Does Iwasaki still make razors or retired? His razors are sold out everywhere.
Am I crazy to want a Iwasaki kamisori?
- Thread starter SilverBlue16
- Start date
Does Iwasaki still make razors or retired? His razors are sold out everywhere.
But shaving is harder than it needs to be. And I don't know how you shave, but the pivot should never see lather.
I know it should not, but mine always gets some.And I don't know how you shave, but the pivot should never see lather.
Since I had kids I've used DE razors exclusively. I originally put the straights away because I imagined a kid coming in and tugging my leg while I'm shaving with a straight and boom there goes my nose or ear or eye. And I'm not going to lock them out. Plus, I can't concentrate while they're screaming! They're called safety razors for a reason. Now, I just don't have the time anymore. And I'm glad I don't!
I much prefer Kamisori to western straights, and I have probably a dozen at this point. As opposed to my 3 western straights.
All my straights, Kamisori and otherwise, are basically under lock and key in my barn. If any kid got a hold of a Kamisori that would be a complete disaster. Permanent maiming or even death. And good luck explaining that one to child services!
Once I had kids my life became less about me and all about them. So spend that money not on an overpriced Kamisori and finishing stones but on something nice for the kid. Or your wife. And spend that time not mastering an obscure shaving technique but with your family.
And once the kid is old enough to be trusted not to play with essentially a loaded weapon, and you start getting a little of your life back, treat yourself to a nice reasonable vintage Kamisori- easily found and likely to be much more of a masterpiece than any contemporary makes. And, again, spend the money you saved on your family.
By the way, I don't mean to imply that anyone's budget is tight, but that you shouldn't spend time or money frivolously- spend that time thinking about what you can do for your family and even if it's all monopoly money it should be utilized for your family. That Iwasaki and finishing stones money would buy a kayak for you and the kid or would pay for a nice outing or a splurge somewhere. Or a day at the spa for your wife- she needs that more than you need an overpriced shaving utensil.
When I was a kid an uncle often said "life is all about priorities". I didn't much care to hear it at the time but now that I'm older I appreciate what he said and the simplicity thereof. It really is all about how one uses one's time and resources and what kind of person we want to be and how we choose to go through life...
Just my advice, but one built of experience. Good luck!
I much prefer Kamisori to western straights, and I have probably a dozen at this point. As opposed to my 3 western straights.
All my straights, Kamisori and otherwise, are basically under lock and key in my barn. If any kid got a hold of a Kamisori that would be a complete disaster. Permanent maiming or even death. And good luck explaining that one to child services!
Once I had kids my life became less about me and all about them. So spend that money not on an overpriced Kamisori and finishing stones but on something nice for the kid. Or your wife. And spend that time not mastering an obscure shaving technique but with your family.
And once the kid is old enough to be trusted not to play with essentially a loaded weapon, and you start getting a little of your life back, treat yourself to a nice reasonable vintage Kamisori- easily found and likely to be much more of a masterpiece than any contemporary makes. And, again, spend the money you saved on your family.
By the way, I don't mean to imply that anyone's budget is tight, but that you shouldn't spend time or money frivolously- spend that time thinking about what you can do for your family and even if it's all monopoly money it should be utilized for your family. That Iwasaki and finishing stones money would buy a kayak for you and the kid or would pay for a nice outing or a splurge somewhere. Or a day at the spa for your wife- she needs that more than you need an overpriced shaving utensil.
When I was a kid an uncle often said "life is all about priorities". I didn't much care to hear it at the time but now that I'm older I appreciate what he said and the simplicity thereof. It really is all about how one uses one's time and resources and what kind of person we want to be and how we choose to go through life...
Just my advice, but one built of experience. Good luck!
Iwasaki tamahagane ain't cheap. I was on A-frames Tokyo the other day and the prices were nuts. Here is my Iwasaki Tamahagane Western Straight pictured next to my beloved RazoRock Teck II. My two best razors. Both were gifts.
