curiously thin stones from Japan, but perhaps not Hyuga?

[Erythen]

Is it possible to find these "dual sided" stones these days, or are they unobtainable?

From what I know, under normal circumstances, Giant clams can't legally be harvested.

Mr. Kuroki sells some every now and again, but they're pricey and tend to disappear fairly quick.

You'll see sets pop up on Yahoo Auctions once or twice a year, but you can expect a major bidding war in the closing minutes.

[LifeIn9x9]

Thank you! I suppose this is one such example:

http://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/t469019354/detail

[amb]

amb:
Maybe you are confusing the term "hamaguri" with "suwabute"?

Yes, indeed, the root of my confusion; I had thought "hamaguri" was species-specific for some reason. Thank you (and John Fairbairn as well) for the clarification, and thank you Erythen for the detailed analysis.

My only remaining questions are perhaps unanswerable--most of all I'm curious how old these might be. I do actually like the thickness myself, though, and I find the entirety of what I have to be aesthetically compatible, so I'm content!

[John Tilley]

I have a very similar box that contained the slate and shell stones I bought in late 1971 from Richard Bozulich of The Ishi Press. The Nihon Kiin catalogue of Showa 44 (1969) October lists the same thickness stones that you have, 2kyu, which is 5.7mm. In that catalogue stone sizes run from 37 to 25 (7.0mm) and below that are 1kyu (6.3mm), 2kyu(5.7m), 3kyu(5.1mm) and 4kyu(4.7mm).

I think you have the 2kyu stones from that Nihon Kiin catalog.

The material that the stones are boxed in is made of "standard? go equipment cardboard" - my stones are in an off-white box of that material, the cover for my table board (1971) is the same material, but dark green, and my table board 2009 from KurokiGoIshiTen has the same material but dark brown.

I'll try and add some photos.

Box containing shell and slate stones from 1971

IMG_1218-medium.JPG (153.97 KiB) Viewed 13338 times

Nihon Kiin Catalog - stones - 1969-large.jpg (117.41 KiB) Viewed 13337 times

Please note that the writing is mine - there are two types of shell.

John Tilley

[joellercoaster]

The other critical phrase on the box is 特選 or "specially selected" which usually implies Mexican clams or Taiwanese squilla.

Sorry to drag this thread (even further) off-topic, but: I thought squilla were mantis shrimp? Do they grow big enough to make stones out of, or is this a special-use name for a kind of clam as well?

[amb]

I have a very similar box that contained the slate and shell stones I bought in late 1971 from Richard Bozulich of The Ishi Press. The Nihon Kiin catalogue of Showa 44 (1969) October lists the same thickness stones that you have, 2kyu, which is 5.7mm. In that catalogue stone sizes run from 37 to 25 (7.0mm) and below that are 1kyu (6.3mm), 2kyu(5.7m), 3kyu(5.1mm) and 4kyu(4.7mm).

I think you have the 2kyu stones from that Nihon Kiin catalog.

This is fantastically useful, thank you! The similarity in the box is indeed striking. The thickness (~6.2mm) suggests that they're closer to 1kyu, yet the "2" mark on the outside of the box is entirely suggestive. (I only measured one or two and may have checked outliers, especially if "5.7mm" really means "at least 5.7mm, but not so thick as the next grade up at 6.3mm.")

The other critical phrase on the box is 特選 or "specially selected" which usually implies Mexican clams or Taiwanese squilla.

Sorry to drag this thread (even further) off-topic, but: I thought squilla were mantis shrimp? Do they grow big enough to make stones out of, or is this a special-use name for a kind of clam as well?

FWIW, I've heard "squilla" used to refer to just about any kind of shallow-water crustacean that's not a lobster--informal usage seems quite broad! (Although when I think of Taiwan I think of Ing stones--do they perhaps come from some very peculiar kind of oyster?)