Book Review: Gekkan kiku tōken katchū ko bijutsu zenshū (and dai ni kan) by Nihon bijutsu tōken shinbun shukusatsu-ban

Book Review: Gekkan kiku tōken katchū ko bijutsu zenshū (and dai ni kan) by Nihon bijutsu tōken shinbun shukusatsu-banTitle: Gekkan kiku tōken katchū ko bijutsu zenshū (and dai ni kan)
Author: Nihon bijutsu tōken shinbun shukusatsu-ban
Publisher: Nihon bijutsu tōken shinbun shukusatsu-ban, 1972, 1975
Language: Japanese
Illustrations: Black and white pictures, line drawings
Other: 288, 284 pages, 25.5 cm by 18 cm, softcover
Topics: Bagu, Bugu, Kabuto, Katchū, Menpō, Nihontō, Teppō, Tōsōgu
ID: B0320, B0321

Kind of a “multi yearbook” with the reprinting of the monthly magazine. Many armours and kabuto, tsuba, guns and even some western style armours. Fascinating.

Book Review: Ōmishima no hihō-ten – Setouchi no suigun o shinobu by Ōyamazumi Jinja

Book Review: Ōmishima no hihō-ten – Setouchi no suigun o shinobu by Ōyamazumi JinjaTitle: Ōmishima no hihō-ten - Setouchi no suigun o shinobu
Author: Ōyamazumi Jinja
Publisher: Ōyamazumi Jinja, 1970
Language: Japanese
Illustrations: Color and black and white pictures
Other: 26 cm by 18 cm, softcover
Topics: Bugu, Documents, Kabuto, Katchū, Mirrors
ID: B0319

Ōyamazumi Jinja contains the biggest collection of National Treasures armours. Over the years, they published several catalogs, this is an earlier version of such a catalog. Recent ones have better pictures.

Book Review: Mononofu no haresugata – Chikara yakudō bi by Matsuya Ginza

Book Review: Mononofu no haresugata – Chikara yakudō bi by Matsuya GinzaTitle: Mononofu no haresugata - Chikara yakudō bi
Author: Matsuya Ginza
Publisher: Matsuya Ginza, 1989
Language: Japanese
Illustrations: Color Pictures
Other: 28 pages, 26 cm by 18 cm, softcover
Topics: Kabuto, Katchū, Menpō, Nihontō, Tōsōgu
ID: B0318

Very nice and rare catalog of an exhibition held in the art show room of Ginza Matsuya. In total 33 pieces mainly some beautiful kabuto.

Exhibition: Two Armor Exhibitions in Chiba in the Fall/Winter of 2018

Two armor exhibitions have just started close to each other in Chiba, Japan.

The first (and biggest one of the two) is in Ootaki castle (link to wikipedia) from October 26th till December 9th 2018. It focuses on the evolution of Kanto armor.

The second one is in Kururin, very close to Ootaki, has limited number of pieces but the environment is as it was about 300 years ago. (October 10th till December 2nd 2018)

Book Review: Kanagawa no katchū meihin ten by Nihon katchū bugu kenyū hozon kai Kanagawa bunbu

Book Review: Kanagawa no katchū meihin ten by Nihon katchū bugu kenyū hozon kai Kanagawa bunbuTitle: Kanagawa no katchū meihin ten
Author: Nihon katchū bugu kenyū hozon kai Kanagawa bunbu
Publisher: Nihon katchū bugu kenyū hozon kai Kanagawa bunbu, 1988
Language: Japanese
Illustrations: Color Pictures
Other: 26 cm by 18 cm, softcover
Topics: Kabuto, Katchū, Menpō
ID: B0315


Very nice exhibition catalog from the (then) Kanagawa branch of the armor society, at the occasion of an exhibition related to the 27th annual meeting in 1988. 43 beautiful pieces are shown in color, many of them probably not in many other books or catalogs.  Saotome, nanban, saiga, kawari etc…

Book Review: Kawari kabuto goju tōten by Nihon Katchū Bugu Kenyū Hozon Kai

Book Review: Kawari kabuto goju tōten by Nihon Katchū Bugu Kenyū Hozon KaiTitle: Kawari kabuto goju tōten
Author: Nihon Katchū Bugu Kenyū Hozon Kai
Publisher: Nihon Katchū Bugu Kenkyū Hozon Kai, 1977
Language: Japanese
Illustrations: Black and white pictures
Other: 26 cm by 18 cm, softcover
Topics: Kabuto, Katchū, Menpō
ID: B0314


Nice exhibition catalog from 1977 with 50 kawari kabuto, four of them as part of a complete set. Several Saiga kabuto are included. Pictures are black and white and sometimes a bit too dark.

Book Review: Yamagataken bunkazai chōsa hōkokusho 15, Yamagataken no katchū by Yamagataken Kyōiku Iinkai

Book Review: Yamagataken bunkazai chōsa hōkokusho 15, Yamagataken no katchū by Yamagataken Kyōiku IinkaiTitle: Yamagataken bunkazai chōsa hōkokusho 15, Yamagataken no katchū
Author: Yamagataken Kyōiku Iinkai
Publisher: Yamagataken Kyōiku Iinkai, 1968
Language: Japanese
Illustrations: Black and white pictures
Other: 59+11 pages, 26 cm by 18 cm, softcover
Topics: Kabuto, Katchū, Menpō
ID: B0313


Old and rather rare booklet from 1968 related to armours from Yamagata prefecture. Some armours are famous, and although the pictures are small, it is always interesting to see how they looked and were set up almost 50 years ago…

Tetsuya Noguchi Exhibition December 2017: Armored Neighbor

The very talented Tetsuya Noguchi will have a new exhibition “Armored Neighbor” from December 1st till December 16th 2017, in Gallery Gyokuei in Tokyo.

I copy paste here the explanation of the exhibition from the official gallery website (link):

The time when European culture of Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque had flourished was in fact, parallel to the stream of Medieval Japan, Sengoku and Edo period.
Numerous maestros colouring the age of Renaissance had lived in the same era as the rise and fall of Muromachi period, as the impressive painters of Baroque had shared their time axis with famous Sengoku warriors.
Giotto, who had produced sophisticated tempera works before the coming of oil paints is from Kamakura period, Cranach, known by his portraits of female beauty was born in the middle of Ōnin War, and Bruegel painted his Tower of Babel in the height of the battles of Kawanakajima.
In the early Edo period, still during the lifetime of Sengoku patriarch, Rembrandt was born a year after Tokugawa Iemitsu and presented his masterpieces in portrait to the Dutch art world.
Would the life of a person be found again through the eye of someone else?
Let me search for them from the eyes of my neighbours far in the past.

Tetsuya Noguchi

 

Celebrating the beauty of Japanese samurai armour