I've never tried one of the Iwasaki kamisori's. Unfortunately, they are no longer made by Shigeyoshi Iwasaki himself, though by all accounts Mizuochi San produces extraordinary kamisoris. That said, if I was going to buy one, I'd look for a vintage tamahagane piece made by Shigeyoshi if possible. If I'm paying the Iwasaki premium, I'd just as soon get one made by the legend himself.
I'm not sure how you tell the age on a kamisori though. With the Western straights, the batches from a single tatara were numbered. If I recall, usually 8 or so were made at a time, and only 6 or so actually passed Shigeyoshi's insane standards, the rest were tossed in a reject pile. I've seen photos of his workshop and there are whole shelves of rejects.
Here is a pic of the serial number system used on tamahagane straights. The kanji says than mine is from tatara 1901, and was the 6th razor from the batch. Is there something similar for kamisoris?
Speaking of kamisoris. Here is a picture of an Iwasaki kamisori from Shigeyoshi Iwasaki's own personal collection. It's a kamisori scaled like a Western straight. It is the only one in the whole wide world. He made it for himself as an experiment. I can't imagine what it's worth. Probably a lot.
Last edited:
Here is a photo of Iwasaki Tamahagane Western straight razor rejects in the back room of the workshop. Even the rejects are probably stupidly good.
Here is a pic of part of his tamahagane tatara collection
Here is a pic of a box of priceless tamahagane from the Society for Preservation of Japanese Swords Tatara Tamahagane in Iwasaki's storeroom. Only a handful of Japan in the world receive this.
Here is a pic of the tatara from the box above next to a piece made by from an old master. The one from an old master is the small one. Both are stunning.
Last edited:
I did a bit of digging and it looks like Iwasaki tamahagane kamisori might have serial numbers. Not all of them though. Interestingly, the numbering is done in arabic numerals. Here are some examples. All are Iwasaki tamahagane based on the kanji. Two have numbers, two do not. I don't know what the numbering means or why some are numbered and some are not. Does anyone know?
I am strongly left-handed but manage to shave using a right-handed Iwasaki Swedish Steel kamisori and a right-handed vintage Iwasaki Tamahagange kamisori (not a holy grail NOS and no new ones made for ages since vital machinery was broken during a move of premises, but see New Tamahagane kamisori tribute to Iwasaki - 'Ryoichi Mizuochi' & 'Sanjō seisakusho' - http://shavenook.com/showthread.php?tid=56373 )
Mizuochi San was still making Iwasaki tamahagane kamisoris as late as 2011 according to Shigeyoshi Iwasaki in an interview. They did not make them available for sale to the general public however. See this post/interview:
"When I made the tour of his workshop I found a bigger charcoal furnace; far to big for razors.
It was a furnace to make a Tamahagane bar from the chunk of raw Tamahagane by hammering and folding to get rid of the non melting impurities. I asked Iwasaki san and Mizouchi san if they are making Tamahagane razors now.
The answer was yes! They make few Tamahagane kamisori (Japanese razors) but not western razors. I asked if they are for sale?
The answer was no! I did not ask further. I do not know where the new made Tamahagane razors go. Maybe to museum or to inner circle."
hides-export.blogspot.com
Mizuochi San was still making Iwasaki tamahagane kamisoris as late as 2011 according to Shigeyoshi Iwasaki in an interview. They did not make them available for sale to the general public however. See this post/interview:
"When I made the tour of his workshop I found a bigger charcoal furnace; far to big for razors.
It was a furnace to make a Tamahagane bar from the chunk of raw Tamahagane by hammering and folding to get rid of the non melting impurities. I asked Iwasaki san and Mizouchi san if they are making Tamahagane razors now.
The answer was yes! They make few Tamahagane kamisori (Japanese razors) but not western razors. I asked if they are for sale?
The answer was no! I did not ask further. I do not know where the new made Tamahagane razors go. Maybe to museum or to inner circle."
