Traditional craft
Akama Suzuri
赤間硯
Richly carved inkstones from Shimonoseki and Ube in Yamaguchi, cut from dense Akama stone that grinds ink fast and smooth.
Key facts
- Officially recognised
- 15 December 1976
- Type
- Brushes, ink and inkstones
- Region
- Chugoku
- Official name in Japanese
- 赤間硯
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 下関市、宇部市
Dense stone, lavish carving
Akama stone is hard and dense, with natural eyes and beautiful patterns, yet tough enough to carve finely. Its hobo teeth stand thick, so it grinds ink quickly, gives good colour and makes smooth, free-flowing ink. Akama is one of Japan's three great inkstone areas and is famed for richly carved luxury pieces. It is made in Shimonoseki and Ube in Yamaguchi.
Mined along the layer
- The right stone lies in a layer about 1 m thick, mined by digging diagonally along it.
- The stone is sorted, then the edges are cut and the inkstone is rough-carved.
- Relief, decorative and finish carving follow, with chisels 2 to 10 mm wide.
- It is polished and finished with lacquer, over a dozen steps in all.
A Choshu treasure
Akama inkstones are recorded as offerings to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in the early Kamakura period, and were sold widely by the mid-Edo period. Under the Mori lords the stone mountains were closed to ordinary people and mined only on the lord's order, when inkstones were needed as official gifts, so they were a rare Choshu speciality.
Good to know
- Look at the stone's natural eyes and patterns before choosing.
- Small Akama stone pieces, like paperweights, make easy gifts.
Questions travellers ask
Why is Akama stone good for inkstones?
Its dense hobo teeth grind ink fast and smoothly, and it carves finely.
Where is it made?
Shimonoseki and Ube in Yamaguchi.
Where it comes from
More crafts from the same area
Local foods from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.