This is a beautiful book published by the Tōkyō National Museum after the big 1976 exhibition.
Mostly old armours, swords, koshirae etc.
The sode on the cover are from my all time favorite dōmaru in the National Museum.
This is part 26 of a 30 volume book series on jūyō bunkazai pieces, about half of them armour. Many pictures, although mostly rather small. Focuses mainly on armours from Heian till Muromachi. Very interesting to see an overview of the jūyō bunkazai armour pieces.
The fifth of the official Japanese Armour Society (Nihon Katchū Bugu Kenkyū Hozon Kai – NKBKHK) books with pictures and descriptions of the next 107 jūyō graded armours and samurai related items (#526-#632). Overall, very nice and big color pictures. Again many items also from the Momoyama and Muromachi periods. Most items are tucked away in private collections, so this book is for many of these probably the only way to get some documentation.
In total 5 books exist (as of 2014) in this series. All of them were quite expensive when published as they were printed in very small quantities. Every item has a picture (on the left side of the book) and an objective description of the item on the right site, with also the time period for which the item got the jūyō (top) grade. Grades are given in a yearly Shinsa session, with a jury of senior society members.
The fourth of the official Japanese Armour Society (Nihon Katchū Bugu Kenkyū Hozon Kai – NKBKHK) books with pictures and descriptions of the next 135 jūyō graded armours and samurai related items (#391-#525). Overall, very nice and big color pictures and a big improvement over the previous volumes. Again many items also from the Momoyama and Muromachi periods. Most items are tucked away in private collections, so this book is for many of these probably the only way to get some documentation.
In total 5 books exist (as of 2014) in this series. All of them were quite expensive when published as they were printed in very small quantities. Every item has a picture (on the left side of the book) and an objective description of the item on the right site, with also the time period for which the item got the jūyō (top) grade. Grades are given in a yearly Shinsa session, with a jury of senior society members.
The third of the official Japanese Armour Society (Nihon Katchū Bugu Kenkyū Hozon Kai – NKBKHK) books with pictures and descriptions of the next 130 jūyō graded armours and samurai related items (#261-#390). Overall, the quality of the black and white pictures has increased although some are still too small or of not good enough quality. Most items are from the Edo period. Most items are tucked away in private collections, so this book is for many of these probably the only way to get some documentation.
In total 5 books exist (as of 2014) in this series. All of them were quite expensive when published as they were printed in very small quantities. Every item has a picture (on the left side of the book) and an objective description of the item on the right site, with also the time period for which the item got the jūyō (top) grade. Grades are given in a yearly Shinsa session, with a jury of senior society members.
The second of the official Japanese Armour Society (Nihon Katchū Bugu Kenkyū Hozon Kai – NKBKHK) books with pictures and descriptions of the next 130 jūyō graded armours and samurai related items (#131-#260). The black and white pictures in the first volumes of this series are not always of a good quality. Several items are from the Muromachi or Momoyama period and are tucked away in private collections, so this book is for many of these probably the only way to get some documentation.
In total 5 books exist (as of 2014) in this series. All of them were quite expensive when published as they were printed in very small quantities. Every item has a picture (on the left side of the book) and an objective description of the item on the right site, with also the time period for which the item got the jūyō (top) grade. Grades are given in a yearly Shinsa session, with a jury of senior society members.
The first of the official Japanese Armour Society (Nihon Katchū Bugu Kenkyū Hozon Kai – NKBKHK) books with pictures and descriptions of the first 130 jūyō graded armours and samurai related items (#1-#130). The black and white pictures in the first volumes of this series are not always of a good quality. A large amount of the items however are Muromachi period or earlier and are tucked away in private collections, so this book is for many of these probably the only way to get some documentation.
In total 5 books exist (as of 2014) in this series. All of them were quite expensive when published as they were printed in very small quantities. Every item has a picture (on the left side of the book) and an objective description of the item on the right site, with also the time period for which the item got the jūyō (top) grade. Grades are given in a yearly Shinsa session, with a jury of senior society members.
Title: Nihon no buki bugu (Tokubetsuten zuroku)
Title: Jūyō bunkazai kōgei hin III (26)
Title: Katchū bugu jūyō bunka shiryō zuryoku (vol. 5)
Title: Katchū bugu jūyō bunka shiryō zuryoku (vol. 4)
Title: Katchū bugu jūyō bunka shiryō zuryoku (vol. 3)
Title: Katchū bugu jūyō bunka shiryō zuryoku (vol. 2)
Title: Katchū bugu jūyō bunka shiryō zuryoku (vol. 1)