It's Finished: Honing Razors and Kamisori

I've been working on a translation of Kousuke Iwasaki-shi's Barber's Manual, entitled "Honing Razors and Kamisori," for months. Maybe a year.

And finally, with permission from Shigeyoshi Iwasaki-san, I am immensely proud (and more than a little nervous) to say it's done, and it's ready for the public...I hope.

I'm more than happy to discuss the contents, but remember--I'm just the translator, the man who wrote it passed several decades ago. I did my best to be as accurate and as well-researched as possible, I did run the translation by both native speakers of Japanese who read English, and native speakers of English who read Japanese, but there may still be mistakes. There are almost certainly typographical errors.

So here is a download link, the file is a ZIP containing a PDF and password-protected DOC (my only nod to the natural desire to protect the work, I'm well aware it's a joke). If you need/want another format, please PM me.

Honing Razors and Nihonkamisori

Thanx for taking the trouble to do this Jim.
Look forward to reading.

Dear Mr. Jim
Thank you very much! To me this is like a birthday present in advance.
I can't thank you enough for your great efforts and work in passing on the knowledge
and tradition of Nihonkamisori shaving to the English speaking world.

Best regards,
Pedro.

Wow. Great stuff!
Thanks ever so much for doing the job and giving us the opportunity to read it!
I really look forward to reading this!

:bow

Great job Jim, and thanks for taking the time to do that..! :)

Awesome!!

Thanks Jim!!

Well done, now we should inhale this stuff. Many thanks Jim!

I am all over this right now.

Very informative, great work! I just read through it, and although the sections on the stones might as well be written in the original Japanese to me, the whole thing was very interesting and helpful.

Very good contribution to the straight population in general. thanks for doing all the work.

Thanks very much for all the kind words. It was a true pleasure to do, and it's very gratifying to finally have people read and appreciate it.

The bits on the use of slurry and a nagura are worth a revisit.
I also like the bit on stropping where the flex is at the spine
and not on the edge (page 14). It is 'obvious' yet I have never
seen it stated.

The discussion on angles in how to use a western razor are spot on.

Good stuff... !

I MADE A MISTAKE.

It was inevitable, but this is a pretty big one.

On my recent visit to Iwasaki-san, I asked him about the particularly confusing section, 3.5 Edge Finishing.

What I translated as "standing" should have been translated as "lengthwise." In my defense, the word is the same...anyway.

Instead of honing the razor standing, you hone it flat but pull it parallel to the edge...meaning, not forward or backward, but sideways, 1mm or 2mm.

I'm updating the translation, but I think everyone's already downloaded it that is going to...anyway, just thought I'd let everyone know I screwed up.

Not a mistake, just clarification of an ambiguity. Your work is gratefully recieved. Thank you.:)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JimR

I MADE A MISTAKE.

It was inevitable, but this is a pretty big one.

On my recent visit to Iwasaki-san, I asked him about the particularly confusing section, 3.5 Edge Finishing.

What I translated as "standing" should have been translated as "lengthwise." In my defense, the word is the same...anyway.

Instead of honing the razor standing, you hone it flat but pull it parallel to the edge...meaning, not forward or backward, but sideways, 1mm or 2mm.

I'm updating the translation, but I think everyone's already downloaded it that is going to...anyway, just thought I'd let everyone know I screwed up.

---

Somehow I read the revision in the initial translation.

Perhaps because I have done this same thing with
a Coticule slurry stone and obtained deluxe results.
Now I know that it was not a fluke.

I risk messing up the market but I think I will
be shopping for some Jnat slurry stones for this
reason.

Again Jim thanks for the translation.

Here's an updated translation link: Honing Razors and Nihonkamisori

Or the updated paragraph:

Using just the weight of the blade, very very lighly pull the razor about one or two millimeters in a direction parallel to the razor's edge [i.e. instead of edge leading or spine leading, move the razor slightly back and forth perpendicular to the stone.--JDR]. Don't move any further than that. On the off chance that you move too much, or use too much pressure, you will remove too much steel and you'll create another false edge. In that case, you should go back and repeat step (4). This technique is very delicate, and requires a lot of practice.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JimR

Here's an updated translation link: Honing Razors and Nihonkamisori

Or the updated paragraph:

Using just the weight of the blade, very very lighly pull the razor about one or two millimeters in a direction parallel to the razor's edge [i.e. instead of edge leading or spine leading, move the razor slightly back and forth perpendicular to the stone.--JDR]. Don't move any further than that. On the off chance that you move too much, or use too much pressure, you will remove too much steel and you'll create another false edge. In that case, you should go back and repeat step (4). This technique is very delicate, and requires a lot of practice.

---

Awesome. Now I see it. Perfectly clear.

Thank you SO much Jim on showing us Mr. Iwasaki's writings.

Jim, I finally downloaded and printed this today. I quickly skimmed the document and already I'm looking forward to reading/studying/incorporating this information. Thank you very much for preserving and passing on this information.

Jim this was an awesome read, and Thank You for the work you did and it looks like you are still doing... :)

Thanks for all the kind words, gentlemen. The book is indeed interesting, but it doesn't half compare to the education I got just talking to Iwasaki-san and Mizuochi-san for a day or two.

It's going to take me a while to get it all in a meaningful form to show others though.

Good for you Jim. Meeting those 2 would be something I'd love to cross off my bucket list :)

I can't edit the initial post, so I'll put this here. The translation has been updated, there is a new Download link:

Honing Razors and Wakamisori

Thanks for all your effort Jim :)

Wow, an awesome read indeed! I read it straight through twice. Quite a few interesting things to try there.
So who is honing on top of a scale from now on? :hmmm: :)

Now have anyone tried that edge finishing? 15 minutes of that, wow. Very interesting.

Wow! how cool! you rock.

Thanks for the kind words, guys! Glad some find it interesting. Remember, I'm not endorsing everything in there, some of that stuff is questionable at best. Some of it is pretty good, though.

Now i just have to get one of my kids to print it for me,my skill set only goes so far HeHeHeHe thanks Jim,cant wait to read it.

Fantastic read,for the fourth time in two days,many thx for your efforts.
had to chuckle every time I went over finishing with green powder and the raxa hone.
The part that states: The edge may feel slightly heavy for inexperianced women hairdressers or older people in their 50s with withered arms.
The edge may be bothersome for those 25years old and into their 40swhose strength has not faded:))))))),great read,thx.