive cutting performance and a crisp, fine feel. This stone is capable of bringing out impressive details in the cladding and core with unique, burnished finishes if used in that way. Edges are screamers with amazing food penetration and durability.