Moriyama Stone (Shiga Prefecture) [Famous Japanese Stones]

MORIYAMA Stone

moriyama stone

This is the stone used in the stone walls of Tairyu Sanso in Kyoto.
It was built as a villa for Ijuin Kanetsune between 1896 and 1899 on the site of a former sub-temple of Nanzenji Temple.
With the completion of the Lake Biwa Canal, it became possible to transport heavy stone materials.
As a result, the hard, shiny, beautiful Moriyama stone began to be used in mansions and estates in Higashiyama.
Moriyama stone is classified as chert.
These fossils are radiolarians and sponges deposited on the seafloor.
If you look at the cross section with a magnifying glass, you may be able to see fragments of the fossil.
It can only be formed when there are no other minerals mixed in with the seabed, and because certain environmental conditions must be met, there are only a limited number of places where it can be found.