Thread: Behold The Glory...

Kevin, I understand your point, but I think perhaps you mistake me. I don't need you or anyone else to "bring me back to earth."

I see nothing magical in tamahagane, nor do I think it is any better than any other steel.

What I see in this razor is a pure expression of a master craftsman's passion for steel, and a direct fruition of a son's apprenticeship at the feet of his father.

Kousuke Iwasaki basically made modern tamahagane what it is. After the first world war, Japan's blacksmiths were being destroyed by the cheap, mass-produced but still high quality cutlery coming out of Solingen--Kousuke's father was one of those blacksmiths, and he lost his business because people could go buy a knife cheaper than he could make one. So Kousuke, in his later life, vowed to bring Japanese steel working into the modern age, without losing its tradition, and tamahagane was how he did this.

He studied metallurgy and apprenticed himself to blacksmiths to find outjust what this steel was, putting science to the myth, and eventually his son, Shigeyoshi, began working with him. Kousuke not only qualitatively defined tamahagane, he also worked out the classification for other Japanese steels (paper, blue, white, etc.) and revived the Japanese steel industry, as well as working on his own smithing.

Shigeyoshi worked with his father, followed his passion and his dream. Shigeyoshi made this, a Western style razor, out of Tamahagane, the steel that his father used to connect Japan's history to its present...this razor is a work of truest art, nothing less. It is a piece of Japanese history, rare and precious, and I value it for what it is, not for what you tell me it is not.

Originally Posted by JimR

Shigeyoshi worked with his father, followed his passion and his dream. Shigeyoshi made this, a Western style razor, out of Tamahagane, the steel that his father used to connect Japan's history to its present...this razor is a work of truest art, nothing less. It is a piece of Japanese history, rare and precious, and I value it for what it is, not for what you tell me it is not.

A value that can only be indignified and smudged by filthy amounts of money.
After the original maker was payed for his work, such pieces should really only be passed on as presents from fathers to sons, sons to fathers, mentors go pupils or pupils to mentors, and other strong bonds that celebrate the art of being human. Anything else is a disgrace, in my humble opinion.

Originally Posted by Bart

A value that can only be indignified and smudged by filthy amounts of money.
After the original maker was payed for his work, such pieces should really only be passed on as presents from fathers to sons, sons to fathers, mentors go pupils or pupils to mentors, and other strong bonds that celebrate the art of being human. Anything else is a disgrace, in my humble opinion.

That is an extremely compelling point...

2 days left and still no bids...can it be this will not even sell for the list price?!