Slightly hard Shoubudani that is easy to use for its hardness and can be graded finer if used gently with a drying mud. A really nice stone here. Great for beginner or more experienced sharepner. 

Dimensions: 138x90x17mm
Weight: 669 grams
Hardness/Fineness: 3.5-4-3.5-4

Shoubudani:

A ‘Higashi-mono’ (Eastern Mine Stone), Shoubudani is well known for producing a wide range of stones with different hardness and fineness. The Shoubudani mine produces some of the higher quality natural whetstones that are akin to Nakayama mine stones in their beautiful finish.

Asagi: This aesthetic term refers to the general color of the stone. Typically, Asagi stones are grey, light blue, greyish-blue/green, and tan. They are usually quite clean stones that are on the harder side. However, softer Asagi stones are great for knife polishing

Goma:

This aesthetic quality looks like tiny black dots, or little sesame seeds in the stone. This quality typically translates to having a fast cutting speed.

Asagi: This aesthetic term refers to the general color of the stone. Typically, Asagi stones are grey, light blue, greyish-blue/green, and tan. They are usually quite clean stones that are on the harder side. However, softer Asagi stones are great for knife polishing