Thread: japonnippon

Jappannippon is a reliable vendor in terms of accurate descriptions and photos of his stock. His prices always have and will continue to push the very high end of the market. His resources for stock seem endless. At times you will find a reasonable price with a buy it now for a nice razor. This does not happen often. I have purchased several of his razors and been satisfied with the product but no so happy with the price. He is a seller operating in a sellers market and as long as his prices work for him I see no reason why anything should or would change.

OK, I'm not giddy anymore, the volume seemed impressive and seeing so many fine blades in one place.

Originally Posted by mainaman

Why?
You can get #13 DT for a lot less here in US. Iwasaki Tamahagane Kamisori are not worth 3-4k USD, you can get one for 600-800 USD.
NOS Japanese razors pop in the classifieds on a regular basis with much more reasonable prices.

Originally Posted by WW243

OK, I'm not giddy anymore, the volume seemed impressive and seeing so many fine blades in one place.

Two words -price tag

I bought a NOS Fon Razor from this vendor whose razors are rather ephemeral on his site. It is my favorite razor.

Originally Posted by Thisisclog

Not available right now, but....

IWASAKI Tamahagane Echigo Munenori Shaped 58mm blade

One word: Irrelevant (If you are not buying).

Originally Posted by mainaman

Two words -price tag

Originally Posted by Thisisclog

Not available right now, but....

IWASAKI Tamahagane Echigo Munenori Shaped 58mm blade

I can guarantee you if it was made by the master himself you couldn't touch it for that price.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I can guarantee you if it was made by the master himself you couldn't touch it for that price.

I'm not sure about the history of yen/usd exchange, but this is Takeshi's explanation on the pricing:

"Iwasaki gave me the same price as two years ago, so Japanese Yen / U.S. dollar foreign exchange rate is worse than two years ago, but I stay the same price too. "

I'm not claiming to have any degree of knowledge, but I'm wondering if perhaps these are being made by Mizouchi's apprentice?

Bought a razor box off him, I was happy with transaction

I've noticed his stuff as well - and should probably state that I have no connection to him or his blades. At first I was skeptical, but after a closer look realized he does appear to consistently place a premium on blades that are in better shape than others. I could be wrong but it sure looks like he's consistent as to how he prices them all.

Looking at his Fillys only last weekend, a 13 Sub Cero that's primo was listed for more than the same blade that has some tiny pits. Believing that his prices reflect blade quality (as in pitting and other cosmetics) it's relatively simple to set your own price mark for a particular brand. What I mean is that a truly premium NOS Filly can be had for a premium price, and a very nice shaveable Filly of the same model but with a few blemishes can be had for less. Makes sense to me. A few years back I was buying the same model 13 Fillys from both Spain and Argentina and the quality I got for the same price was all over the map with those 2 guys. Even NOS Barbas Duras at the same price were in different conditions. Hell I'd pay a few more bucks for consistency at those price levels!

In all I'd buy from him if he shows up with one I want. The only disclaimer is that if one of ours gets a blade that's not the blade in the pictures then all bets are off.

Originally Posted by AirColorado

In all I'd buy from him if he shows up with one I want. The only disclaimer is that if one of ours gets a blade that's not the blade in the pictures then all bets are off.

Actually I might be able to answer that. I've watched his auctions and one for a Henckels Friodur caught my eye many months ago. In his description with the measurements of the blade, the listed blade width was something like 24mm, basically 15/16 inch. However the photos looked more like a 6/8 blade, or 13/16 at best, but with the angles he uses it's a bit difficult to judge. The starting price was pretty low (for a 15/16 blade), I put in the minimum, and then was surprised when no one sniped the auction at closing. I paid for the item and awaited its arrival.

It arrived very quickly considering it was coming from Japan to the US. It was very well wrapped, I remember inside all of the cushioning the razor itself was wrapped in some tissue paper with Japanese characters written on it, I assume a description of the razor for his tracking purposes, all very pretty. My initial suspicions were confirmed however when I opened the blade, it was most definitely a 6/8 and not the 15/16 as described.

I used the "contact seller" option through Ebay, included a photo showing the blade width as shown by my digital calipers, and simply asked how he measured the blade and how he came up with 24mm. I didn't accuse him of lying or mis-representing the item in anyway. He was very nice, apologized about the mistake, issued me a refund through Paypal plus sent me a credit to cover return shipping costs. As nice as the whole experience was, I was sad to send the razor back. I did give him 5-star feedback for how quickly and well he handled the situation.

I haven't bought anything else from him since but if I ever saw a razor that was on my wishlist then I would chance buying from him again.