Japanese Natural Toishi Whetstone - Umijiyama Tomae

This exceptional Japanese whetstone was selected and purchased by us directly from Japan, then thoroughly tested and coated with cashew lacquer on sides and back to protect the stone for long term use. It measures 157 mm (6.18 in) long × 60 mm (2.36 in) wide × 14 mm (0.55 in) thick, and weighs 328g

Stone Testing Details:

Hardness: LV 3.9
Beautifully colored shallow layer Tomae stone from Umajiyama. The stone is Ikimurasaki (purple) throughout the entire stone. It is a soft stone with consistent particle uniformity and a nice, rectangular 100’ shape/size. 
The backside is nicely finished with beautiful chisel marks, indicating a high quality stone.
For razors, this stone makes a great pre-finisher for removing the scratches from medium grit and laying a beautiful layer of haze to the spine/bevel and an aggressive edge, perfect for future refinement on a harder/fine finishing stone. 
Water only honing is smooth and gentle with a little resistance due to the soft nature of the stone. There is a pleasant, silky type granularity that is present but subtle. Cutting speed is moderate. 
Diamond plate slurry yields a more coarse particulate release, thus a faster cutting but more coarse action. The slurry has the same silky feel but on a larger scale so more noticeable. The slurry darkened immediately with moderate pressure applied. 
Mikawa Nagura is not a good match for this stone as it is soft and on the lower end of the scale for finishing stones in terms of fine finish. 
For knives, the stone really shines. It has a wonderful and easy going feel with the silky characteristic and moderate speed. The self slurry is immediate and the mud breaks down with extended sharpening with descending levels of downward pressure. The Kasumi finish is hazy with great contrast. Edge is a great balance of refinement and tooth. 

A photo of the resulting polish left on a high quality Japanese knife is shown.