Nihonto Newsletters, Volume 1

Albert Yamanaka originally published the "NIHONTO Newsletter" between 1968 and 1972. These newsletters form one of the basic older sources on Nihonto (Japanese Swords). In 1994, Paul Allman rearranged the nearly two thousand pages into their logical order and printed them in an easier to use book form, in four volumes with an extensive table of contents. The works are arranged so that the first two volumes, Koto (Old Sword Period, pre-1596) and Shinto (New Sword Period, post 1596) will stand alone for an already knowledgeable student. Later volumes provide general topics and information slanted to the student of the sword in Japanese history, along with some other material which could not be made to fit in the earlier volumes. This is the first volume, covering the Koto, or "Old Sword" period. It starts with biographical information on Albert Yamanaka and some comments on how to approach studying Nihonto. This is followed by a section on etiquette and care of Nihonto. The majority of the book contains a description of swordsmiths' work organized by province and school. The final section is a discussion of the ten famous disciples of Masamune. Note on the third edition: The first and second editions of this book were based on photocopies of the original newsletters, as published by Albert Yamanaka. Due to limitations of the original printing and subsequent copying, some of the text had become difficult to read by 2023. This third edition was motivated by a desire to take advantage of current printing technology and prevent future degradation. The text has been digitally remastered.