Paul Martin Posted August 18, 2015 Report Posted August 18, 2015 Nihon no Bi: Nihonto (The Japanese Sword) Out September 28th 2015. The forthcoming book from Gakken publishing. A rare combination of sword eye candy and lots of information. Including many National Treasure and Juyo-Bunkazai swords all reproduced in the full size. There is a also a selection of top fittings and koshirae, with many magnified shots that really let you see the fine craftsmanship. And best of all, it is mostly translated into English (by Paul Martin of The Japanese Sword ) Price 6,372 JPY available for pre-order from certain outlets including Amazon Japan. 6 Quote
Brian Posted August 18, 2015 Report Posted August 18, 2015 Nice one Paul, going to encourage everyone to get a copy. Can we get a firm source over there who will ship internationally, and maybe we can gather interest here and do a group buy. - B - Quote
b.hennick Posted August 18, 2015 Report Posted August 18, 2015 Is it possible for someone in Japan to take orders and ship books out to members here who would pre-pay for the books. I expect that a larger group purchase would lead to a lower price and quick delivery. If some one wants to take this on I would be happy to email my club members and to ask them if they want one. That would probably lead to 10 orders that would be sent to me and I would get them to my club members. Volunteers?? I just saw that you made a similar posts. Great minds think alike. 1 Quote
DirkO Posted August 18, 2015 Report Posted August 18, 2015 http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/NEOBK-1829538 seems fairly straightforward. Incl EMS shipping the book would be around 53€ if I bought 10 copies. Depending on which shipping option you take, it varies between 49 and 70€ for a single copy. Quote
Paul Martin Posted August 18, 2015 Author Report Posted August 18, 2015 Let me see what I can do. It's not out yet, so no rush. In the meantime, if I can get an idea of numbers, it gives me something concrete to discuss with them. Quote
Greg F Posted August 18, 2015 Report Posted August 18, 2015 Hi Paul I would love a copy! the pics sound great but having English translation would make it a great learning tool. Cheers Greg Quote
kusunokimasahige Posted August 18, 2015 Report Posted August 18, 2015 Count me in for a copy too. Quote
wakiboy Posted August 18, 2015 Report Posted August 18, 2015 Hi Paul Count me in, looks to good to miss. Ian Quote
Brian Posted August 18, 2015 Report Posted August 18, 2015 Have added a poll to see who would be interested in copies and how many. Non binding at this stage, but Paul can use this as a guide if something should come together. Brian Quote
Jussi Ekholm Posted August 18, 2015 Report Posted August 18, 2015 I'll get one copy. I really like the books that Gakken has published before. I was sold at this: Including many National Treasure and Juyo-Bunkazai swords all reproduced in the full size. I think the full sized pics in previous books are amazing. Quote
seattle1 Posted August 18, 2015 Report Posted August 18, 2015 Hi: When you say "...reproduced in the full size.", do you mean there are fold outs, or that what is shown is 1:1 as a partial portion of a larger object? Arnold F. Quote
b.hennick Posted August 18, 2015 Report Posted August 18, 2015 I sent an email to my club members asking who would want one or more. I'm sure that I could order three and have someone to buy them. So for now I will enter three in the survey but I hope to update that as emails come in. Quote
Ken-Hawaii Posted August 19, 2015 Report Posted August 19, 2015 If there's an English translation, put me down for two, & possibly as many as six. My sword club loves new books! Ken Quote
pcfarrar Posted August 19, 2015 Report Posted August 19, 2015 Cost me $60 with Registered airmail shipping (usually as fast as EMS to UK) from CD Japan. They also don't take payment until the book ships. 1 Quote
Shamsy Posted August 19, 2015 Report Posted August 19, 2015 As a valuable reference for me to learn from, I'd take a copy to. It's good to support the publishing of new (and translated ) material. Quote
kazarena Posted August 19, 2015 Report Posted August 19, 2015 I would like a copy, thank you! Stan Quote
Paul Martin Posted August 20, 2015 Author Report Posted August 20, 2015 I don't have all the details, I was just employed as a translator. According to amazon it does have pages (252) . I have only seen a mock up and lots of large pages on a table. I do know that it is quite large and comes in a box cover. The images are full size of the whole blade, but some of the ones I have seen have been cut into two parts on long pull-out pages. I haven't seen all the pages, but at least one of the handful of shots I've seen, the nakago was quite dark. However, it still looks like a VERY exciting book.The translation is not separate, it is in the main text of the book, and for 60 USD for a book of this quality with all the images (including top fittings magnified to 300%) I don't think that you can go wrong. There is a massive sword publication boom in Japan at the moment, and this is the best one so far (and it's mostly translated). 2 Quote
b.hennick Posted August 20, 2015 Report Posted August 20, 2015 From the emails that i have received to date, please change my original number from 3 to 8. Seems to me that we are now at 48. If there is a price break at 50 I would take the extra 2 to make this work well for everyone. Quote
Brian Posted August 20, 2015 Report Posted August 20, 2015 There are over 50 that are accounted for in the poll. Now how many would follow through, is anyone's guess. But if I was a clever publisher, I would make use of the forum to gather a list of people interested, offer a bulk price for a group buy, and have someone accept payment and dispatch the books worldwide from a central seller in Japan. They should be able to tie up at least 50 copies here, maybe more. Of course, that is if they are interested in making use of a resource that is here and free. If not, I guess it is everyone for himself, and probably far fewer sales. Can't expect a forum member, or even Paul himself, to put in all the effort for the benefit of the publisher with no incentive for himself or the buyers. I am going to start pushing non-NMB member sellers of books, swords and related stuff very heavily from now on to give NMB members some incentive to spend money with them, as our NMB merchants and members have been doing here for years. They can't expect all the benefits of promotion without giving something back. Am I wrong? 2 Quote
kusunokimasahige Posted August 20, 2015 Report Posted August 20, 2015 Not at all. But it was proven before that this system works on NMB. Quote
Guido Posted August 21, 2015 Report Posted August 21, 2015 On 8/20/2015 at 6:52 PM, Brian said: But if I was a clever publisher, I would make use of the forum to gather a list of people interested, offer a bulk price for a group buy, and have someone accept payment and dispatch the books worldwide from a central seller in Japan. ... Am I wrong? Gakken Co., Ltd. is a major publisher with annual sales of about US$ 10 billion. I doubt very much that they loose any sleep over a group of (maybe) 50 customers. Quote
BIG Posted August 21, 2015 Report Posted August 21, 2015 Count me in for a copy. The 51 Mark is the Breake Even to Premium customers group. Paul, does this current nihonto boom See only new publications or is there also republishing ? Best Regards Quote
Brian Posted August 21, 2015 Report Posted August 21, 2015 On 8/21/2015 at 5:40 AM, Guido Schiller said: Gakken Co., Ltd. is a major publisher with annual sales of about US$ 10 billion. I doubt very much that they loose any sleep over a group of (maybe) 50 customers. Lucky for them this $10 billion comes from 3 or 4 books, and not from hundreds of thousands of separate ones I guess since this book will sell tens of thousands, 50 or 100 isn't a big deal to them. They can fire their entire marketing dept too and save some more $'s 1 Quote
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