Money Shot...(Pic Heavy)

The stones are playing...at my house!







The boxes. They have clearly been sitting around in someone's storage locker a while--the owner of the shop got them about a decade ago in Kyoto, and they were already old then. Let's say at least 20 years...

They boxes both say the same thing, which is (going top to bottom, right side to left):
For finishing blades
(Center)
Shou Hon Zan (True source mountain)
Narutaki (name of the quarry)
Shiagedoishi (Finishing hone)
(Left)
Product Rank Top Class (gokujou--something like Extreme Up).

And inside:




Both the stones look very similar and have pretty much the same stamps, with only one real difference (noted below...).


Again, Gokujou--Top class. To the right, Shou honzan Toishi.


"Hon Narutaki" or True Narutaki. To the right, the fancy circled symbol is "Kiku", meaning Chrysanthemum. WHY it says Chrysanthemum, I do not know...and only one stone says this.

The other stone has:

"Toku"--Special. Why the difference? Who knows!

I might have to call the owner of the shop sometime when he isn't busy.


Again "Kiku", and then to the bottom right, "Gokujou" again, then "Ippon Sen". This is tricky. Literally, it means "One-unit Selection". It could mean "Individually selected" or "Hand picked" or "Special choice"...not really sure.


"Fujibato", the name of the distributor/maker. The name means "Mt. Fuji Dove"...and of course the ubiquitous "Shou Honzan Shiage To"

So pretty, so very pretty.

But here's the thing...I might have to let one of these go. Because, really, two identical stones? Silly.

Just, silly.

I might eBay them...not sure. But if I do, I will let you know.