Facts and Fundamentals of Japanese Swords: A Collector's Guide

Facts and Fundamentals of Japanese Swords is a practical, comprehensive volume that offers information, along with 300 photos and illustrations, enabling collectors to evaluate the veracity and quality of swords that they are considering acquiring or already have in their collections.

The book is divided into three sections: An Overview of the Japanese Sword, The Forged Sword, and Consequences of Modification and Wear. Each section provides very specific, useful lessons by the author that serve as virtual hands-on experiences. With easily understandable examples, the author precisely instructs readers on how to discern and obtain a "healthy" blade, while avoiding fakes or potentially problematic blades. In addition, he shows not only the difference in styles and shapes of blades, but explains what the differences mean and how to interpret them from a buyer's/collector's point of view.

Paul Martin, a Japanese sword researcher and curator, is a former member of the Department of Japanese Antiquities at the British Museum, London. He has translated the text, and drawn on his extensive experience and expertise in the field to adapt the author's theories and discussions, making them more accessible to Western readers.

• The Connoisseur's Book of Japanese Swords
• The Art of the Japanese Sword: The Craft of Swordmaking and its Appreciation
• Samurai Swords - A Collector's Guide: A Comprehensive Introduction to History, Collecting and Preservation - of the Japanese Sword
• The Samurai Sword: A Handbook
• The Japanese Sword (Japanese Arts Library)
• The Samurai Sword: A Handbook
• Samurai: An Illustrated History
• Modern Japanese Swords and Swordsmiths: From 1868 to the Present
• The Art of Japanese Sword Polishing
• The Craft of the Japanese Sword