I have two razors made by Shigeyoshi Iwasaki. One is the Japanese style "kamisori", the non-folding traditional form. This is the one that is really, really popular with lots of people around these "internets". It's awesome, yes, and I feel very lucky to have it, but the really special one?
This one:
It's a traditional western style folding straight...a rarity. I don't know how many he made, he might have made thousands for all I know, but I have only seen photographic evidence of three others. Unlike the Japanese style razors made by Iwasaki-san, these are not really that widely known.
I have gotten some really good shaves off this one, and there is something immensely satisfying about using it. I can feel the history--I KNOW it's history, for the most part.
It's a well used razor, a gift from my barber who used it and maintained it for decades. It's seen thousands of faces, and has kissed the finest Japanese stones in its life. It was bought new decades ago, and it made its way to me through years I can never know. There is a story that Iwasaki-san apparently liked to tell, that a razor made by his father was used by a barber 1,032 times before he had to rehone it--that is, just stropping in between...and this is a razor like that.
But perhaps the most fascinating thing for me is that this razor, this relatively simple, unassuming blade, was handmade by someone who can only be called a true master smith. Shigeyoshi Iwasaki was born in Kanagawa prefecture in 1933, the son of Kousuke Iwasaki, who was a blacksmith himself and more than that--a gifted metallurgist, who researched the system used to classify Japanese steel quality (paper steel, ball steel, etc.). So in the old way, Shigeyoshi learned at the feet of his father, living with steel from his earliest years.
Later, the younger Iwasaki became a swordsmith, working out of the "Sanjikajikoubo" forge in Niigata prefecture, Japan. He continued to study and train in traditional blacksmithing techniques, becoming a kind of unofficial "ambassador", traveling around the world demonstrating Japanese smithing techniques. I know that he continued to forge until recently; I have been told that he passed, but I've been unable to find any real confirmation. At any rate, his legacy has passed to a former apprentice, Ryouichi Mizuochi, who is currently supplying the world's hunger for Iwasaki kamisori...but who knows if he's making any more like this.
But I know who Iwasaki is, I know where he learned and what he made, and I can see his picture and pictures of the works that came from his hands, and of those works is this razor I have. A true master made the blade I hold, the blade I can use every morning (or night) to shave my humble face.
How unbelievably cool is that?
5 comments:
Awsome story.
Steve from NJ
Thanks Steve, I think it's pretty awesome too. I feel extremely lucky...and if, by any random chance, you get the opportunity to try one of these, do it. They're simple, unpretentious masterpieces.
Thank-you for sharing this story. I'm constantly amazed with connection to the past we get from wet shaving. For most of us, the stories don' hold as much interest outside our family, but the connections are just as strong for us. While I could go pick up another Super Speed fairly easily, it wouldn't have the connection of the one used by my great grandfather. These connections meld with our muscle memory and the rituals involved in the shave. At some point those memories and the shave meld such that one cannot be separated from the other.
This is the reason why people blog. Wonderful story about a very singular razor. I am very envious of your good fortune, Jim. I like the connection with the past that I feel when I use my vintage razors, but to have a real knowledge of a razor's history is very special indeed. Thank you.
Thanks again guys. It really is something to think about, the history we hold in our hands. To sit down and research it, for me, brings things to a whole new depth of meaning...I'm humbled, in a way, but it.
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