A reasonably fast honing stone. Comparable speed to Imanishi's synthetic Suita Rengen 6000, though it feels slightly smoother (even more so when it gets muddy). It is somewhat between a splash-&-go and a soaking stone, as the sharpening face dries up quite quickly as compared to the Suita Rengen. This trait is more pronounced when you don't use the stone daily; you have to keep adding water or the face just dries out. However, it polishes a little bit better (the mud really helps) than the Suita Rengen. All in all, a reliable honing stone.