Thread: Why don't Japanese razors have nice handles?

Hi there,
I'm just so curious about Japanese Straight razors. Japan is a country with an incredible craftmanship, why don't they put nice handles on Japanese straight razors? The razors always have a nice looking blade, but when it comes to the handle it always sucks, it's like they're made out of duct tape. I remember watching a documentary about the building process of Katana's (Japanese swords) and the swordmaster who made them spent a whole month to build each one of them and the whole process was so elaborate and crafty it was unbelievable that to this day such craftmanship still existed.
It's a shame they don't do the same with razors.

Nuff' said.

Well I think that is has to do with to things. first is that a large handle would create a weight problem and start to make the shaving harder. 2 is very simple but a big handle would make if very hard to get the correct angle on your face. IMO The Japanese razor handle are very beautiful.

My only Japanese razor has a pretty sweet handle

It's a Tadisha Machida that Seth (forum member) helped me procure.

I've actually seen some Japanese razors with a pretty nifty silk ito wrap.

(off topic)
Nowadays, the only reason why they forge a maximum of 2 long blades a month is due to a post-war decree from what became the NTBHK. They asked one of the top masters how many blades top quality blades he could forge in a month, to which he answered 2. The reason why he only made two a month? He spent many days chopping the charcoal to identical sizes.

The penalty for producing more than two blades is losing your license to forge swords and therefore your tamahagane supply. What some swordsmiths do to get around the decree is having semi-production forges outside Japan to sell on the higher end of the production market. Other ones make high-end razors or bonsai tools... the market for shinsakuto really isn't big enough to live comfortably if you are not one of the top smiths.
(/off topic)

Well, in the same vein why doesn't an expensive sports car like a ferrari have a soft cushy ride? The japanese razors are crafted to look and be kind of spartan so the handle materials fit perfectly in my opinion. My Tosuke has a cheesy rubber grip and my Iwasaki has none. I have a few others and they have no grip either. They all shave great with or without grips.

I agree that it would be nice to have some nice, fancy handles on them.

I'm no expert on Japanese culture, but if it were ME, I think that my talent should be evaluated on it's PERFORMANCE, not the frills that I put on it.

I would rather have a relatively plain and simple razor that was made and performed like nothing else, than one that performed well, with a fancy handle.

Plus, the person that owns the razor has the option of putting a grip/handle on their razor to suit their preference. Again, I'd rather have a nice razor and put my own scales on to suit my preference, than to pay more for a set of scales that maybe I didn't feel suited me.

Originally Posted by BigBubba

My only Japanese razor has a pretty sweet handle

It's a Tadisha Machida that Seth (forum member) helped me procure.

That is an absolutely gorgeous blade. I think I'm drooling a little (that means a lot)

Drew

WOW! That is a beautiful razor!

I am in awe of its shape, there are not many razors that really get me going. That razor is in my top 5.

Charlie

I'm no expert on JDM razors but I like the look of raw handle. These by far are the closest shaving SR I shaved with in my experience of few razors.

The front and back of blade as well as handle is blackened to help reduce rust ( doesn't prevent ). You can talk to JimR and OLD_SCHOOL bout these as they know more about them.