New Book just out today

[b.hennick]

A friend of mine for many many years, Robert Cole, has been working on a book that is worth being in your library. You might know him from his website sho-shin.com

 

That site is one of the pre-eminent sites on Japanese swords. His book is described in the paragraph below.

 

An easily portable Index and 'Go to' Quick Reference to All Ancient Japanese Samurai Sword-makers. Ancient Kanji used throughout. Cross-references common works, curing Hawley errors and provides a real market pricing gauge with the Tokuno Pricing Scale and Fujishiro Value System.

 

http://www.falconspress.com/sho-shin-index.html

http://www.sho-shin.com/index2.htm

[16k]

Thank you Barry, I love his site and will be ordering once im home. Seems to be great!

[Michaelr]

Thank you for sharing. I just ordered one. Look forward to receiving it.

   MikeR

[Mark]

sounds like a good idea.  I tried looking for more information but not sure i understand exactly what it is.  It says 141 pages and first in a series.  How many volumes are there in the series?  Will there be one complete book when the series is done?  what letters does this first volume cover?  I would order but nice to know before hand.

[b.hennick]

Hi Mark

Mine is being shipped out today. I intend to write a review once I have read it. I will provide more information when I have it.

[16k]

Ordered!

[Munetsugu]

Very keen on this but would be good to know more info.. Waiting to hear back from a friend if he wants one too to save on shipping😆

 

Edit: bugger it ordered anyway😆 look forward to seeing if its good😁

[Ken-Hawaii]

Be interested to see how it compares to Markus' excellent references.

[Blazeaglory]

Oh man this guy has spent thousands of hours compiling all of this info. Its crazy how much information this one person has in regards to Nihonto smiths

[Marius]

Bought one, can't wait to get it. 

[cisco-san]

Also bought one, and awaiting to get it... :-)

[Munetsugu]

Ok so I bought one.. It arrived in lightening time from America to UK, and its absolutely fantastic.. Really really helpful little book, worth every penny!! I'd go as far as to say its cheap😎 well worth a purchase.. If your thinking about it just get one😁

[Mark]

what does it cover?  all smiths or a section?

[stephan_hiller]

Hi,

 

how did you guys from Europe managed to get it shipped. I am trying it via Amazon.com but during checkout I am told that this item does not ship to my location (Germany). 

 

Thanks,

Stephan

[FZ1]

Stephan -  If you use the link in Barry's post, you can order direct from the publisher.

http://www.falconspress.com/sho-shin-index.html

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

[Dr Bob]

Hello everyone--

I did a brief review of this book in another thread 9 days ago.  Reposting it here:

 

I received the “Sho-shin Index of Swordsmiths & Price Guide”yesterday. This is the first volume of Robert Cole’s long awaited book series on Japanese sword appraisal. This is a handy reference handbook for Nihonto collectors. It is not a picture book with pretty pictures of Japanese swords and beginner’s information on Nihonto. If you do not own at least the intermediate level references Toko Jiten by Fujishiro and the Toko Taikan by Tokuno, then this reference is not going to point you to any comparative oshigata or signatures of swordsmiths. The primary component of the book is 76 pages of single line listings of swordsmiths by name and kanji, along with 9 columns of useful information. This information includes the smith’s generation (if needed), working era, province, and page numbers if listed in the Toko Taikan, the Toko Jiten, and Hawley’s. Also listed is a rating of the smith using Fujishiro’s Chu-saku through Saijo-saku ranking system. Of use for comparative pricing is the column listing Tokuno’s “Man-yen” rating for the swordsmiths listed.

 

There is a helpful section in the book listing swordsmiths by title; there are 49 smiths listed that had the Izumi-no-kami title and only 4 that had Totomi-no-kami for example. The titles are written both in Romaji and kanji. There are two listings of Nengo; one alphabetically (Romaji) and the other chronologically with kanji. One interesting listing I don’t recall having seen before is an alphabetical listing in Romaji for a spoken word, such as “Nori,” and the kanji that are associated with it. Apparently there are 9 kanji that can be used for Nori. Who knew? There is a Nihonto glossary and some other handy things in this book, but the author’s primary focus was on listing the swordsmiths’ data.

 

If you want quick access to the information available in this book, you will find it very useful. If you are just beginning to learn about Japanese swords, then this book is definitely not for you.

 

Bob Gilmore