Umegehata Asagi Honzan

Asagi Corner 1
Asagi Corner Wet.jpg
Asagi Kawa 1.jpg

Asagi Awasedo

This is a pretty hard stone that also provides a great honing feeling – aka feedback. Unlike a lot of the super hard stones that work well but seem to feel more like a dead piece of marble under the blade, this one really sings when working on it.  

With a well-selected Tomo Nagura and a full ensemble of Mikawa Shiro Nagura, this Awase becomes a formidable honing platform. 

This is a full size stone, but one corner was lost along the way. The break was clear of issues so I lapped down the sharp edges and sealed the sides with black lacquer. The bottom is sealed in clear lacquer to show off the skin. The top is lapped flat and the sides are chamfered.

At this moment, I still need to do some final finishing polishing to the top – but it’s perfectly usable as-is. I just honed  3 razors from start-finish on this stone and each edge was spot-on. This really is a sterling Jnat - great size shape and weight, and wonderful characteristics. 

This Honzan is what I see as a real workhorse stone with excellent final-finish capabilities. The cloud pattern is subtle, and when the stone is wet the Asagi, or green, color really pops. 

Approx. Dimensions:  7.75 x 2.75 x 1.2 “ / 197 x 70 x 31 mm 

Weight: 35 oz / 1000 g


© Keith V Johnson 2014 - 2024