A Note to Those Wanting Translation

Just a suggestion to those of you wanting help with hone/razor translations.

Japanese is a confusing language, and one of the more confusing parts is orientation. Lately it's sometimes read left to right, oriented horizontally. However, in most cases it is oriented vertically, and is read top to bottom.

So if you would like your stamps read, it is a big help to me and (I assume) the other guys who do that sort of thing if you take your pictures and post them so that the stamps are in a straight line, top to bottom.

For razors, this means that the cutting edge should face left, the handle down.

In hones, it depends on the shape/orientation of the hone, but typically the majority of the stamps (正本山合砥) go down the right side.

Also, with razors, try to take a picture with as much contrast on the stamps as possible, because they often just look like a rough impression in the steel, rather than any definable characters.

Just a suggestion!

Thanks,
Jim