Thread: Shaving with Japanese razor

In studying this thread trying to learn how to shave properly with a Japanese razor, I am getting confused by references to "convex side" and "concave side". Both sides of my razor appear concave, they're just asymmetrically concave. It's so difficult to describe the profile of this razor without a picture, I don't know what to call the side of the razor I have against my face when shaving, except to call it "the unstamped side."

My understanding is that the stamped side of the razor should always be the side that is away from my face. The unstamped side of the razor pictured below is the side of the razor that is against my face when I am shaving.

Do I have this right, and am I using the razor correctly?

Yup yer right. Stamps are for public viewing ( Ura). Unstamped side goes to face ( Omote) ... but you can use either side with care & attention to angle tho the omote is the preferred side.

you got it

Thanks for the confirmation, onimaru55 and jpm7676. Jpm and JimR, you guys make it look easy in your videos, thanks.

I did my first Japanese straight shave yesterday. The honing of my razor went well, I followed JimR's video. After honing and stropping, I did one complete pass with the Japanese razor, but ended up doing my second pass with a regular Western straight.

The most awkward thing for me wasn't using only the omote/unstamped side on my face throughout the shave. I already use both hands and some fairly weird angles with Western razors, so this wasn't too big a stretch for me.

The most awkward thing (for me) was learning to grip the razor on the sides of the tang, rather than at the top and bottom of the tang as a Western folding straight. When watching the videos, I actually blew it and missed how JimR and jpm7676 were gripping the razor. Now thebigspendur's tip about the finger notch on the Iwasaki makes sense.

The other awkward things was the blade angle. I was keeping the razor angle too close to my face (out of pure caution), so that the nearly-flat portion of the blade was sometimes creating drag/suction. The correct angle appears larger than it really is because of the asymmetrical cant of the blade, so I was over-compensating for that. I'm used to viewing the shaving angle on a symmetrical straight.

The first shave wasn't a disaster, I didn't cut myself or get razor burn, and I got a very effective shave...in the few places I was able to use the razor correctly.

So how do you store a Japanese razor, so that the open blade is protected? It seems like putting it in a leather or plastic pouch would risk dulling it.

There ya go. Not so hard is it ? Sounds like you're a convert .
I've been thinking about the storage thing too & one of the best solutions I've seen was from Charlie (Spazola). I'm thinking about something with magnets atm but still thinking.

Not to start a whole thing here again but just be aware there are other opinions out there on which side of the razor to use when shaving.