Yamamasa・山正・Vintage Japanese Straight Razor Kamisori with Black Leather Handle Wrapping and Handmade Hinoki Wood Box

Yamamasa・山正・ Kamisori, Golden Kanji, Restored Vintage Japanese Straight Razor, Leather Handle Wrapping and Handmade Hinoki Wooden Box.

Straight razor (Kamisori剃刀), directly imported from Japan and restored by us to a hair-popping quality and sharpness, absolutely shave ready on arrival.
The razor was made in the Showa period (probably early 60s) and has a length of 14,8 cm and width of 1.9 cm, length of cutting edge is 4.5 cm and the weight 29.5 g.
A Medium sized Kamisori, not too heavy.

Similar to the traditional Samurai sword, this Kamisori was hand forged out of 2 layers, the cutting part is made of high carbon steel and the supporting layer of Iron.
The steel layer is brittle and hard, while the Iron gives the right flexibility.
Both layers are not stainless, so always keep your razor dry after your shave and protect it with a thin layer of oil.

Why is this blade not stainless?
Stainless blades are made of an alloy that will prevent it from staining, but also will make it less hard.
High carbon steels, like the cutting layer of this Kamisori, have a much higher hardness and will keep their smooth shaving quality for much longer before having to sharpen them again.

The blade handle still has its original blueing from the blacksmith, it was still in good shape so we kept it and only removed surface rust and sharpened it.
We then have attached a brand new leather band handle wrapping for a better grip. We use a traditional wrapping technique for Kamisori.

The Kanji / Katakana on the right side read: 上 "ue" meaning "top" below can be found one sign the logo of the maker, Yamamasa. The Logo is a mixture of 山 (yama)and 正 (masa). Below Kanjis can hardly be read but written is: 登録 商標 "toroku shohyo" meaning "registered trademark".
On the left side you can see two dot like marks, the upper one shaped like a drop the lower one like a kidney, both typical for Yamamasa.

The blade comes wrapped in red linnen in a handmade box.
The box is handcrafted out of imported Japanese Hinoki wood. Hinoki wood is used for centuries to build Japanese temples and shrines as it is extremely durable.
On the lid it shows an ukiyo-e engraving of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi`s "Suffering from pain courtesan of the period" out of the series "32 feminine faces of everyday life" from 1888. The print shows an Geisha with the highest of ranks "Oiran" getting a tattoo. It was common that Geishas got the names of their highest valued customers as a secret tattoo.

The box is a perfect place to store and protect your Kamisori.

This Kamisori is fully disinfected, honed and shave ready.

Also note, in Japan Kamisori are not only used to remove mens beards, they are also commonly used to remove fine facial hair also of women.

To ensure that you will get the razor shave ready we use our own specially made protective Kamisori sheaths. The razor edge will not touch anything during the transport.