Is this a recommended book for study?

[CurtisR]

I found this one and it looks interesting relating to Bizen blades, but has anyone here read it? There were no reviews on amazon that I could find...I also found another that those with far better Japanese language skills may enjoy/want:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Swords-B ... 767&sr=1-1

And the second, in Japanese (and pricey):

 

http://www.amazon.com/Gorgeous-Japanese-Swords-Bizen-Tradition/dp/B002CWINOO/ref=sr_1_25?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320512939&sr=1-25

 

Thanks in advance for any feedback,

 

Curt R.

[b.hennick]

Darcy's book is a very good one. You can get it for less from Lulu. They often have sales of 20% or 30% off.

[CurtisR]

Thank you Barry - I'll pick it up. Building my library....

 

Curt R.

[b.hennick]

I just received this from LULU

20% off site-wide

Enter code: EARLYSHOPPERCA305 at checkout

Go for it.

[CurtisR]

Thanks Barry! Always nice to save a buck or two...

 

Curt

[CurtisR]

Barry I appreciate it - just ordered it (spiral edition) and saved about $15.00 with the code. Thanks again!

 

Curt R.

[john weeks]

Who is Lulu? Couldn't find in "books" section?

[CurtisR]

Hi John,

 

Here is the link to the site:

 

http://www.lulu.com/

 

I just put in the name of the book and it came up in hard-bound or spiral. It only took 1 week to arrive, too. Great site!

 

 

Curt R.

[drjoe]

I found this one and it looks interesting relating to Bizen blades, but has anyone here read it? There were no reviews on amazon that I could find...I also found another that those with far better Japanese language skills may enjoy/want:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Japanese-Swords-B ... 767&sr=1-1

And the second, in Japanese (and pricey):

 

http://www.amazon.com/Gorgeous-Japanese-Swords-Bizen-Tradition/dp/B002CWINOO/ref=sr_1_25?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1320512939&sr=1-25

 

Thanks in advance for any feedback,

 

Curt R.

 

the second book is a catalog from an exhibit at the Sano Museum a few years back. out of print and therefore pricey, but sounds like it's worth the investment based on the photos alone. see here for a few details:

 

http://www.nihonto.us/BIZEN%20ICHIMONJI%20BOOK.htm

 

http://www.bushidoboutique.net/books2.html

 

i recently ordered it and the catalog from the Masamune exhibit, but neither have yet arrived. bob benson wrote an article about the masamune exhibit that pairs well with the book.

[drjoe]

the lulu coupon is expired. does anyone have another?

[John A Stuart]

I attended that exhibition and got the book at that time. It is indeed worth having. Bob's and Darcy's is very good too. John

[drjoe]

the lulu coupon is expired. does anyone have another?

 

hurrah, i found one: NOVBOOKS11

 

have been meaning to pick up the n. american bizen book for a while, now the order's in.

[CurtisR]

You'll really enjoy it Joe - many thanks to those here who recommended it. A wealth of information!

 

Curt R.

[b.hennick]

Here is another lulu coupon or code for a discount

 

Get something for yourself.

25% off site-wide sale

Enter code: ONEMORETHINGCA305 at checkout

 

 

 

Cliquez ici pour accéder à la version Française de ce message.

Enter coupon code ONEMORETHINGCA305 at checkout and receive 25% off your order. The maximum savings for this offer is $150. Sorry, but this offer is only valid in US Dollars and cannot be applied to previous orders. You can only use this code once per account, and unfortunately you can't use this coupon in combination with other coupon codes. This great offer expires on January 6, 2012 at 11:59 PM PST, so don't miss out! While very unlikely, we do reserve the right to change or revoke this offer at anytime, and of course we cannot offer this coupon where it is against the law to do so.

[Ken-Hawaii]

I'm not sure if any of you are looking for digitized copies of sword books, but if you browse to http://ebooklink.net/g/search?q=Japanese+sword you will find a bunch of possibly useful material.

 

I own all of the books I downloaded, but it's nice to have them in PDF format - saves a lot of back aches dragging them to our sword society!

 

Ken

[b.hennick]

I received another lulul code today. By using the second code you can receive 25% off.

Two ways to save

Enter code: SWEETCA305 or SALTYCA305 at checkout

 

 

 

Cliquez ici pour accéder à la version Française de ce message.

Enter coupon code SWEETCA305 at checkout and receive 20% off your order. The maximum savings for this offer is $200. Enter coupon code SALTYCA305 at checkout and receive 25% off your order of $400 or more. The maximum savings for this offer is $400. These offers are valid in US Dollars, Pounds and Euros and cannot be applied to previous orders. You can only use these codes once per account, and unfortunately you can't use these coupons in combination with other coupon codes. This great offer expires on February 23, 2012 at 11:59 PM PST, so don't miss out! While very unlikely, we do reserve the right to change or revoke this offer at anytime, and of course we cannot offer this coupon where it is against the

[drjoe]

You'll really enjoy it Joe - many thanks to those here who recommended it. A wealth of information!

 

Curt R.

 

just a quick update. i now have both of the books referred to in the original post. both are great, but offer something different.

 

the sano museum catalog has great pictures of noteworthy blades, but unless you read Japanese, very little text other than basic i.d. of each sword. i also have the catalog on meito and the one on masamune, so now i have photos of most of the "best" blades contained in museums. that's a nice start.

 

the sword by benson and brockbank on the other hand is limited to swords held in north america, and the pictures are good but sometimes limited by pixilation, but the organization according to different lineages within bizen and the historical text and discussion paired with each set of photos has been by far the best learning tool that i've ever seen in a published book. i really hope they plan to release other book like this focusing on another tradition.