Help identifying my JNATs

[BakerAndBadger]

OK, as I mentioned in a previous thread I've picked up two JNATs via my brother and he just got them so here are the pictures. If anyone can hazard a guess as to their type I'd be happy to hear from you!
The two naguras are supposed to be koma - haven't seen them and wouldn't know a koma if it kicked me in the arse but there you go.
The two stones are about 20cm * 5cm * 2cm or 8 inch * 2 inch.

 

[BakerAndBadger]

Here are a couple of pictures of the naguras he picked up for me too. First are the two koma (they actually came with the hones) and then two sets of botan, tenjou and mejiro.

 

[Gamma]

Cool set of Jnat-ness.
No idea what the Awasedo are, Alex might be able to tell. He'll need pix of the bottoms showing the skin.
The striped Botan is interesting, so is the Mejiro in the second photo. All look ok, but those two stand out to me. Proof is in the pudding though, using them is the only way to understand them.
The Koma don't look like Koma to me, but again, they have to be tested. Most users would not cut an x into a Koma. Without stamps, it's hard to say what they are. I would test them very carefully on a practice blade.

 

[Doc226]

Nice rocks. No idea what the awasedo is.

 

[BakerAndBadger]

Here are a couple of pics from the auction showing the back of each awasedo. I'll be able to get better pics up tomorrow but it's bedtime in Japan so my bro won't reply to my messages!

 

[Doc226]

View attachment 298520

That does not look koma like.

 

[BakerAndBadger]

That does not look koma like.

Think it's dirty? My bro did say one seemed a bit finer than the other but both were finer than the finest of the other naguras.

 

[BakerAndBadger]

Just seen some photos on thejapanblade.com and the kawa (oh I'm learning) on one of the awasedo looks similar to that found in the Nakayama mine, here is a link:

http://thejapanblade.com/color_stones1.htm

Am I just barking up the wrong tree or could I be on to something?

 

[cleanshaved]

nice score!

 

[paco664]

i was wondering where i left those... ship em on to me....

thanks...

 

[Gamma]

Koma is a name attributed to stone taken from a specific layer or strata found in one mine.
Without stamps, or some kind of authoritative provenance, you can't tell what it is.

 

[BakerAndBadger]

i was wondering where i left those... ship em on to me....

thanks...

I can't ship them anywhere yet, they've got to make it through customs in my brothers baggage! Hope there isn't a stone embargo in the UK or Belgium!

 

[BakerAndBadger]

Koma is a name attributed to stone taken from a specific layer or strata found in one mine.
Without stamps, or some kind of authoritative provenance, you can't tell what it is.

But if it works then it doesn't matter right?

 

[Doc226]

But if it works then it doesn't matter right?

True about anything. If you can get a great edge off your driveway, then that is great. You do live in Belgium, I hear the streets are lined with coticules

 

[Gamma]

But if it works then it doesn't matter right?

Using the correct name matters whether it works or if it doesn't work.

 

[BakerAndBadger]

True about anything. If you can get a great edge off your driveway, then that is great. You do live in Belgium, I hear the streets are lined with coticules

Not just the streets Alfredo, I'm gonna build an extension to my house using natural combos

 

[Doc226]

Not just the streets Alfredo, I'm gonna build an extension to my house using natural combos

Blocked-Again


LOL

 

[BakerAndBadger]

OK, my bro woke up and sent me some pictures of the skin of both awasedo. Any ideas what I can call them? Sorry about this but the uploader took them out of order!

 

[BakerAndBadger]

OK, I think that one of the two looks like it may be a kiita as it has speckles (nashi-ji?). The second I have no idea about but as I mentioned above it has a similar kawa to one from the link I posted that came from Nakayama.
Your ideas will be most helpful.
For info the stones came from Osaka which isn't too far away from Kyoto if my geography is right!

 

[alx gilmore]

Here are a couple of pics from the auction showing the back of each awasedo. I'll be able to get better pics up tomorrow but it's bedtime in Japan so my bro won't reply to my messages! View attachment 298519View attachment 298520

Nakayama kawa (skin) will have rich umbers to burnt umbers, some ocher and oftern a black. The black if it has distinct crystals in the black that in daylight will sparkle this is a good indicator. The crystals will be in groups and somewhere around the size of a really small sand particle, not the super fine silica grit that all the stones contain that are hard to distinguish with the naked eye, but crystals that can be easily seen with out magnifcation. Your stone #1 on the left reads really good, the ocher, umbers and black are what you are looking for and they should be rich and intense. Also that stone when wet looks a little like uchigumori but until you look at it with a 5x magnifying glass and fine the small voids from ancient gas bubbles you can't tell. Also that long diagonal solid line called Sugi at the bottom is typical of Nakayama when they are straight and filled in. I think a couple of other mines also have the straight but Nakayama does for certain. If the sugi are solid and of a lighter color then they are usually benign, but if they are dark brown they can be toxic.

The stone #2 on the right looks like an asagi from the tomae strata, there is a touch of yellow but that is not uncommon. The yellow needs to permiate the whole stone to be a kiita, not just a stripe or one side. It does show however that within the tomae strata along side the green/yellow/blue asagi are also found kiita stones. Really intense and pure yellow kiita are more rare than their green/blue brothers. Just some thoughts

Alx

p.s. There are no mines in Osaka, just stone wholesalers.