The latest kenshi 24/7 publication has been released: a translation of Ogawa Kinnosuke sensei’s Teikoku Kendo Kyohon (The Kendo Textbook of Imperial Japan). I am a bit bias, but I have to say that the book is amazing, not just in content, but in format as well… I’m super excited to release it!
When this book was published in the 1930s, Ogawa sensei was the head instructor of the Budo Senmon Gakko (Busen), the school run by the Dai-Nippon Butokukai, the largest and most influential martial arts organisation in Japan. Busen was a teacher-training college and the premier place to study kendo prior to the war. It’s graduates taught kendo all over Japan (before and after the war) and it’s not too much to say that what was taught there – about the philosophy of kendo as well as it’s execution – forms the basis of the kendo that we do today in the 21st century.
Here’s a sneak peak:
For full information including pictures and information about formats etc, please check out the books dedicated page on our publication website, kendo-book.com.
- Go here if you want to preview and order the PRINT version.
- Go here to purchase and immediately download the DIGITAL version.
BIG THANKS to all of kenshi 24/7 readers for your continued support over the years, cheers!!
Don’t forget that we have a suite of great publications available at kendo-book.com.
4 replies on “Teikoku Kendo Kyohon – The Kendo Textbook of Imperial Japan”
Browsing through my pdf download was a promising moment…
Wonderfully translated!
My teachers must have been devout readers of this book.
Never mind the nationalist stuff, we all know kendo is a human activity beyond any cultural limitation.
This is the kendo I learned fourty years ago, and it has changed.
The translator’s notes are to the sharpest of points one can say and much appreciated.
May I translate this into french for Versailles Budo kendo section?
Thanks for the kind words Christophe!! I’m glad you are enjoying the book !!!
I’m afraid as its a commercial product I’d ask you to – rather than translate it – recommend the English version to your friends. Creating this book took 1.5yrs of translation work followed by months of editing and design… it took a lot of hard work and time. I’m sure you understand.
Another alternative is to translate the original Japanese into French.
Hi George, I bought the full up book because Omoto sensei one of my early instructors was a live-in student of Ogawa sensei so I was very curious as to how his book matched up with comments Omoto sensei made in passing over the years. Of particular interest is the up the flag rhetoric in the first chapter and how it coincides with Dr. Bennetts work that will soon be published. Very interesting. The rest lines up with many themes that I have presented to my students and I will recommend they at the very least to the download version. Cheers.
Jeff Marsten
Thanks Jeff !!! Glad you enjoy it.