Gunto Book

[Droocoo]

Hi there,

 

I am new to collecting and have an interest only in Imperial Japanese Swords of WWII vintage. I was wondering what the best books on the subject were? I have seen books by Dawson and Fuller, the former being very expensive and the latter not so much.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Andrew

[PNSSHOGUN]

Hi Andrew, welcome to the forums. At the moment those two books you mentioned are really the best we have and will give you some good reference pieces to draw on and a fair bit of information to take on. Believe it or not this section has more information on Gunto than anywhere, a  good thread to get you started with great examples of Shin Gunto:

 

https://www.militaria.co.za/nmb/topic/18610-show-us-your-high-class-gunto/

 

Depending on where you are in OZ you may be close to one of us.

 

 

[Bruce Pennington]

You can read, for free, dozens of high quality pages about gunto at Ohmura's site: http://ohmura-study.net/900.html

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Andrew,

If you look for a copy of Dawson's book be sure it is the later, Cyclopedia Edition, not the early paper back.  Here it is on my site:

https://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/books/b510-swords-imperial-Japan-1868-–-1945-cyclopedia-edition

The best of the books by Fuller & Gregory is Japanese Military and Civil Swords and Dirks:

https://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/books/b259-Japanese-military-and-civil-swords-and-dirks

Check with abebooks.com or other online book sites; you may find a copy closer to home that will cost less for post.

Cheers,  Grey

[Dave R]

7 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

You can read, for free, dozens of high quality pages about gunto at Ohmura's site: http://ohmura-study.net/900.html

 

 Just remember that useful as it is, and it is very useful, it is now becoming a bit outdated. 

[ribendao]

I can vouch for Dawson's book on Grey's site. I bought the same book at the same place. He has it for the cheapest I've seen online. The book is 100% worth it and will save you money in the long run. 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Yes highly recommend Grey for book purchases. 

[Bruce Pennington]

2 hours ago, Dave R said:

 

 Just remember that useful as it is, and it is very useful, it is now becoming a bit outdated. 

Elements of truth to that in all the reference books.  I like Ohmura's site for it's unmatched display o fcolor photos of high quality fittings and it's variety of colors and designs.

[Dave R]

6 hours ago, Bruce Pennington said:

Elements of truth to that in all the reference books.  I like Ohmura's site for it's unmatched display o fcolor photos of high quality fittings and it's variety of colors and designs.

 

 I keep going back to Ohmura as well, very well worth a look, but the research keeps moving on.

[Droocoo]

I have purchased this from an Australian vendor very cheaply, is this a reputable book?

 

[Bruce Pennington]

It is a good book, but it was superseded by a newer version, same authors, in 1997. The newer version has more updated information and is more comprehensive. They learned a lot between the two books.

 

[PNSSHOGUN]

Having both is a decent resource however much of the information is now dubious or incorrect after 20+ years of other collectors studying these swords.

[Droocoo]

What would be the most up to date record?

 

I just wanted to say that I am greatly appreciative of all the responses I have received thus far.

 

Kind Regards,

 

Andrew 

[PNSSHOGUN]

At the moment a combination of the three books is essentially the best printed reference material available. Not cheap to get them all, the 1997 version of Richard & Fuller being harder to find, but you will learn to recognize quality and different types/variants quickly.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Grey has it for a good price: https://www.japaneseswordbooksandtsuba.com/store/books/b259-Japanese-military-and-civil-swords-and-dirks

[Droocoo]

Thank you for your responses,

 

I think I will purchase Dawson’s book from Grey.

 

I have purchased my first Gunto and will post when I receive it.

 

Andrew