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With Kokufu opening just a bit more than an hour ago, at the time I’m writing this post, we can’t help but recall a suiseki we acquired last year at the Green Club – a Furuya stone.
Furuya Stone with kiri-wood storage box
Furuya stones (Furuya-ishi) are found in the mountains of the Wakayama prefecture of Japan. The stone is a hard black or black-gray limestone. They often depict mountain, waterfall or coastal rock stones. The Furuya stone is characterized by deep indentations (almost always vertical), with typically a smooth surface, often with thin white mineral veins running vertically down the face of the stone. Often the base has a white or gray-white band encircling the stone. The peaks of the stone are typically found pointing down in the ground. The soft stone between harder portions of the stone need to be removed using small chisels.
Furuya Stone
The gray-white band can not be seen as it has been cleverly hidden by the daiza. These are very expressive stones with a beautiful texture. They often remind me of Castle Crags near Dunsmuir, Ca.
Castle Crags- Dunsmuir, CA
One of the most spectacular Furuya stones we have seen belongs to David Sampson of England. This stone is featured prominently on his site – click here to view it – and we highly recommend David for items related to suiseki.
David Sampson’s Furuya Stone of Exceptional Quality
It doesn’t take long to see how beautifully expressive this stone is and how it captures the imagination. This stone is of such high quality it has been shown at the Nippon Suiseki Association show in Japan.
We have also noticed that these types of stones are almost always paired with a Chinese-style daiza. Can anyone tell us why? Perhaps they are more reminiscent of Chinese lingbi stones, but that is simply a guess on our part.
We highly recommend that you add a Furuya stone or two to your collection.
Sam & KJ's Suiseki Blog (水石) 