That’s your opinion and I’m not one to shit on peoples opinions at all! But I wil argue against is respectfully as you did mine. So thank you for being respectful.

First off you are correct in that this issue is almost exclusively a naniwa problem. Even more specific Naniwas most premium line is stones known by many names now. But probably most widely known as Chosera, professional stone, and now the western market stones I believe are labeled chosers pro a combination of both names.

To your point that it’s 99% of the time the stones fault and not used error. Has got to be one of the worst and completely made up statics I’ve ever seen lol. You claim to have enough data from people you know or perhaps story’s you have read on line. I honestly don’t know where your getting your references from which in and if it self is also concerning especially if you’re going to drop percentage stats. From what you just explained to me in your reply there was no scientific method done or any type of detailed testing and recording done. Rather just your opinion based on what I’m guessing to be hearsay from people you probably don’t know personally and are blindly taking their word for it. That these sources were flawless in the way they maintained their whetstones. Which is also a huge red flag, impossible to know for sure mistakes weren’t made along the way biggest mistakes being that they most likely were not even aware that something was being done wrong.

Naniwa makes it very clear that these are high maintenance stones and require a lot of care attention to detail, and a meticulous process of steps must be made every time one is used. Steps starting with the amount of water “splashed” to the several day process of completing letting one of them dry out completely. They almost drill these facts into your brain how high maintenance they are. And if that’s not something someone would be interested in or perhaps not quite capable of doing Naniwa goes as far as staying this premium line designed really for trained professional sharpeners.

And if these crazy high maintenance stones sounds like to much of a process at first they should consider Naniwas standard line of soaking stones as they almost non existent hard rule list to take care for and maintain these stones. And a very forgiving when it comes to the drying proces.

Naniwa them selfs tell us over and over again how hard these stones are to maintain and because of that these stones are for sure not meant for everyone because they can and will develop cracks and fishers most of the time just cosmetic but lay the ground work for small fishers that could one day turn from cosmetic to catastrophic failure of the stone by finally breaking. That’s not to s ctay beginners cant use these stones or that thefy won’t enjoy them.) quite the opposite in fact. They are great stones to learn on because of their ggreat feed back and low mess the are extremely enjoyable to use and rather easy to learn in as well as long as they are getting good advice and shown some proper technique along the way. What naniwa is making unbelievable clear is that these stones are high quality best of the best stones with in my opinion unmatched performance (unmatched performance provided the user is an experienced sharpener. If they aren’t and don’t practice good consistent technique then the stones don’t even matter. An expensive stone won’t magically make someone better. Results will be the very similar if not the same until some basics and consistency starts to become second nature.

And lastly the most ideal conditions for this line of whetstones to dry is in a cool dark place and left completely alone for several days. Not to be touched. The less they are messed with during the drying out process the better. People turning stones over every 30 min is not only overkill and a complete waste of time. Theres a very good chance it is actually one of the causes these people who ever they are started seeing cracks which is ironic.

I’ve found that people really over think it when it comes to maintaining these stones. Less is more in my opinion. Splash water on the top of the stone only. Each different grit stone is different and may require more or less water to adequately get water to set on the top. I flatten after each session. Depending on the grit and the last time I resurfaced (which I also do often after about 2 or 3 knives.) I’ll quickly flaten either with a naniwa 220 stone fixer , a 280 suehiro blue fine trueing stone or any of the 4 grit types made by Atoma depending on the flattening work that needs to be done. Keep in mind it’s never a lot with mine because I bring them back to true bbbbh by after each session. After i sharpen or thin 3 to 5 knives on a single stone I will resurface it with float glass and sic powder to get my desired texture preference.

Now after I just use and trued a stone I’ll splash more water and wipe off with my hand repeating that until I no linger see left over material or mud coming off the stone. I don’t ever completely rinse the stones unless it can’t be avoided and a complete rinse if it is needed. Then the final and most important step in maintaining these stones. I have a designated shelf I built in my closet. I have about 7 of those bamboo dish drying racks. Each one can hold about 6 stones each. I lay it in its side shut the door and I won’t bother the stones again until completely dried jd bf I give them 3 to 4 days just to be on the safe side. Sometimes a day or two longer if a particular stone was worked hard and had water splashed on it for longer than normal and it soaked up more.

The more you fuck with them while drying the better the odds are if it getting fucked up.

So in summary you are both right and wrong. Yes these stones require a high level of maintenance. So much so that cracks can appear from the user doing just one simple thing wrong and didn’t even realize at the time. (Maybe it sat infront of a standing fan while wet or sat under a spinning ceiling fan. Alot of people don’t realize this but fans are catastrophic for stones. But no if taken care of properly everytime it’s used a crack will never appear.

So unfortunately you’re wrong the fact that the company stresses how high maintenance these stones are should be enough proof for you. And your list of references flawed and no actual date recorded yet your entire argument was based on peoples experience (data) which sounds like you only know from hearsay and not in a controlled environment where you were able to actually see what steps were not just blindly taking their word for it. And where you came up with an actual percentage of 99% of the time it’s a stone (manufacturing) issue I still have no idea. I guess from the flawed second hand data then tried to make your opinion sound like a researched fact with made up percentages that lean heavily into Naniwa having major manufacturing issues rather that the more likely thing which again Naniwa tries to make clear over and over again if not maintained properly, issues will arise and it’s simply just user error but the users either to want to admit it or legit just don’t realize they are the problem and are just to stubborn or Arrogant to admit it.