New Contributions to the Study of the History of the Japanese Sword Guard

This book is a translation of an article which first appeared in the Bulletin de la Societe Franco-Japonaise de Paris, Vol. XXXIII, April, 1914. From the Introduction: As has been written before, the historical study of the fittings for the Japanese sword is but one hundred years old. The first fifty years of this study was conducted, for the most part, by Akiyama Kyusaku. The New Contributions to the Study of the History of the Japanese Sword Guard by M. le Marquis de Tressan was, and still is, of great value to the Western student. As you can see from the opening paragraph of this paper, it is essentially the translation of Hompô Sôken Kinkô Ryakushi by Wada Tsunashirô which, in turn, is based on the studies of Akiyama Kyûsaku, who was continuing his own research at that time. What is of interest is the fact that the knowledge that was formed in the last twenty or thirty years of the nineteenth century arrived in Europe almost at the same time it was published in Japan. Up until the last few years we had no idea that the collectors and students in the West had such close contact with Akiyama and other experts of that day. When you read this paper you will see that not only did they have excellent translations of the current knowledge regarding the study of fittings in Japan, but that they were in regular correspondence with Akiyama and the other experts of his day. This translation was published by the Northern California Japanese Sword Club in 1996 and digitally remastered in 2023.