WTS (Price-Drop) Rare Black Saeki, Tsushima & Ueno

[eggistentialist]

Hello guys, it has been a year since my post. I hope you all are doing well!

Last summer, I visited my wholesaler friend’s in Kyoto and purchased a considerable amount of stones from him, and we were having a good time chatting and eating in some local restaurant and bar. After that trip, I had remotely (through telephone) ordered a few more stones from him during fall and winter and had them picked up by my friends.

And now, it is summer again, and so I decide to visit him again in Kyoto and make another huge purchase there.

For this reason, I will sell some of the stones that I purchased from him last year to gather enough funds for my next visit.
That being said, the stones I that listed for this post were all purchased directly from the Kyoto wholesaler, and so I have absolute confident on their authenticity, quality, and performance.

---

As always, I will follow the similar framework for stone testing that I established from the previous posts in order to provide the most honest feedback and result possible. For those who are interested to look at the method and framework again, please refers to this post.

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/...deo-and-words-heavy-part-1.49744/#post-752273


This time, the artificial stone that I used for resetting the bevel is Tanaka Toishi Michibiki WA #600. And the testing knife is a 21mm white 2 Tasai kiridashi.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19Ei2hWKrtbu2qHkz1YqO4e4Ca1ZkmV3e?usp=drive_link

---

Due to the length of the post, I will split the poster into three sections, including middle-grit, finishing, and miscellaneous.

Here are the links to those posts:

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/threads/wip-some-stones-for-sales-2024-finishing.73354/

https://www.kitchenknifeforums.com/...024-misc-finger-stone-koppa-and-cashew.73357/

---

For shipping rate and options, or any other questions, please feel free to pm me. Thank!

(Please check out the google drive link for demonstration video, finishes, and more photos~)

**As always, due to the text limitation, I will post the remaining in the comment section**

 

[eggistentialist]

1A. Black Saeki (Small): *Stamped Box Included

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hCEfRGVQMPjTMZa0_hDODzzkOdlE37zl?usp=drive_link

Dimension: 215x55x70mm

Weight:2075g

Price: $300USD 285 USD

1B. Black Saeki (Big): *Stamped Box Included

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jYMYlwpgEdAPElpGGYUVNRRORmEtCQYt?usp=drive_link

Dimension: 235x70x55mm

Weight: 2245g

Price: $400USD 380 USD

(Because these two saeki are very similar in performance, and so I will put them into one review instead of two)

Black Saeki, a highly sought-after stone by many collectors, is a middle-grit stone mined in Kyoto (along with aoto and monzen). The fineness of this stone varies from middle-grid to pre-finishing, allowing you to clean up the deep scratch pattern made by coarser stone. Usually, saeki have a couple of color variations - red, yellow, green, and black. Among them, the black saeki is the fineness and rarest stone to find, especially the ones that are stamped.

In fact, I did manage to find one a few years ago, but after that, it became difficult to come by. But until recently, I could see them again in the wholesaler’s warehouse. (I purchased them separately during the fall and winter visits). These two black saeki were stamped and attached with labels, which helps clarify the authenticity of these stones. The small saeki was lacquered by the wholesaler while the large one did not. In terms of pureness, there is no streak or toxic line in both stones. (Still, for the small saeki, there is one hair crack on the top right. Although it does not affect the sharpening experience or finishing it is something worth noticing.)

Moving on to the actual sharpening experience, the small saeki is a medium-hard stone. And it is labelled as “middle grit” on the surface. This saeki feels a bit sandy in terms of tactile feeling. But when it comes to actual sharpening, you will be surprised by how fine the grid size is (tactile feeling = 800-1000 grid; finishing on blade = 2000-3000 grid). But thanks to the sandy surface, it gives me an enjoyable moment when sharpening with it. It is a stone that preserves the solid and firm bite feature from the rough stones (of course not as aggressive as they do) but gives you the result of a middle-grid stone. The slurry generated naturally along the sharpening session and did not overwhelm the stone surface with mud-like paste. That being said, raising a slurry with a diamond plate is completely optional, as it does not dramatically affect the sharpening experience and final finishes. But since it is not a hard stone, it does absorb water moderately, so you may need to add some water (more than a few drops is okay) to keep the slurry from getting smooth, or else it will dry out very soon. In terms of finishes, both saeki erase all scratches from the #600 and create a very uniform scratch pattern on both cladding and steel under a minute of sharpening. Moreover, these stones create a humble kasumi finish, leaving tidy and shallow scratches that can be easily cleaned up by aoto or nagura in the later progression. In terms of edge condition, saeki leaves a pretty aggressive edge on the blade. And so, if you are handling heavy-duty work every day and want a quick refreshment on your blade, then I think saeki is the one that can effectively fulfil your need. You can just repair the blade on rough stone and finishing up quick with the saeki.

