Title: Samurai Swords – A Collector’s Guide: A Comprehensive Introduction to History, Collecting and Preservation
Author: Clive Sinclaire
Publisher: Tuttle
Link: Amazon
Review
This book is an ideal starting point for anyone with an interest in Japanese Swords. It’s relatively concise – but covers most of the areas you’ll need to know, on your path to becoming a true connoisseur.
It starts out giving a very brief history of the Samurai, common to many Japanese Sword books, for obvious reasons, before going into the development and description of the various types and features, with colour photographs and diagrams throughout.
It dedicates a chapter to Hizen-to (sword-making from a particular province in Japan) and likewise, a chapter on Japanese Polearms. Both areas are obviously favourites of the author, but may lack broader appeal. In any case, these two chapters are not too long, and the enthusiasm of the author held my interest more than I expected.
The book also spends time on sword appreciation and viewing etiquette, as well as advice for collectors – including preservation and polishing (the process of employing the services of a professional togishi – not a DIY guide).
Errors
So far, just one tiny (typo) mistake spotted:
To my knowledge, there is no “Muroboku-cho” period – this should read “Muromachi”.
Nihonto と 