MILITARY books By Richard Fuller & Ron Gregory

[Marcin]

Guys is there any added value if I have already Japanese Military and Civil Swords and Dirks to buy MILITARY SWORDS OF Japan 1868-1945 By Richard Fuller & Ron Gregory?

These books have exact same info or they complement each other? I see some diferences on pages I found e.g. wakase page from "greenbook"

 

Edited March 30 by Rawa

[John C]

1 hour ago, Rawa said:

added value i

Marcin:

I have both and now only use the more expensive civil swords and dirks version. They have much of the same info on military swords, however the more expensive book adds gunzoku and dirk information. So I guess it depends on what you are researching. But the if you are only going to buy one, I would buy the civil swords and dirks version for the extra info.

 

John C.

[Bruce Pennington]

I can't remember, but there was something I found in the earlier book that wasn't in the newer version, but like John, I only reference the newer one now..

[Trenchnut]

Military Swords of Japan 1868 - 1945 by Richard Fuller and Ron Gregory was printed in 1986.

Japanese Military and Civil Swords and Dirks by Richard Fuller and Ron Gregory was printed in 1996.

Swords of Imperial Japan 1868 - 1945 by Jim Dawson was printed in 1996. (edited and reprinted in 2007)

In my humble opinion the second one on the list is the most valuable. So, if you want to buy only one,

go for that one Marcin.  

 

[Scogg]

I like having them both, and using them in conjunction with Dawsons 2007 cyclopedia

[Marcin]

19 minutes ago, Trenchnut said:

Military Swords of Japan 1868 - 1945 by Richard Fuller and Ron Gregory was printed in 1986.

Japanese Military and Civil Swords and Dirks by Richard Fuller and Ron Gregory was printed in 1996.

Swords of Imperial Japan 1868 - 1945 by Jim Dawson was printed in 1996. (edited and reprinted in 2007)

In my humble opinion the second one on the list is the most valuable. So, if you want to buy only one,

go for that one Marcin.  

 

Oh I have white already and I went for green today :] For dirks there is separate book by Banks.

[Marcin]

Green book contents

[PNSSHOGUN]

The larger volume is more comprehensive, though I find use for both volumes and would advise anyone to have both if they can find them both at a reasonable price. 

[lonely panet]

both replaced by Dawson,  and this is coming from someone that has owned pieces published in all three

[Marcin]

10 minutes ago, lonely panet said:

both replaced by Dawson,  and this is coming from someone that has owned pieces published in all three

Thank You Hamish!
I found some interesting pages in green one and posted already in other threads. 
I don’t want to compare different writers and in my opinion every position should be considered as worthy of buying in right price.

[Bruce Pennington]

I use Dawson's book more, however, his doesn't have dirks.  So, I go to Fuller for them.

[PNSSHOGUN]

They all have their respective value and contain various pieces and information not present in one or the other. What none of them do is show good photos of the blades themselves, the book "Modern Japanese swords: The Beginning of the Gendaito Era" is the closest to seeing good photos of interesting military swords and mounts together.

[Volker62]

another great early book by Fuller&Ron Gregory with an interesting categoriziation of significant signatures 

 

106 Oshigata

 

 

Gift signatures

 

information on materials unsed and production processs

 

 

location's

 

Miscellaneous

 

saying and phrases

 

 Awards

 

special orders

 

Tameshigiri

 

 

ect

 

 

[Marcin]

1 hour ago, Volker62 said:

another great early book by Fuller&Ron Gregory with an interesting categoriziation of significant signatures 

 

106 Oshigata

 

 

Gift signatures

 

information on materials unsed and production processs

 

 

location's

 

Miscellaneous

 

saying and phrases

 

 Awards

 

special orders

 

Tameshigiri

 

 

ect

 

 

Volker, please tell us number of pages etc.

[Scogg]

There are 3 Richard Fuller and Ron Gregory oshigata paperback books that I’m aware of. I have one of each in my library. They are well known books, but hard to find. 
 

Swordsmiths of Japan 1926-1945 is 275 pages.

 

The Oshigata book is 144 pages.

 

Showa Swordsmiths is 80 pages.

 

 

 

[John C]

For anyone that doesn't have the F&G Military Swords of Japan and just needs to look something up, it's on Internet Archive here:

https://archive.org/details/militaryswordsof0000full/mode/2up

 

John C.

 

 

[Marcin]

7 minutes ago, Scogg said:

There are 3 Richard Fuller and Ron Gregory oshigata paperback books that I’m aware of. I have one of each in my library. They are well known books, but hard to find. 
 

Swordsmiths of Japan 1926-1945 is 275 pages.

 

The Oshigata book is 144 pages.

 

Showa Swordsmiths is 80 pages.

 

 

 

I was around then :]

 

 thx for all possible info.

[Marcin]

3 minutes ago, John C said:

For anyone that doesn't have the F&G Military Swords of Japan and just needs to look something up, it's on Internet Archive here:

https://archive.org/details/militaryswordsof0000full/mode/2up

 

John C.

 

 

I even tried to resist but it came in nice,cheap and well preserved company. 

[Volker62]

perhaps this one makes this series complete ?

[Scogg]

Interesting @Volker62, I am not familiar with that one.

Is it an early edition, or a separate publication entirely? Can you tell us what differentiates that book from the others?

Considering that I have all the others, I would love to complete the collection! 
-Sam

[EdWolf]

Same book. Published in 1971. My book has number 059.

[Scogg]

On 6/3/2026 at 10:30 AM, EdWolf said:

Same book. Published in 1971. My book has number 059.

I went ahead and purchased myself a copy of this book, luckily our very own Mr. Singer had a copy for sale. Mine is signed by the author, and numbered in the 230's. 

It's a nice little book, and pretty interesting. There's a good amount of nakago oshigata. Additionally, theres a little instruction page on reading kanji, mei, and dates. There is also a list of "nakago translations, found in military fittings" that represents the wide variety of swords you may find fitted for the war (from nambokucho period blades, shinto, to gendaito, and shawato).

Additionally, there are some hand drawn illustrations about how to tie tassels, there's a photo of hanger chain styles and belt types. There is also a photo of a souvenir dagger in shirasaya, listed as a "kamikazi knife"; I wonder if this is where that idea/theory was first published in English...

Overall, it's almost like a "collectors guide to Japanese military swords", and unsurprisingly has a little bit of outdated info. Still a nice resource. 

Considering the publication is over 50 years old now, maybe I will share some of those tassel / hanger / belt pages to our respective educational forum topics.
All the best,

-Sam