01 / p. 52
The mine sites
Field photographs and historic workings
A field guide from Kyoto's stone mountains
Provisional digital edition · 2026
Japanese
Sharpening Stone
Heaven
Narutaki Toishiyama
A searchable, page-linked edition of Alexander Mignerey Gilmore and Emiko Gilmore's exploration of Japanese natural sharpening stones—their mines, geology, history, and use.
- 185
- printed pages
- 11
- chapters
- EPUB 3.3
- validated edition
Original page referencep. 184
Built for close reading
One book, two ways of seeing.
Move between corrected, reflowable text and the original printed-page scans. Every page number remains a stable point of reference.
Explore the readerThe contents
From mountain lore
to a working edge.
The book follows the stone from its cultural beginnings and Kyoto mine sites through geology, chemistry, sharpening practice, and collection.
- ILore, Early Days, and Mine SitesPages 13–27
- IIModern Site of the Shobudani MinePages 28–37
- IIIModern Mining Rights and the BeginningPages 38–51
- IVToishiyama MinesPages 52–87
- VGeologyPages 88–97
- VIChemistryPages 98–102
- VIIWhy These StonesPages 103–125
- VIIISkills and How to UsePages 126–146
- IXWestern Straight RazorPages 147–161
- XKnivesPages 162–171
- XICollectionsPages 172–192
Inside the archive
Stone, strata, craft.
The digital reader keeps the book's photographs and diagrams beside the corrected OCR text.
02 / p. 88
Geology
Strata, minerals, and the Narutaki ridge
03 / p. 126
Working the stone
Preparation, slurry, and sharpening technique
04 / p. 184
Collections
Kawa, namazu, sizes, and specimen grades
About this edition
A faithful working edition,
still awaiting its opening pages.
This provisional edition reconstructs printed pages 8–192 from the supplied scans and OCR. Original pages 1–7—including the final title, copyright, ISBN, and cover material—were not present in the source files.
Wording and apparent printed errors are preserved. Page anchors, chapter navigation, figures, and searchable text are included so the book can be read and cited now.