Thread: Iwasaki Kamisori vs Busch Solingen (photo heavy)

Being very curious about Japanese razors, and having an irresistible urge to complicate my life, I just got an Iwasaki Japanese razor (50mm blade length). It's my first Japanese razor.

In my forum searches I found a lot of great info from guys like thebigspendur and JimR (thanks for your honing video, a true service to mankind). But I never ran across side-by-side comparison photos between a Japanese and Western straight, especially focusing on the differences in blade profile/grind. So I'm posting this for the benefit of other curious members.

This is from a total neophyte perspective. I know nothing about Japanese razors. I haven't yet tried to hone or shave with the razor even once. But, I'm fascinated with it, and impressed by it.

The comparison razor is a (sweet) Otto Busch Weltmeister in 5/8ths I bought earlier this year from ChrisL. The Iwasaki is both smaller and lighter than I had imagined. It arrived in a nice Kiri wood box, that was so light that I actually thought it was empty when I picked it up. Yet the Busch weighs 37g, and the Iwasaki weighs 42g.

Anyway, here are the comparison pics. First, a side-by-side flat shot from above:



Blade profile, left side:



Blade profile, right side:




Blade profile vertical, left side:



Blade profile vertical, right side (No, the photo is not distorted...the blade looks like it curves slightly to the left in person, too):