Overall, apart from its rarity, saeki is a very practical and promising stone in the middle-grit realm. It helps you transition smoothly and efficiently from rough to pre-finishing stone. And its capability to provide very consistent tactile feedback is the biggest reason why I love this stone so much!

 

[eggistentialist]

2. Tsushima (Round-Edged & Sharp-Edged)

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xA4QNQEd2VSzJibSX6BUHRgYAEDQKDvn?usp=drive_link

Price: $150USD 135 USD



(Round-Edged)

Dimension: 210x75x50mm

Weight: 2135g

(Sharp-Edged)

Because this stone is currently in Hong Kong, and so I cannot document the exact dimension for this stone. But it shares a very similar specs with the first one)

If you really want to know the exact dimension, please let me know and I will ask my friend to measure it for me.

Tsushima is a well-known pre-finishing stone that is mined under the ocean. As it is a very fragile stone, and so in most cases all sides are pre-coated with black lacquer by the wholesaler. Unlike mikawa nagura, where the value of the stone is measured using dollar per gram, and it is often time overpriced by the overseas market (the price is often equivalent to finishing stone), Tsushima is famous for its affordable price tag and extremely consistent performance. For this reason, if you are struggling to find a decent pre-finishing stone without wanting to spend a lot on mikawa, then I think Tsushima will be a worthy alternative to use.

In terms of tactile feedback, Tsushima is a medium-hard stone, so a thin layer of slurry will be generated during sharpening, but it will not develop into a thick paste. Even if you sharpen it with a raised slurry, the thickness of the slurry will stay at the same concentration level during the entire sharpening session, so you don’t need to pay too much attention to water management. But since the grip power of Tsushima is not as high as other middle grit stones, and so don’t put too much water on the surface or else it will ruin the tactile feedback of the stone and make it difficult to use. That being said, if you want to add extra control to the tactile feedback, you may consider raising a thin slurry using a diamond plate before sharpening. Anyway, the cosmetic finish of Tsushima is a matte kasumi, with cladding polished into foggy white, and the steel is added with a thin white foggy layer as well. The edge it offers is consistent and fine, which provides a solid foundation for the finishing stage.

 

[eggistentialist]

3. Ueno (*This stone not purchased from the wholesaler)

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/15swVXJwZzyPydRFITloayg9gdL8R357R?usp=drive_link

Dimension: 250x75x58mm

Weight: 2065g

Price: $170USD 155 USD

This is an unused ueno with a clean and pure surface from all sides. This stone has a green base colour, with white, dark green, and brown dots shattering over the entire surface.

The reason that I did not flatten the surface is that I wanted to treat it as a collector piece at the very beginning. But since I will visit Kyoto this summer, and so I have decided to let go of this stone and see if I can find another one in the wholesaler’s warehouse (though the chance is small).

If you want to know how this stone performs, please let me know and I will flatten one side to test it (But if you trust me, then you can purchase it as-is~).

 

[Just a DK]

I take back thinking i have too many stones.

 

[eggistentialist]

Price dropped

 

[eggistentialist]

Bump

 

[Homruh]

I will visit Kyoto this summer, and so I have decided to let go of this stone and see if I can find another one in the wholesaler’s warehouse (though the chance is small).

Hey there,
I'm kind of new to the JNat hobby just so you know.
I am also planning a trip to Japan, and I would love to go JNat shopping, I wouldnt mind spending a few days in Kyoto testing different stones,
Mind sharing some warehouses/place that I could go to? I asked on a different post and got some nice answer but not exact places

Thanks in advance!