Iwasaki and Tamahagane
I asked Iwasaki san about "Tamahagane". He came back with 2 chunks of raw "Tamahagane". Ancient and New Tamahagane He said:"The bigger ...
hides-export.blogspot.com
Iwasaki
IMPORTANT: If you want to use information of this site, please use a link to my page instead of copying parts of my pages. In that way the information will be the most up-to-date! Please als…
historyrazors.wordpress.com
Scroll down to the kami section. Explains how the early models were numbered
Holy cow! Absolutely incredible wealth of information here! I can't thank you enough for posting this. I've been tracking Iwasaki tamahagane straight razors for years and have built a database of serial numbers and stamps. I learned more in that one amazing article than I have pieced together in many, many years.
I think mine might be from one of the last batches ever made, if not the last batch ever made. Interestingly, the author of linked post shows a picture of my razor as the highest serial number ever produced. This was my conclusion as well! It has red scales, which is beyond unusual. The only other instance I've seen non-black scales on a Iwasaki tamahagane straight were the ivory scales from the 12 made to commemorate the retirement of Tanifuji Fukataro, who was so instrumental in the finishing of the tamahagane western straights. One of the 12 went to the former emperor of Japan.
It's provenance is interesting. It was given to me as a gift from my brother, who got it from the president of Shapton (yup that Shapton) in 2001. I spoke with Mr. Stanley about the razor a couple of years ago. He was so excited to see it again, that he asked if he could come to hone it with me! I joke about a lot things, but I'm not even remotely kidding about that. It's may not be the last Iwasaki tamahagane western straight ever produced, but it's altogether possible.
Sorry @SilverBlue16 for the thread derailment. Now back to Iwaskaki kamisoris!
Last edited:
You are welcome. Yeah Fikira, real name Jethro, has created quite the website and finding your razor posted there is always nice.
Here is a photo of Iwasaki Tamahagane Western straight razor rejects in the back room of the workshop. Even the rejects are probably stupidly good.
Probably not though. Japanese are not wasteful with resources like steel. They're not going to leave dozens of blanks unused because they do not match some unattainable standard of perfection. If anything Japanese tend to look at small imperfections as unique characteristics.
What is far more likely -if those have been discarded- is that they have some flaws you cannot see easily in a pic. I've said before that I have experience with traditional tamahagane. The old stuff tends to be chock full of small cold shuts. One of Japan's most famous Masamune blades was seen in person by Mike Blue, and he told me that it's riddled with them.
It's only problematic if they get big, or are located in bade places. I recently found one in a place I really didn't want: right in the bevel.
With the naked eye it was hard to spot, but when reflecting the light I managed to take a good picture. You can see the lines running parallel with the edge. That is normal, and indicative of the traditional folding process. But you can also see that bad layer, smack in the middle of the bevel. Again, not unexpected because that's just what happens in the traditional process sometimes.
In my case, I managed to fix it by grinding the blade some more (there was enough steel to do so) and take 1/16 off the width. At that point I found solid steel. That was pure luck, nothing more. I could have lost that blade. So my bet is that all those blades will have some feature that Iwasaki san decided was a deal breaker; a cold shut that was either in the wrong place (near the edge) or too big / ugly.
That looks like a couple dozen blanks, which is a lot in itself, but probably just a fraction of the ones that made it through so bo big deal for him.
This is very interesting. It certainly makes sense. Kousuke Iwasaki (father of Shigeyoshi) was a powerful force in Japanese metallurgy. If memory serves he obtained bachelors and masters in metullurgy from the University of Tokyo prior to starting his own forge. He was an uncompromising advocate for the use of microscopes by barbers so that they could examine their edges! The college textbook for the course he gave in barbering back in the 60's was translated by Jim Rion. It's pretty amazing. Iwasaki was wrapping finished razors in VCI paper back in the 50's. That's why the NOS Iwasaki razors like mine still look brand new to this day. Most producers don't even do that now.
Similar threads
