Nakayama Maruichi Asagi Koppa
This fully-stamped Nakayama Maruichi Awasdeo has a gentle cloud pattern and a bit of orange Yake. This is a fairly hard stone with good speed and great feedback.
This was cut to be a fairly rectangular Kamisori-size Koppa. It can be used hand-held, but I prefer to work on a hard-rubber block; for me it’s easier to sense feedback that way.
This particular stone was previously owned and cherished – it was not used much, if at all. The saw marks on the sides were mostly lapped off. This is something I have seen rarely, and only on prized stones. I believe the idea is that the saw marks are a liability; their raised edges are prone to chipping and cracking. This stone is sealed on all sides and the bottom. There’s a missing corner and even though the bottom it isn’t 100% flat it’s perfectly stable and easy to hone on.
This can be seen in action here.
Approx. Dimension: 5.4 x 3.1 x 0.75” / 137 x 79 x 19 mm
Weight: 18.3 oz / 520 g