Hello from the land of Feather and Kai

Hello SRP members,
I actually joined a while back but then life got in the way and I never got onto here like I wanted to.

Anyway, I'm really a new member, living in Japan.

I shave with various DEs and SEs, and occasionally with disposable blade straights, one Feather, one Kai, and one CJB. I also own a couple of Western style straights and one Henkotsu Japanese style straight.

I have a quarter Norton hone set and a Chinese 12K stone. On a couple of occasions I've tried to hone my razors but with no luck. I think the sheet amount of information, and the fact that everyone seems to do things slightly differently from the next guy is somewhat overwhelming, so my razors are just sitting unloved in some drawers! Hopefully I can pick up some useful information on here and maybe get some mentoring advice, made as simple as possibly because I never was very good at manual tasks!

Thanks for reading guys, I look forward to getting to know you better on here!

Bluebriz (Brian)

A belated welcome to you. We have some others in Japan too. Good luck with the honing. I have never done it but someone here should be able to get you pointers. Pictures and process descriptions will only help mentors here with your honing. Also if you want to find members near you let me know and I can show you how to search for people.

Thanks Minnebrew.
I had a look and it seems there are 19 members in Japan, of which only I think 4 have posted here in the last couple of months. Fingers crossed someone can guide me a bit anyway, I definitely need the help!

So none are shaveable right now? No edge? Give us more info on the hones

Attachment 116296

None are shaveable now, no. The hones are a quarter of the size of the normal Norton set. It includes a 220/1000 stone and a 4000/8000 stone.

How does the mentor/mentee system work here? Do I just approach someone randomly and ask for help or is there something more to it?

Welcome! I hope you're able to either connect with someone who can give you some lessons on honing or find someone "locally" who can get your razors shave ready. It's too bad they've been sitting in a drawer but hopefully you can "un-retire" them and start using them again.

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Originally Posted by Bluebriz

How does the mentor/mentee system work here? Do I just approach someone randomly and ask for help or is there something more to it?

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Not sure it there is a system. Some people are listed that way. If members near you are nice then usually t hey sill meet

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Minnebrew

Not sure it there is a system. Some people are listed that way. If members near you are nice then usually t hey sill meet

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Ok, thanks Minnebrew. I don't think there's anyone near me based on the list of Japan members so I guess I'll just have to keep muddling on with it!

You could probably ask in the Honing forum if anyone has suggestions on where to get a razor honed in Japan nearby. If you wanted to learn more then just start asking questions until you get the hang of it. Good luck! Hope we can all help you out!

ahh hum. Sorry, just woken up!
Well that was my favorite part of living in japan. You're pretty much on your own. My advice - youtube mate. youtube.
Not sure if you have any money but a trip to Handsu might be in order. They have quite a range or shaptons and kings and naniwas sitting right on the shelf. Shinjuku has the whole range of each of them, and they're quite cheap! Ah japan.
Your 250/1000 looks a little dodgy to me. If I were a beginner honer I'd prefer to use one a little longer and possibly more consistent.
My advice is to take your time, and embrace the loneliness.
Sorry if post is not coherent - I'm enjoying some new year's guiness! (not in japan)

Thanks Frankenstein. I don't have the money for a trip to Tokyo, but there are DIY type stores I could go to here. I've seen King and a few other hones there, and although a little late, my wife would go to 10,000 yen as a belated Xmas present.... Maybe I should drag her there tomorrow....