Book Review: Étude de Meikō Zukan – Armuriers du Japon XVIe – XVIIIe siècle by Robert Burawoy

Book Review: Étude de Meikō Zukan – Armuriers du Japon XVIe – XVIIIe siècle by Robert BurawoyTitle: Étude de Meikō Zukan - Armuriers du Japon XVIe - XVIIIe siècle
Author: Robert Burawoy
Publisher: Institut des Hautes Etudes Japonaises - Collège de France - Editions De Boccard, 2017
ISBN: 978-2-9132-1737-9
Language: French with an abstract in English and Japanese
Illustrations: Color pictures and black and white pictures
Other: 296 pages, 27 cm by 20.5 cm, softcover
Topics: Kabuto, Katchū, Menpō, Sōmen
ID: B1308

This new and updated edition of the Étude de Meikō Zukan – Armuriers du Japon XVIe – XVIIIe siècle is the PhD dissertation that Mr. Burawoy wrote based on the Meikō Zukan (including sequels and addendum), an important armor book written by Matsumiya Kanzan in 1746. A first edition of Mr. Burawoy’s book was published in 2008, after which Mr. Burawoy kept his research up to date by hunting for new reference documents, different copies of the Meikō Zukan for comparison, and the whereabouts of the real pieces described in the book.

This overly illustrated book is, without a doubt, the most up to date research work on Japanese armor today. The book is in French, but Mr. Burawoy mentions that, when time permits, he will post an english translation (by instalments) on his website (www.robertburawoy.fr). On the same website you can also find errata and addenda of the recent books by Mr. Burawoy.