Hideriyama #40 (No Base)

This particular awasedo from the Hideriyama was recommended to us by one of our natural stone dealers. The Hideriyama stones are similar to what I have come to expect from the natural stones I like for kitchen knives.  It finishes somewhere around 8k for the most part, which still provides a bit of bite despite the higher grit rating.  The stones are medium hardness.  They will develop a decent bit of mud rather quickly.  I was able to achieve very nice contrast and beautiful and even looking kasumi finishes on a wide variety of knives and steel types.  In general, it feels like a more refined version of the Takashima awasedo (which I still enjoy a lot).
 
The sides of this stone are lacquered to add protection and stability to the stone.
 
Natural stones from this region are rich in silica, which acts as a main abrasive. This regions' natural stones all have about the same fineness of grit to being with (around 6-8k) and the potential finish can go up from there, depending on the stone hardness, the pressure you use during sharpening, water, etc.
 
This stone should be used like a splash and go stone... add just enough water to lubricate the surface, but not too much.  The goal is to develop mud, so keeping the surface very wet is prohibitive to mud development.