Zusetsu Kendo Jiten (A pictorial encyclopaedia of kendo) is a wonderful A4-sized hardback book published in 1970. The book’s authors, Nakano Yasoji (hanshi hachidan) and Tsuboi Saburo (kyoshi nanadan), were backed up by input from one of the most famous kenshi that ever lived, Mochida Moriji (hanshi, judan).
The book starts with some beautiful colour plates including Mochida and Nakano sensei performing kendo no kata at Noma dojo as well as some random snaps from the 1969 All Japan Kendo Championships.
The rest of the book is in black and white and includes lots of pictures of waza and diagrams of this and that. A nice weighty book, it’s fairly comprehensive and easy to understand, and would make a nice addition to any kenshi’s library… even if they don’t read Japanese.
Here are a handful of pics from the book:
If you like kendo books, please check out my own publications, last years March Book Project, and my personal recommendations for English language kendo books.
I am planning to introduce some more books here in the future, with pictures and mini-translations as well. Stay tuned!
