Title: Japanese Swords and Sword Fittings from the Collection of Dr. Walter A. Compton (Part I, II, III) Author: Christie's New York Publisher: Christie's New York, 1992 Language: English Illustrations: Color and black and white pictures Other: 429, 235, 122 pages, 30 cm by 21 cm, softcover Topics:Menpō, Nihontō, Tōsōgu ID: B0208
These are the auction catalogs for the fabulous Walter A. Compton collection, probably the best collection on Japanese swords ever outside of Japan (or even maybe including Japan). Mostly nihontō and tōsōgu.
Title: Nihon jōdai no katchū - Nihon jōdai no buki Author: Masao Suenaga Publisher: Mokujisha, 1981 Language: Japanese Illustrations: Black and white picture, drawings, very few color pictures Other: 586 + 115, 591 + 160 pages, 26.5 cm by 19.5 cm, hardcover Topics:Bugu, Kabuto, Katchū, Nihontō ID: B0206
This fabulous book set is actually a 1981 reprint of two books, one from 1941 and one from 1944 (B0262), completely dedicated to the old, pre-Heian, armours of Japan. It includes also study reproductions. Masao Suenaga is one of the handful armour researchers that people still talk about with a lot of respect. The book set was originally sold for 145,000 yen…
Title: Nihon katchū daizukan Author: Yoshihiko Sasama Publisher: Kashiwa Shobō, 1988 ISBN: 4-7601-0390-2 C3620 Language: Japanese Illustrations: Some color illustrations, many black and white illustrations Other: 474 pages, 37 cm by 26.5 cm, hardcover Topics:Kabuto, Katchū, Menpō, Sōmen ID: B0205
This is the famous (and originally very expensive – 80,000 yen) encyclopedia of Yoshihiko Sasama, also called: An Illustrated Book on Japanese Armor. Almost no pictures but many illustrations from Sasama. Of course, many illustrations come back in other publications, but the big advantage here is, that the book is big, so much more detail can be seen in the illustrations. One of his latest works, so content wise probably the most up to date.
Title: Gai Sō Shi - Study collection of Japanese Sword Fittings Author: Robert E. Hayes Publisher: Nihon Art Publishers, 2010 ISBN: 978-3-9805755-5-3 Language: English Illustrations: Color and black and white pictures Other: 179 pages, 28.5 cm by 22.5 cm, hardcover Topics:Tōsōgu ID: B0204
Robert E. Hayes is one of the top tsuba scholars, and in this book he uses 179 pieces of his collection to guide us through the world of tsuba. Very interesting to get the chance to get into his mind…
Title: katchū men mononofu no kasō Author: Kazuo Iida Publisher: Tōken shunjū, 2010 ISBN: 978-4-86366-081-6 Language: Japanese and some English Illustrations: Color and black and white pictures Other: 320+9 pages, 26 cm by 18.5 cm, softcover Topics:Menpō, Sōmen ID: B0203
This is as far as I know the only serious book on menpō . Several of the examples in the book have become famous and have ended up in big collections. This is a reprint in softcover from the hardcover version from 1991 (B0014). The pictures in the big hard cover edition are slightly better in my eyes.
Title: Japanese Sword Guards Masterpieces from the Sasano Collection Part One Author: Masayuki Sasano Publisher: Daisuke Saito Mega Co. Ltd., 1994 Language: English Illustrations: Color (?) and black and white pictures Other: 341 pages, 30 cm by 21.5 cm, hardcover Topics:Tōsōgu ID: B0202
Another important book from Mr. Sasano on tsuba. He passed away before he could finish a second part…
Title: Early Japanese Sword Guards Sukashi Tsuba Author: Masayuki Sasano Publisher: Robert G. Sawers Publishing, 1974 Language: English Illustrations: Some color pictures, many black and white pictures Other: 292 pages, 26.5 cm by 19 cm, hardcover Topics:Tōsōgu ID: B0201
An important book from Mr. Sasano, who went against the stream in the tsuba world with his theories. This is a rework and English version of a book written in 1970, Tsuba no Bi.
Title: Jizai Okimono Author: Kazutoshi Harada Publisher: Maria Shobo, 2010 ISBN: 978-4-89511-595-7 C0072 Language: Japanese and English Illustrations: Color Pictures Other: 115 pages, 30 cm by 23 cm, hardcover Topics:Jizai Okimono ID: B0200
This is the best book about Jizai Okimono, beautifully illustrated with numerous top pieces from several collections.
Title: Japanese Swords and Sword Fittings from the Collection of Dr. Walter A. Compton (Part I, II, III)
Title: Nihon jōdai no katchū - Nihon jōdai no buki
Title: Nihon katchū daizukan
Title: Gai Sō Shi - Study collection of Japanese Sword Fittings
Title: katchū men mononofu no kasō
Title: Japanese Sword Guards Masterpieces from the Sasano Collection Part One
Title: Early Japanese Sword Guards Sukashi Tsuba
Title: Jizai Okimono