Modern Suiseki

Beiten

There is another term to describe texture of stone surface in Suiseki.

It is Beiten, 米点.

If translating literally, it means rice dots in English.

As its characters stand for, Beiten means a condition that dots marks are observed on its surface.

Let's look Beiten:

Beiten（Setagawa-ishi）：

Beiten（Setagawa-ishi）：

On the surface of the stone, there are lots of black dots, it is Beiten.

Actually, there are many types of rice dots, as more three-dimensional, bright colors, or dark colors.

If dots are big enough as beans, it may call Mameten, means beans dots. If dots are like leopard print, it may call Hyouten, means leopard dots.

Both are derivative words from Beiten.