Book Review: Kanagawa no katchū meihin ten by Nihon katchū bugu kenyū hozon kai Kanagawa bunbu

Book Review: Kanagawa no katchū meihin ten by Nihon katchū bugu kenyū hozon kai Kanagawa bunbuTitle: Kanagawa no katchū meihin ten
Author: Nihon katchū bugu kenyū hozon kai Kanagawa bunbu
Publisher: Nihon katchū bugu kenyū hozon kai Kanagawa bunbu, 1988
Language: Japanese
Illustrations: Color Pictures
Other: 26 cm by 18 cm, softcover
Topics: Kabuto, Katchū, Menpō, Sōmen
ID: B0315

Very nice exhibition catalog from the (then) Kanagawa branch of the armor society, at the occasion of an exhibition related to the 27th annual meeting in 1988. 43 beautiful pieces are shown in color, many of them probably not in many other books or catalogs.  Saotome, nanban, saiga, kawari etc…

Book Review: Kawari kabuto goju tōten by Nihon Katchū Bugu Kenyū Hozon Kai

Book Review: Kawari kabuto goju tōten by Nihon Katchū Bugu Kenyū Hozon KaiTitle: Kawari kabuto goju tōten
Author: Nihon Katchū Bugu Kenyū Hozon Kai
Publisher: Kōzukobunka, 1977
Language: Japanese
Illustrations: Black and white pictures
Other: 26 cm by 18 cm, softcover
Topics: Kabuto, Katchū
ID: B0314

Nice exhibition catalog from 1977 with 50 kawari kabuto, four of them as part of a complete set. Several Saiga kabuto are included. Pictures are black and white and sometimes a bit too dark.

Book Review: Yamagataken bunkazai chōsa hōkokusho. 15, Yamagataken no katchū by Yamagataken Kyōiku Iinkai

Book Review: Yamagataken bunkazai chōsa hōkokusho. 15, Yamagataken no katchū by Yamagataken Kyōiku IinkaiTitle: Yamagataken bunkazai chōsa hōkokusho. 15, Yamagataken no katchū
Author: Yamagataken Kyōiku Iinkai
Publisher: Yamagataken Kyōiku Iinkai, 1968
Language: Japanese
Illustrations: Black and white pictures
Other: 59+11 pages, 26 cm by 18 cm, softcover
Topics: Kabuto, Katchū, Menpō
ID: B0313

Old and rather rare booklet from 1968 related to armours from Yamagata prefecture. Some armours are famous, and although the pictures are small, it is always interesting to see how they looked and were set up almost 50 years ago…

Book Review: Collection du Docteur Mène – Première Vente Paris 1913 by Edouard Mène

Book Review: Collection du Docteur Mène – Première Vente Paris 1913 by Edouard MèneTitle: Collection du Docteur Mène - Première Vente Paris 1913
Author: Edouard Mène
Publisher: Impr. Ch. Hérissey Paul Hérissey succr, 1913
Language: French
Illustrations: Black and white pictures
Other: 206 pages, 32.5 cm by 25.5 cm, hardcover
ID: B0310

This rare catalog from the legendary Mène auction in 1913 has brief description of more 1343 lots, many of them not illustrated. However, several of the main armor and helmet lots have nice pictures (for 1913), and show the amazing quality of the collection. Even now, people are proud to have an ex-Mène piece in their collection.

Book Review: Kakuzen zukō by Eisen Ikeda

Book Review: Kakuzen zukō by Eisen IkedaTitle: Kakuzen zukō
Author: Eisen Ikeda
Publisher: Unknown, 1939 (1845)
Language: Japanese
Illustrations: Color Pictures and black and white pictures
Other: 33 cm by 21.5 cm, hardcover
Topics: Katchū
ID: B0309

Rare 1939 copy of the Kakuzen Zukō (originally from 1845), illustrating many stencil patterns used for decorating leather, used for example in armours. Review of the original edition will follow later.

 

Book Review: Buki nihyaku zu by Sukemichi Kobayashi, Masanori Tamawaki

Book Review: Buki nihyaku zu by Sukemichi Kobayashi, Masanori TamawakiTitle: Buki nihyaku zu
Author: Masanori Tamawaki, Sukemichi Kobayashi
Publisher: Kōbujuku zōhan, 1996 (1848)
Language: Japanese
Illustrations: Color Pictures
Other: 31 cm by 21 cm, softcover
Topics: Bugu, Katchū
ID: B0308

This is a facsimile from a very rare book, originally from 1848. It contains drawings of 200 items related to warfare, in a kind of visual dictionary way. The original book will be reviewed later.

Book Review: Kōrō yadan: Tōsei gusoku no kumi himo by Asajirō Morita

Book Review: Kōrō yadan: Tōsei gusoku no kumi himo by Asajirō MoritaTitle: Kōrō yadan: Tōsei gusoku no kumi himo
Author: Asajirō Morita
Publisher: Asajirō Morita, 1986
Language: Japanese
Illustrations: Color Pictures
Other: 29 pages, 30 cm by 21.5 cm, hardcover
Topics: Katchū
ID: B0307

This is a very rare manuscript of Asajirō Morita, one of the great post-edo armor maker, about the cords used in armours, mainly tōsei gusoku. It contains 77 color pictures of cord-remains from Nambokucho onwards, with his comments.

The same content was one year later bundled with 5 articles Mr.  Morita wrote in the magazine of the armor society (will be reviewed later).

Book Review: Samurai – The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior by Clive Sinclaire

Book Review: Samurai – The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior by Clive SinclaireTitle: Samurai - The Weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior
Author: Clive Sinclaire
Publisher: The Lyons Press, 2001
ISBN: 1-58574-282-1
Language: English
Illustrations: Color and black and white pictures
Other: 144 pages, 29 cm by 27 cm, hardcover
Topics: Abumi, Bugu, History, Kabuto, Katchū, Menpō, Nihontō, Paintings, Teppō, Tōsōgu
ID: B0306

Nice overview book that covers the main weapons of the samurai.

Book Review: The Shogun Age Exhibition: From the Tokugawa Art Museum, Japan by Yoshinobu Tokugawa, Shinzaburō Ōishi, Keizo Saito, Tokugawa Bijutsukan

Book Review: The Shogun Age Exhibition: From the Tokugawa Art Museum, Japan by Yoshinobu Tokugawa, Shinzaburō Ōishi, Keizo Saito, Tokugawa BijutsukanTitle: The Shogun Age Exhibition: From the Tokugawa Art Museum, Japan
Author: Keizo Saito, Shinzaburō Ōishi, Tokugawa Bijutsukan, Yoshinobu Tokugawa
Publisher: Shogun Age Exhibition Executive Committee, 1983
Language: English
Illustrations: Color Pictures
Other: 279 pages, 29 cm by 22 cm, hardcover
Topics: Bugu, History, Kabuto, Katchū, Menpō, Nihontō, Paintings, Tōsōgu
ID: B0305

Beautiful catalog of what must have been an amazing traveling exhibition in 1984-1985.

Celebrating the beauty of Japanese samurai armour