Teruo Orikasa, Luc Taelman and myself have producted several books related to Japanese armour.
Helmets of the Saotome SchoolWith this new book from Teruo Orikasa, illustrated with helmets from the private collections of Luc Taelman and Aymeric Antien, we hope to at least briefly help to demystify the beauty of the Saotome helmets.
When we started this book project, we wanted to create a photographic document for those who were eager to find out more about the different Saotome helmet makers. To make sure that the beauty of the helmets itself can be enjoyed, 38 helmets, with over 250 pictures by Jo Anseeuw, were used to illustrate different Saotome smiths.We also wanted to include a scientifically study about the school, based on the limited amount of facts that are available.And finally, we also wanted to have a technical analysis of the construction of helmets.
When we started this book project, we wanted to create a photographic document for those who were eager to find out more about the different Saotome helmet makers. To make sure that the beauty of the helmets itself can be enjoyed, 38 helmets, with over 250 pictures by Jo Anseeuw, were used to illustrate different Saotome smiths.We also wanted to include a scientifically study about the school, based on the limited amount of facts that are available.And finally, we also wanted to have a technical analysis of the construction of helmets.
The book is about 136 pages, in English and Japanese, and is oversized (318 x 249 x 20mm).
Studies on Arms and Armour – With a focus on Modern HelmetsDuring his many years as a member of the Nihon Katchû Bugu Kenkyû Hozon Kai, Mr. Orikasa wrote several highly interesting articles about Japanese armour for the magazine of the society. What makes the articles of Mr. Orikasa so interesting is the fact that he starts from thorough research, and not from pure guess work.
In this book (limited to 200), Mr. Orikasa assembled his best articles with, where applicable, some extra comments. As it is probably the first time that these articles will be available for people who are not a member of the armour society, it is a very valuable document.
After our successful collaboration with Mr. Orikasa for our book Helmets of the Saotome School, we heard the repeating remark from readers of our book that they now want more research based information available in English.
The original book by Mr. Orikasa is in Japanese, contains black and white pictures, 244 pages and is 30 cm by 21.5 cm.
The English version was translated by Markus Sesko, contains no pictures, 198 pages and A4 size.
Kaga Zōgan Abumi: “Stirrups for the Samurai”Mr. Teruo Orikasa, a long term member of the Nihon Katchū Bugu Kenkyū Hozon Kai, got fascinated with Kaga zōgan abumi (Stirrups with inlay from the Kaga region) more then 20 years ago when he bought his first pair of abumi at an antique fair in Tōkyō. Since then, this passion led him in another research driven quest, resulting in a top Kaga zōgan abumi collection.
This new work contains 20 signed abumi from this collection, with many detailed pictures and a description by Mr. Orikasa. Also genealogies of the various families of smiths are included.
The book is about 80 pages, in English and Japanese, and is oversized.
The book is about 80 pages, in English and Japanese, and is oversized.
More info can be found on www.saotomebook.com.