Iwasaki 岩崎

Period: Since the late 1940s
Place: Sanjō, Niigata
: Workshop active
State of evidence: Workshop and its generations documented

Iwasaki is the name behind the Sanjō Seisakusho 三条製作所 in Sanjō, Niigata, the workshop that still forges kamisori in the traditional way.

Iwasaki Kōsuke 岩崎航介 (1903–1967) founded it after the Second World War. He had studied both history and metallurgy at Tokyo Imperial University, trained with a swordsmith and a sword polisher, and brought the two fields together: he established tamahagane 玉鋼, the steel of the Japanese sword, as a steel for razors. For the Imperial Household Agency he led the metallurgical study of the swords of the Shōsōin, published in 1974 as 『正倉院の刀剣』. His own writings appeared after his death as 『刃物の見方』 (1969).

His son Iwasaki Shigeyoshi 岩崎重義 (born 1933) led the workshop in the second generation and completed his father's Shōsōin study. From the 1950s the workshop also made Western-style razors in tamahagane. Among those trained here was Iizuka Tokifusa, who later founded his own forge under the name Shigefusa 重房.

Mizuochi Ryōichi 水落良市 joined in 1961 and leads the workshop today. He was named a traditional craftsman in 2014 and received the Mitsui Golden Takumi Award in 2020. His apprentice Inagaki Yoshihiro 稲垣良博, from Kanagawa, is learning every stage of the work under him.

Marks and words found on Iwasaki blades:
玉鋼・ tamahagane ・ traditional sword steel
炭素鋼・ tansokō ・ carbon steel
岩崎・ Iwasaki ・ the family name
㊂・ maru-san ・ three in a circle, the registered mark of the Sanjō Seisakusho
重義・ Shigeyoshi ・ first name of the second generation, found on very few blades
登録・ tōroku ・ registered
別打・ betsuuchi ・ specially forged, a mark ordered by a wholesaler

Earlier blades read 玉鋼岩崎. Later ones add the ㊂ mark between steel and name, and the blades are signed 岩崎 to this day. Only a very few carry 重義 in place of 岩崎.

From the boxes and paper wrappers:
玉鋼日本剃刀・ tamahagane nihon kamisori ・ Japanese razor of tamahagane
三条製作所岩崎謹製・ Sanjō Seisakusho, Iwasaki kinsei ・ respectfully made by Iwasaki
検査済・ kensa-zumi ・ inspected

The workshop makes three sizes: 半丁掛 hanchōgake, 一丁掛 icchōgake and 二丁掛 nichōgake. The size is not engraved on the blade.

Known marks

Iwasaki - Registered — Registered
Reading
登録・Toroku・registered (Trademark)
㊂・Sanjo Works ・name of Iwasaki Company
岩崎・ Iwasaki ・ Master Iwasaki‘s family name.

Iwasaki - Special Order — Special Order
Reading
別打・betsuuchi・specially forged
㊂・Sanjo Works ・name of Iwasaki Company
岩崎・ Iwasaki ・ Master Iwasaki‘s family name.
Actually just an order by a whole seller to Sanjo seisakusho. it is the same sized Nicho gake but with this extra marking. (confirmed by Inagaki)

Iwasaki - Tamahagane — Tamahagane
Reading
玉鋼・Tamahagane ・ the steel it was made of
㊂・Sanjo Works ・name of Iwasaki Company
岩崎・ Iwasaki ・ Master Iwasaki‘s family name.

Iwasaki - Tamahagane Kawatani — Tamahagane Kawatani
Reading
玉鋼・ Tamahagane ・ the steel it was made of
川谷・ Kawatani ・ an unexplained mark, not documented in any reference
㊂・ Sanjo Works ・ name of Iwasaki Company
岩崎・ Iwasaki ・ Master Iwasaki's family name.

Iwasaki - Tamahagane Kosuke — Tamahagane Kosuke
Reading
玉鋼・Tamahagane ・ the steel it was made of
岩崎・ Iwasaki ・ Master Iwasaki‘s family name.

Sources

岩崎航介『刃物の見方』, 岩崎航介遺稿集, 三条金物青年会, 1969. National Diet Library
『正倉院の刀剣』, 1974.
越後鍛冶岩崎重義. frkw.com
三条鍛冶道場, workshop profile 三条製作所. kajidojo.com
三井広報委員会, 匠を訪ねて: 水落良市. mitsuipr.com
三条ものづくり学校, 三条製作所 (portrait of the workshop and its apprentice). sanjo-school.net
Kamisori Harnisch archive: engraving, box and wrapper photographs of the pieces listed below.