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Post Your Japanese Razors

Used this Japanese razor today, mid morning shave, different soap combo though. I work from home Mon-Fri, get the bulk of my work/busy duties done early, then a morning break is typical shave/get ready routine. Sat/Sun is the real work, outdoors event photography.

Anyways....another Japanese razor, made from a Solingen steel blank. A Toyo 777. Extra hollow thin western grind, hard steel, polished to a mirror, has depth to the shine, like it's layered laquer, and has trendy scales.

Everyone's possibly thinking 'how many more does this lunatic have'. ;) Fair question, I think only one more Japanese example, a Maxfli Gold, also a Solingen blade. Another Yasuki Steel kamisori needs some love/refurb work. I bought a set of 3, only 2 usable, knew that going in...it was an inexpensive $ overall, ~$18US/razor IIRC. Japanese straights/kamisoris were 1/3 of the purchases, they were all I was looking for at the time. The Japanese examples I've shown, with the exception of the Hoshi Tombo 8000, were all quite reasonably priced (each <$150 US including shipping), ~4 years ago when I was in RAD mode. I'm done/happy...the N+1 razor acquisition disorder was put out to pasture, most of the 'unobtanium' or NOS blades (of any brand) have gotten to silly prices the past 3 years anyway.

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b1hart said:
Used this Japanese razor today, mid morning shave, different soap combo though. I work from home Mon-Fri, get the bulk of my work/busy duties done early, then a morning break is typical shave/get ready routine. Sat/Sun is the real work, outdoors event photography.

Anyways....another Japanese razor, made from a Solingen steel blank. A Toyo 777. Extra hollow thin western grind, hard steel, polished to a mirror, has depth to the shine, like it's layered laquer, and has trendy scales.

Everyone's possibly thinking 'how many more does this lunatic have'. ;) Fair question, I think only one more Japanese example, a Maxfli Gold, also a Solingen blade. Another Yasuki Steel kamisori needs some love/refurb work. I bought a set of 3, only 2 usable, knew that going in...it was an inexpensive $ overall, ~$18US/razor IIRC. Japanese straights/kamisoris were 1/3 of the purchases, they were all I was looking for at the time. The Japanese examples I've shown, with the exception of the Hoshi Tombo 8000, were all quite reasonably priced (each <$150 US including shipping), ~4 years ago when I was in RAD mode. I'm done/happy...the N+1 razor acquisition disorder was put out to pasture, most of the 'unobtanium' or NOS blades (of any brand) have gotten to silly prices the past 3 years anyway.

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Gorgeous, I cannot say the same when it comes to my RAD. I love straights with a passion and I'm always looking for certain examples of one or two manufacturers such as S.R. Droescher and Haljestrand. I fear that Japanese razors will take hold of me before long, but I want to learn more before I take the leap(more of a step, I guess) in to picking up some. I know Solingen, Eskilstuna, Sheffield, and American razors really well, but French, Spanish, and Japanese are still outliers in my collection. I own several hundred straights, most of them which need restoration because I picked them up as part of several large lots, but I want to reduce them down so I can have more of these premium examples.


Thanks so much for sharing and any extra knowledge would be appreciated.
 
ShawnF said:
My only one right now is a Tanifuji. From what I remember reading he studied under Iwasaki and was the only one Iwasaki trusted to do western grinds for him. If I remember correctly, emperor of Japan has a Tanifuji on display and occasionally uses it.

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Very nice! Still has the original scales, hard to find!
 
Luecke3262 said:
Gorgeous, I cannot say the same when it comes to my RAD. I love straights with a passion and I'm always looking for certain examples of one or two manufacturers such as S.R. Droescher and Haljestrand. I fear that Japanese razors will take hold of me before long, but I want to learn more before I take the leap(more of a step, I guess) in to picking up some. I know Solingen, Eskilstuna, Sheffield, and American razors really well, but French, Spanish, and Japanese are still outliers in my collection. I own several hundred straights, most of them which need restoration because I picked them up as part of several large lots, but I want to reduce them down so I can have more of these premium examples.


Thanks so much for sharing and any extra knowledge would be appreciated.
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Thanks! I understand the straight razor acquisition disorder quite well…it was tough to quit. LOL. Originally I thought I’d stop at 31, a different straight or kamisori for each day of a month. I stopped about 24 I think, SEs or DEs fill out the rest to get to the 31 number. Roughly 1/3 of my collection is kamisori style razors (but not all Japanese made). The designs can be so cool….

I discovered around razor 20 or so, that I actually enjoy different after shaves, colognes, and fragrances in general, much more than razors though. Between 1 ml samples or swaps with friends, and way too many 100ml (or more) sized bottle, I could probably go ~2.5 months (probably more) without a repeat now. 😲
 
Forgot about this bad boy. NOS ABCo with tortoise scales. Near wedge style, only hollowed so an edge can be created. 7/8 width, western grind, thick spine. Fun to use, it shaves nearly on blade weight alone. The tang design however, black is painted (slick) and with it being long, makes balance a challenge to manage. Bought from an estate collection in Japan (a forum BST). Mirror polish, individual steel grain (and direction of grain) can be seen up close. The reflection blemishes on the blade are actually a light reflector (two surfaced, hence the line). There is one small corrosion 'bite' seen near the curve of the tang (gone now, 100,000k polishing paste). This razor could easily pass as a small meat cleaver.

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My last Japanese razor....an H Diamond, similar to what @MilkCrate posted on the first page. The example I have has boring scales though. Frustrating purchase, don't have any images of it from a daily shave. The seller used photography angles which hid the fact the razor had been improperly honed. It arrived with a reverse smile, less width than was stated. UGH. I did get the $ back via the PayPal process, but still frustrating. Need to send it to a professional to get corrected....just haven't gotten to it yet.
 
Luecke3262 said:
I personally don’t own any Japanese Straight Razors, but I’m very interested in picking a few up.. Please enable me and others by posting a photo or two of your favorite Japanese razors and if you know any history about them.
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Yeah Anthony Esposito got me interested in the Kikubishi line.
 
b1hart said:
Forgot about this bad boy. NOS ABCo with tortoise scales. Near wedge style, only hollowed so an edge can be created. 7/8 width, western grind, thick spine. Fun to use, it shaves nearly on blade weight alone. The tang design however, black is painted (slick) and with it being long, makes balance a challenge to manage. Bought from an estate collection in Japan (a forum BST). Mirror polish, individual steel grain (and direction of grain) can be seen up close. The reflection blemishes on the blade are actually a light reflector (two surfaced, hence the line). There is one small corrosion 'bite' seen near the curve of the tang (gone now, 100,000k polishing paste). This razor could easily pass as a small meat cleaver.

View attachment 89367

My last Japanese razor....an H Diamond, similar to what @MilkCrate posted on the first page. The example I have has boring scales though. Frustrating purchase, don't have any images of it from a daily shave. The seller used photography angles which hid the fact the razor had been improperly honed. It arrived with a reverse smile, less width than was stated. UGH. I did get the $ back via the PayPal process, but still frustrating. Need to send it to a professional to get corrected....just haven't gotten to it yet.
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This is so beautiful! WOW
 
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