Thread: My grail razor finally the search is over. :-)

I remember seeing another box like this! It was on another forum posted by Mainaman, and there was a translation done of the kanji on the scales. Apparently, the box and the razor was made while the founder Mr. Kousuke Iwasaki was still the head of the workshop from swedish carbon steel. I believe that Mr. Kousuke Iwasaki died around 1963, so your razor may indeed be very old. Your box is quite similar but the color of yours is green instead of black. That may be the key to dating yours. Here is link to that post:

Iwasaki western in the house

That particular razor had an inscription on the scales and this was the translation that was done (from the original poster Mainaman):

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I was able to find a person to translate the kanji on the scales for me.
The face side says :
"Ueshima tetstu wo motte kore wo tsukuru. Iwasaki Kousuke" -With Ueshima iron this was made. Iwasaki Kousuke
Back side says:
"Zoutei Ueshima Daisuke" - Gift Ueshima Daisuke
Back of tang:
"Ueshima Kaimen Tetsu" -Ueshima Sponge Iron

My translator also said: "Its in super old Japanese (and Japanese writing), so my translation may not be exact, but I asked a few people to make sure"

So the razor was made during the time Kousuke Iwasaki was the head of the business. The other interesting fact is that the steel used for those razors translates as Sponge Iron, I have never heard the term before.

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Here is a picture of that box for posterity's sake lest the original post from (Mainaman) disappears. I believe it was Mainaman who originally identified my razor, you might want to PM him to see if he has any insight.