Product Details
The Samurai Sword: Handbook

The Samurai Sword: Handbook
By J.M. Yumoto

List Price: £15.99
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Average customer review:

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #101479 in Books
  • Published on: 1998-01-09
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Hardcover
  • 192 pages

Editorial Reviews

Synopsis
Explores the origins and development of the famous samurai sword as a work of art and a weapon and discusses its identification, evaluation, and care.

Customer Reviews

samuri sword : Handbook5
This book is excellent for someone who is reletivly new to the finer points of japanese sword terminology,and related paraphinalia.
It would also be handy as a referance guide for an expert, as the charts and tables are quite comprehensive, but it does not explaine fully some key areas, and has had no revisions since being written in 1958:
If you have recently purchased a japanese sword and wish to identify most of the informatiopn pertaining to it , this book would be very helpfull, as it is easy to understand for a begginer.
well written and presented.

Good for beginners4
On the whole, a very good book, but lacking detail in some places, and some small sections have lost their accuracy due to the book being written in 1958! Top marks for the name of smith/inscription guide.

A good, but brief introduction to the Samurai Sword3
This book excels in terms of value for money, however, it lacks enough detail to warrant a good rating.

The book briefly describes most of the key elements of the Samurai Sword - Blade shape,mountings, construction, grain and inscriptions, and also provides a summary of the history of Japan and its impact on the development of the sword. It also includes many useful diagrams and pictures (although only in black and white), and an extensive list of notable sword-smiths and their inscriptions.

However, some important chapters were very brief indeed, and would have to be supplemented by other books. More information is needed on how the Five Schools differed in their styles of sword making, and on the making of the sword.

Overall, this is a very well laid out introductory handbook on the Samurai Sword, but its brevity limits it as such.