Hardcover Nihon Toko Jiten English Translations - buyer warning

[DanielLee]

I bought a copy of the Harry Watson Nihon Toko Jiten english transations, but what I actually got was a recent reprint of it which is not the 1991 editions published by Harry.

 

It's bound to look very similar to the old books, but the pages are photocopied and the page stock feels like standard A4 paper from the office supply shop.

 

The collector i got it from said it was acquired from http://japanesesword.de/?site=book&id=2&lang=en . It seems this site has multiple copies for sale and an always available stock.

 

Not going to go into the publishing rights/permission for these books which has been discussed in another thread, but i would assume that if you're paying 400 Euros for a copy of these books, you're looking for one of the original editions.

 

Do take note if you're getting a copy for your bookshelf.

[tom]

Hi Lee,

if you got a DIn 4 Print, yes its true. I sold these, but not to you.. The most i sold here in Europe, and only a few in the rest of the world.

We have talk here before a few years about these Books. It gives the original Hardcover from Afu Watson and a the Set what i sell in DIN 4. If you read the Description on my webside, you see clear that i sell not the Original Books. These are Copies. I got these from a Dealer from England.

As you know, these Books from Harry was illigal made. As i knowi think only 500 Books are sold and not more.

And i have only 40 Copies. The most are all sold. A few are left.And no other from these Books comes in again.

 

Tom

[DanielLee]

Yes , i did not buy them from you, bought from another collector who was not unaware of the original copies. What I'm taking issue with is that the copies are made to look very much like the original hardcovers from Afu , cleverly reproducing the page with the red seal stamp in colour so that it looks like the real deal.

 

I don't see any indication in the website listing that these are not the originals. There is a picture of the books which look exactly like the originals however.

 

Perhaps a revision of the listing is appropriate.

 

 

 

[tom]

You attack me here in public for your stupidity. I have nothing to do with your buying.Here is it allowed to sell these Books. And i sell only a Translation, not more. These Books has no Copywrite.

If you had googled for the books, you could easily have seen the difference. Alone the size is different.

Both Links here from the Original and the Books on my webside.

http://www.japanesesword.de/?site=book&id=2&lang=en

 

 

 

Tom

[DanielLee]

Do you not know honestly not know the difference ? I'm not talking about the original Japanese volumes, i'm talking about the original English translations by Harry Watson published under AFU.

 

Go look at this link, I believe these are the original 1991 books which Harry published

 

 

 

You do show clearly and have no problem with displaying the cover page of the book which credits the original book writers, Harry's name and his publishing company (AFU Research).

 

Your defense is that what he did was illegal, so you claim that what you are doing is fine? Even if there are no  legal repercussions, which I suspect is not the case, there is a moral and ethical issue in trying to profit from what he did.

 

How about amending your listing and and stating clearly that the books that you sell, even though it looks like the AFU editions, is actually not the 1991 editions?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PietroParis]

I don’t mean to condone Thomas’ aggressive tone, although it might be due in part to his poor mastering of English. However, can we rule out the possibility that the 1991 edition was itself photocopied on low-quality office paper? Maybe someone who owns it could clarify.

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Pietro,

I currently have, counting my own that I purchased from Harry, 4 sets of the translation volumes.  They are decent quality printing, well bound and on the paper you'd expect in a good book.  Nothing photocopy about them.

Grey

[Ken-Hawaii]

Yes, same here.

[Wayben]

My two translation books have different covers, but both have the same weight paper for the pages.  Both are signed by Harry, to different people, probably two different printings.  That probably does nothing but add to the confusion, lol!!

[DanielLee]

May I know, is the paper quality of the signed copies you guys have the same as the Nihonto Koza AFU English translations? Slightly glossy and smooth? Thanks.

[Grey Doffin]

Hi Daniel,

The paper in the Fujishiro translations isn't a gloss; more a matte finish.  Perhaps a different paper was chosen because the Fujishiro translations have no photographs to reproduce, they are text only, whereas the translations of Nihonto Koza contain many illustrations.

Grey

[Darcy]

> "You attack me here in public for your stupidity."

This is not called for in the least and is the kind of toxicity that brings this board down.

> I don’t mean to condone Thomas’ aggressive tone, although it might be due in part to his poor mastering of English.

Then don't condone it by making excuses for him. The word "stupid" has the same connotation in every language and he is past the toddler phase where people begin to grasp what it means.


 

[Brano]

For 400 EUR I also expect to buy the original edition
And decent communication is expected, of course

[PietroParis]

6 hours ago, Darcy said:

> I don’t mean to condone Thomas’ aggressive tone, although it might be due in part to his poor mastering of English.

Then don't condone it by making excuses for him. The word "stupid" has the same connotation in every language and he is past the toddler phase where people begin to grasp what it means.
 

 

I don’t know why you find it necessary to attack me for trying to make the discussion progress beyond name calling. I really had a hard time understanding Thomas’ explanations about “DIN 4” because, frankly, he can’t write proper English. I wanted to rule out the possibility of a misunderstanding: maybe he thought that he was selling the original books, or maybe those are the original books. Since it’s now clear that they aren’t, the remaining explanations are ignorance or dishonesty.

[DanielLee]

Thanks Grey, I'll do a comparison when I get your copy of the books later. Since you have 2 different copies on hand, could you help to check if the red seal stamped on each book slightly different ? i.e. it is hand stamped and not printed.

[Stephen]

God dame ol ladies shut fnck up Christ!

 

Read Darcy post again!!!

[Brian]

This topic is done. Again. Buyers of these need to ask if they are the originals done by Harry, or later ones, and clarify the quality.
There are copies of copies of copies out there. Buyer beware. Darcy is correct. Tom, it's best when you don't participate much, way too much controversy over the years.