Please Tell Me About This Kamisori

I just received my first kamisori.
I have no experience with this type of razor and am keen to learn!
What do the characters on the blade mean?
And can somebody point me to good guides for honing kamisori and shaving with them?

Thanks in advance guys - I know this is the right place to ask!





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I love seeing Kamisoris. One day I will get one, for now though I will admire other's collections. Sorry cannot help you with your questions.

Tell you about that razor?

Sure:

That razor belonged to Kiotaka Fujiwara, the famed barber of Nagano.

He could give a man a smooth BBS shave with that razor while both were riding down the slope at the Onbashira festival, no nicks, no cuts, just pure smooth.

purerockfury said:

...Sorry cannot help you with your questions.

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Seraphim said:

That razor belonged to Kiotaka Fujiwara, the famed barber of Nagano.

He could give a man a smooth BBS shave with that razor while both were riding down the slope at the Onbashira festival, no nicks, no cuts,

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So far so good then [emoji3]

Well it's a Henkotsu Kaizan 15/16 actually - I know Henkotsu is the maker but I've no idea what "Kaizan" means.

This is a very big blade for a kamisori eh?
And after a few video tutorials it took a really good edge.
I honed it using my normal progression and finishing with the Trans Ark, 12 laps to 3 laps Omate to Ura.


And man the shave's incredible, just so comfortable:

A few more tutorials and I shaved for the first two passes right hand only with Omate side to the face.
It's a lot of fun to learn something new like this with such a good result.

But I cheated for the third pass and swapped hands for the left side of the face and shaved with the Ura side against it.

Just when I thought there was nothing left to discover this has suddenly taken things to a whole new level!


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I'd heard of henkotsu of course but I had no idea they stamped their blades "hen atsu".

I was going to guess that the last two kanji of the first part were "nanzan", south mountain. too illegible in the pics though.

I love shaving with the ura side! In fact I prefer it to the omote for some parts of my face. Forget being a purist is my advice, both sides of kamis are great. I hone my steel ones symmetrically now, you probably do not want to do that with a bimetallic one though.

stoop said:

I'd heard of henkotsu of course but I had no idea they stamped their blades "hen atsu".

I was going to guess that the last two kanji of the first part were "nanzan", south mountain. too illegible in the pics though.

I love shaving with the ura side! In fact I prefer it to the omote for some parts of my face. Forget being a purist is my advice, both sides of kamis are great. I hone my steel ones symmetrically now, you probably do not want to do that with a bimetallic one though.

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Thanks! I'll try to take a better pic of the kanji.

And it's reassuring to know that shaving with the Ura side isn't a dreadful faux pas!

Thinking about it, if modern shavers are part of a continuing tradition in using these razors (rather than just reenacting the past) then adaptations we make, like swapping hands and using both sides of the kamisori, are just as valid.

Totally valid. And unless you're being shaved by your manservant, barber, or retainer, using just the omote is kind of historically bogus to begin with

So here's another photo of the kanji but the top ones are quite worn.

And how old are these razors?
Is there any way of dating them?

Ha ha - this kamisori has suddenly got me really excited about razors again!


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A bit of research reveals that the kanji say "Hinoshita Kaizan Henkotsu"

Another martial arts website explains the meaning of "Hinoshita Kaizan":
This term originates from a phrase of the Muromachi era honouring the founders of Buddhist temples: Hinoshita (under the sun) Kaizan (founder of a temple).
Later this title was used for artisans and practitioners of martial arts, and during the Edo era it became an honorific title for sumo wrestlers who dominated tournaments, at the time held in temples. In the beginning, any champion who remained undefeated for the longest period would be named a Hinoshita Kaizan, but towards the end of Edo era this title was used solely to describe an exceptional wrestler, one that corresponded to the status of yokozuna.

Wow!



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I just asked around if way back then they ever pronounced "a" like "ko" (because that's clearly a hiragana あ - "a") and the answer was universally "nope". So no idea what's up with the "hen atsu".

stoop said:

I just asked around if way back then they ever pronounced "a" like "ko" (because that's clearly a hiragana あ - "a") and the answer was universally "nope". So no idea what's up with the "hen atsu".

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That's definitely the Henkotsu makers mark but I saw it transliterated elsewhere as "Hennoku"
I'm really glad someone with a knowledge of Japanese characters has contributed to this thread because I am completely ignorant in this respect.
So thank you!

It's very clearly hiragana へんあつ - hen atsu. That much I can read. Kanji, on the other hand...

So now I've given myself permission to swap hands and shave with both sides, this Henkotsu is a real delight:

I need a slightly different angle depending on whether the Omote or Ura side is against the face, and it's a steeper angle than with the Western straights but this is such a comfortable shave.
And it's so much fun [emoji3]

Are there many kamisori users out there?
I don't often see them in the "What Straight Did You Use Today" thread.


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The western style (scaled, all steel) ones are my favorite niche. I love them. And yeah, both omote and ura are great. Love the shallow angle you have to get the ura to sometimes.

I have two kamisoris and they are easy to use and hone. I also have a kamisori style razor by Joe Edson made with Suminagashi steel and a western symetrical grind. They are easy to use and a nice change up from the western style strazors with scales.



Mike

mglindo said:

I have two kamisoris and they are easy to use and hone. I also have a kamisori style razor by Joe Edson made with Suminagashi steel and a western symetrical grind. They are easy to use and a nice change up from the western style strazors with scales.

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Mike

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That is a good looking razor!
And I agree, switching to a kamisori is a really refreshing change.

Yeah i have started using my home made Kamisoris aka (Rogersori's). I have made three so far but have been struggling to hone them to an acceptable standard. I have got one now up to speed and had a reasonable shave with it yesterday. I used tool steel scraper blades with an omate and ura of sorts. They are quite thin but it's been fun making them. I'll try to work out how to put photos up maybe..cheers

You've seen two of my three Henkotsus. Don't be surprised if the 3rd shows up very soon.

link to tutorials please.