Cutting Edge: Japanese Swords In The British Museum

[Mike]

This book was originally designed to accompany the British Museum exhibition by the same name. Which means there are stacks and stacks of very high quality pictures which is the reason you buy this book.

The first part of the book sets up the scene, it briefly goes through Japanese History and explains the major events and a bit about the development of the sword at those times. The author then goes on to describe what he calls the "Structure of the Blade" with a quick rundown on how they made swords, followed by detailed sections on the Jihada, hamon and explains how the ability to 'read' these features help to identify a blade. There is a full page, quality image showing the different types of Boshi, Hamon, Jigane, Tang types and the like which is the best reference for these that I have seen in any text on the subject.

He then quickly explains the different types of swords (Kat, Wak, Nag etc) and the evolving shape of the Japanese blade. After explaining some other key aspects of the blade (such as tangs, historical shortening etc) he then goes into quite a bit of detail in explaining the "changing traditions" taking each period of japanese history and explaining the swords of that time and any evolving techniques and the like.

The come the commentary of the swords that follow. Each sword in the book is given its own page with 4 images, one of the blade as a whole, 2 images which split the blade, providing a closeup of the whole sword and a picture of the mounting. All the swords featured in the book had been polished for the exhibition and the high quality photographs make the pictures outstanding references in themselves. Ill a photo (dont have a scanner) of 1 page to show what I mean when i get a chance....

The books is a great resource for the affectionado, beginners may gain some valuable knowledge from the book however it is pretty hard hitting with its use of Japanese terms, and the purpose of the book is not to educate from scratch about every aspect of the Japanese sword, while its a good book to have around, you'll understand and appreciate the book more if you have a grounding in Japanese Swords. Though it dosent take much knowledge to appreciate the swords by looking at the pictures

Also big thanks to Ron who bought the book for me as a birthday present

[Matthewb5016]

Good stuff Mike could you recommend an informative book for a beginner ? Thanks in Advance .

[Ron]

The Craft of the Japanese Sword by Kapp and Yoshihara, is a great read, Yoshihara is a Living National Treasure smith Kapp basically translated it.The Samurai Sword by Yumoto is good too, no great in pictures but a good read as well.Both are on Amazon

[Mike]

The other classic starter book, and the one I'd personally recommend is "The Japanese Sword" by Sato

[Matthewb5016]

Thanks for the info guys ! Anyone have any copies they don`t want anymore ?

[Ron]

HAHHAAA, just like swords, books come into my collection but rarely go out Keep an eye on Ebay, I picked up a good book on Iaido last week for $7 , like new .

[Matthewb5016]

Yeah i thought i`d ask just in case , Thanks for the tip mate !

[chevalier]

is the japanese swords in the british museum is an original or a replica?