Polishing

The foundation polish includes 6 steps with 7 stones. This is the result after the 2nd stone "binsui-do". It is a fairly coarse stone which can remove steel quickly.

This is the result after the 4th stone "chu-nagura". It is a medium natural stone, which can make the hamon visible. The shirasaya is usually made after finishing with this stone.

This the the result after the 6th and 7th stone, "uchigumori ha-do" and "uchigumori ji-do". The surface of the blade is very smooth now. The activities in the hamon are vividly visible.

The next stage is the finishing polish. This stage involves using tiny finger-stones, namely "jizuya" and "hazuya", to darken the ji and whiten the ha, creating strong contrast between the ji and ha.

The shinogi-ji is burnished using a special tool called "mikagi-bo", a needle or sabre shaped rod made of tungsten carbide. This process gives the shinogi-ji a mirror finish.

The final step is making up the "yokote", the straight line that divides the monouchi and the kissaki, and polishing the kissaki using hazuya.