Sharptonn: I guess I can see why you'd think I'm making this up since I just signed up and don't have many posts under my belt. I see what you mean about the circle and 3 line kanji looking skewed. All I can tell you is that it's the same knife. I think it's just the different angles that the photos were taken at. I tried to recreate it with a few pics just now:
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/...psemu4iqtk.jpg
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4yikk4yu.jpg
Changing the angle that the photo is taken and orienting the blade from 10 o'clock to 8 o'clock makes it look like the kanji are orient differently. At any rate, all I can tell you is that it's the same knife.
What I'm trying to figure out is when this knife was made. I'm curious to get in touch with Jim Rion at easternsmooth.com from the link that entropy sent. He seems to know an awful lot about Iwasaki razors.