Thread: Best quality Japanese westerns?

Is there a thread listing higher end Japanese westerns?
If not, could we start a list?
Obviously there's Iwasaki... but what else?

There isn't a thread dedicated to high end Japanese razors but there is a general Japanese Razor thread found here...

http://straightrazorpalace.com/razor...straights.html

From my limited experience. Owning 5 vintage Japanese razors. And searching on this site and elsewhere.
I have yet to get one that has been a disappointment. Nor do I recall a negative post about them. (Japanese Razors)
Like any razor purchase. Careful examination of pics. And knowing how to spot problems and excessive hone wear. Will be key to being happy with a purchase.
The couple NOS Japanese razors I have. A Nobiru Nicon and Gold Rex. Are top notch pieces of kit. The other lightly used ones, Hayashi and Ribbon. Are also well executed. I enjoy all of them very much. My $.02. Ken

I believe they Are all great shavers. I have alot of them.

Sent from my SM-J700P using Tapatalk

On my list of razors to collect but I have none at this time. Thanks for reminding me I dont have any.

I have a few and so far they have all been great shavers.


Mike

I think I have about a couple of dozen. You will be hard pressed finding a bad Japanese straight, that's for sure. I've not encountered a single one badly ground, or badly tempered. Sure, with delicate tools, well used, vintage, pitted, rusty, anything is possible and nothing is perfect, but every razor I honed took a decent edge and delivered as expected. Even the beat up ones, where you can clearly see they had been badly honed and then discarded, with a bit of corrective honing, they all came back to life.

The single most important thing is examining the edge properly. Since a lot of them were full hollow ground, or even extra hollow, one bad pit could really ruin them for good. Of course there are always the heavy ones, kami grinds, 1/4" hollows, where this isn't a big issue.

Oh and in case of Japanese razors, sometimes a black cat can be a very good thing

All of my Japanese straights are wonderful, as is my Buddel custom made with Japanese suminagashi pattern welded Steel.

What's been posted is oretty much spot on, hard to go wrong with one in decent shape.

My favorites are Tanifuju, Cape, King Pelican, Eiko, Hayashi, Rugby, and there's many more.

Cheers, Steve

If you are looking for your first Japanese razor, go for condition rather than name. Some of the lesser known razors can be had at a very fair price.
QC on Japanese razors must have been very high, but there are a lot on ebay that are well worn.

Sent from a moto x far far away