Category Archives: Book Review

Book Review: Shumi no tsuba : 500 shi by Tessei Nakamura

Book Review: Shumi no tsuba : 500 shi by Tessei NakamuraTitle: Shumi no tsuba : 500 shi
Author: Tessei Nakamura
Publisher: Tankenkyūkai, 1965
Language: Japanese
Illustrations: Black and white pictures
Other: 165 pages, 27 cm by 19 cm, hardcover
Topics: Tōsōgu
ID: B0239

Tessei Nakamura explains in his foreword that he wanted to write this book as a follow up to his magistral “Tsuba shūsei” (1963), for people to make it easy to see many similar pieces close together, in an easier to read book.

Book Review: Japanese Spears – Polearms and Their Use in Old Japan by Roald and Patricia Knutsen

Book Review: Japanese Spears – Polearms and Their Use in Old Japan by Roald and Patricia KnutsenTitle: Japanese Spears - Polearms and Their Use in Old Japan
Author: Patricia Knutsen, Roald Knutsen
Publisher: Global Oriental, 2004
ISBN: 1-901903-56-7
Language: English
Illustrations: Black and White pictures, line drawings
Other: 131 pages, 25.5 cm by 18.5 cm, hardcover
Topics: Nihontō
ID: B0238

One of the very few books dedicated to Japanese polearms, hence a must. Follow up study of “Japanese Polearms” (1965) from Roald Knutsen. Includes also an extensive glossary.

Book Review: Kanzōhin zuroku II by Nagoya Hakubutsukan

Book Review: Kanzōhin zuroku II by Nagoya HakubutsukanTitle: Kanzōhin zuroku II
Author: Nagoya Hakubutsukan
Publisher: Nagoya Hakubutsukan, 1987
Language: Japanese with some English
Illustrations: Black and white pictures, some color pictures
Other: 212 pages, 26.5 cm by 19 cm, hardcover
Topics: Abumi, Ceramics, Documents, Kabuto, Katchū, Menpō, Nihontō, Paintings, Statues, Tōsōgu
ID: B0237

Extensive photo catalog of Selected items in the Nagoya City Museum. Only one armour, two sets of abumi and a few swords.

Book Review: Owari no tonosama monogatari by Tokugawa Bijutsukan

Book Review: Owari no tonosama monogatari by Tokugawa BijutsukanTitle: Owari no tonosama monogatari : Owari tokugawake shodai yoshinao shūfū yonhyakunen
Author: Tokugawa Bijutsukan
Publisher: Tokugawa Bijutsukan, 2007
ISBN: 4-88604-027-6 C0072
Language: Japanese
Illustrations: Color Pictures
Other: 212 pages, 25.5 cm by 19 cm, softcover
Topics: Ceramics, Documents, Kabuto, Katchū, Menpō, Nihontō, Paintings, Statues, Teppō, Tōsōgu
ID: B0236

Catalog about the 400 year history of the Owari Tokugawa Family. Very heavy document oriented.

 

Book Review: Tokugawa bijutsukan gaidobukku – The Tokugawa Art Museum guide book by Tokugawa Bijutsukan

Book Review: Tokugawa bijutsukan gaidobukku – The Tokugawa Art Museum guide book by Tokugawa BijutsukanTitle: Tokugawa bijutsukan gaidobukku - The Tokugawa Art Museum guide book
Author: Tokugawa Bijutsukan
Publisher: Tokugawa Bijutsukan, 2010
Language: Japanese and some English
Illustrations: Color Pictures
Other: 119 pages, 25.5 cm by 19 cm, softcover
Topics: Abumi, Bagu, Bugu, Ceramics, Documents, Kabuto, Katchū, Kura, Menpō, Mirrors, Nihontō, Paintings, Teppō, Tōsōgu
ID: B0235

Nice overview guidebook from the Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya.

Book Review: Le Petit Hara – dictionnaire des artistes japonais de montures de sabre by Robert Harawoy (Robert Burawoy)

Book Review: Le Petit Hara – dictionnaire des artistes japonais de montures de sabre by Robert Harawoy (Robert Burawoy)Title: Le Petit Hara dictionnaire des artistes japonais de montures de sabre
Author: Robert Burawoy
Publisher: Association Franco-Japonaise, 1991
Language: French
Illustrations: None
Other: 96 pages, 21.5 cm by 14.5 cm, softcover
Topics: Tōsōgu
ID: B0234

This small booklet is a compressed version of the “Die Meister der Japanischen Schwertzieraten” (1902 with corrected and enlarged edition in 1931) from Shinkichi Hara, an important work about the Japanese tōsōgu artists. The compilation from Robert Burawoy was a free gift that came with the 31th “bulletin” of the Association Franco Japonaise.

 

Book Review: Swords of the Samurai Japanese Arms and Armor from Northwest Collections by Patricia Grieve Watkinson et al.

Book Review: Swords of the Samurai Japanese Arms and Armor from Northwest Collections by Patricia Grieve Watkinson et al.Title: Swords of the Samurai Japanese Arms and Armor from Northwest Collections
Author: Barbara R. Coddington, Carole Ann Lowinger, Patricia Grieve Watkinson
Publisher: Museum of Art Washington State University, 1981
ISBN: 0-938620-00-2
Language: English
Illustrations: Black and white pictures
Other: 59 pages, 23 cm by 23 cm, softcover
Topics: Tōsōgu
ID: B0233

Simple catalog with several tsuba, few swords, few koshirae and one armour.

Book Review: 100 Selected Tsuba From European Public Collections by Robert Haynes and Robert Burawoy

Book Review: 100 Selected Tsuba From European Public Collections by Robert Haynes and Robert BurawoyTitle: 100 Selected Tsuba From European Public Collections
Author: Robert Burawoy, Robert Haynes
Publisher: Robert Haynes and Robert Burawoy, 1984
Language: French, English and German
Illustrations: Color and black and white pictures
Other: 64 pages, 30.5 cm by 21.5 cm, hardcover
Topics: Tōsōgu
ID: B0232

Very nice catalog on tsuba by Robert Haynes and Robert Burawoy at the occasion of the First European Symposium on The Arts of the Samurai in the German Sword Museum in Solingen.

Two editions exist. First the normal one, with some advertising in the back, and a second one limited to 300 with an extensive bibliography on sword fittings (almost 400 titles over nearly 300 years). This copy is with the bibliography.