Literature

                                                                                              Kihaku

                                                                                                                                                          Intensity

Right now the best possible source for materials can be found from my good friend Michael Harris at Satcho Books  or in other cases from the usual online book sellers. The links are provided below. 

satcho

amazon Books

barnesnoble Books

ARTICLES

The following are simply personal suggestions for all those that have asked me.  They are by no means A complete in list, study or suggested techniques or training methods. In general any text which addresses both the history, appraisal and appreciation of the weapons of Japan should be considered such as any work by William Hawley or those of John Scott Slough, Richard Fuller and Ron Gregory and additionally those works of Gary Murtha.

 Sword Appreciation and Understanding

The Samurai Sword (A Handbook) by John M. Yumoto

THE CRAFT OF THE JAPANESE SWORD by Leon & Hiroko Kapp and Yoshindo Yoshihara

THE CONNOISSEUR'S BOOK OF JAPANESE SWORDS by Kokan Nagayama

SWORDSMANSHIP TRAINING AND TECHNIQUES

FLASHING STEEL by Masayuki Shimabukuro & Leonard J. Pellman

JAPANESE SWORDSMANSHIP by Gordon Warner & Donn F. Draeger

PRACTICE DRILLS FOR JAPANESE SWORDSMANSHIP by Nicklaus Suino

LOOKING AT A FAR MOUNTAIN by Paul Budden

THE ART OF JAPANESE SWORDSMANSHIP by Nicklaus Suino

IAI (The art of Drawing the Sword) by Darrel Craig

Mugai-Ryu The Classical Samurai Art of Drawing the Sword by Darrel Craig

kYUDO

KYUDO (The Japanese Art of Archery) by William Acker

ZEN IN THE ART OF ARCHERY by Eugen Herrigel

ONE ARROW, ONE LIFE (Zen, Archery, Enlightenment) by Kenneth Kushner

KYODO (The Essence and Practice of Japanese Archery) by Hideharu Onuma w/ Dan & Jackie DeProspero

PHYLOSOPHY

HAGEKURE (The Book of the Samurai) by Yamamoto Tsunetomo

SOUL SWORD (The Way and Mind of a Zen Warrior) by Vernon Kitabu Turner

GO RIN NO SHO (THE BOOK OF FIVE RINGS) by Miyamoto Musashi

MOVING TOWARD STILLNESS by Dave Lowery

THE ART OF WAR by Sun Tzu

CODE OF THE SAMURAI by Taira Shigesuke translated by Thomas Cleary

HISTORICAL REFERENCE

THE SAMURAI (A Military History) by S.R. Turnbull

ARMS AND ARMOR OF THE SAMURAI by I.Bottomley & A.P. Hopson

Samurai The weapons and Spirit of the Japanese Warrior by Clive Sinclaire

Samurai An Illustrated History by Mitsuo Kure

JAPANESE ARCHITECTURE

Making Shoji by Toshio Odate & Laure Olender

SHOJI: (How to Design, Build, and Install Japanese Screens) by Jay Van Arsdale

THE JAPANESE HOUSE:ARCHITECTURE AND INTERIORS by Alexandra Black & Noboro Murata

The Japanese House /the inner Harmony of by Atsushi Ueda

THE JAPANESE BATH (fURO) by Bruce Smith & Yoshiko Yamamoto

JAPANESE HOMES AND THEIR SURROUNDINGS by Edward Morse & C. Lancaster

Japanese Garden Design by Marc P.Keane

Sakuteiki Visions of the Japanese Garden (A true Classic) by Jiro Takei & Marc Keane

MASTER'S BOOK OF BONSAI by the Directors of the Japan Bonsai Association

Chanyu

The Tra Ceremony by Sen'o Tanaka

The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura

The Japanese Tea Ceremony by Julia Nakamura

MUSIC

JAPAN (Shakuhachi -the Japanese Flute) by Kohachiro Miyota

SHAKUHACHI MEDITATION MUSIC by Stan Richardson

MATSURI (Traditional Japanese Percussive Music by Various Artists

JAPAN - SHAKUHACHI - AND KOTO by Various Artists

KOTO MUSIC OF JAPAN by Zumi-kai Original Instrumental Group

KODO (Heartbeat Drummers of Japan)

KODO (The Best Of)

FILMS (Classics)

SAMURAI 1,2,3 by Hiroshi Inagaki and starring Tashiro Mifune

SANJIRO by Akira Kurosawa and starring Tashiro Mifune

SEVEN SAMURAI by Akira Kurosawa and starring Tashiro Mifune

YOJIMBO by Akira Kurosawa and starring Tashiro Mifune

KAGEMUSHA by Akira Kurosawa and starring Tatsuna Nakadai

SAMURAI ASSASSIN by Kihachi Okamoto and starring Tashiro Mifune

SWORD OF DOOM by Akira Kurosawa and starring Tatsuna Nakadai

SAMURAI REBELLION by Masaki Kobayashi and starring Tashiro Mifune

THE 47 RONIN by Kenji Mizoguchi

CHUSHINGURA (The Loyal 47 Retainers) by Hiroshi Inagaki

THE HIDDEN FORTRESS by Akira Kurosawa and starring Tashiro Mifune

HEAVEN and EARTH by Haruki Kadokawa starring Takaaki Enoki

SHOGUN by James Clavel starring Richard Chamberlain (*don't buy the condensed film.   You want the entire mini series)

NOVELS

Non-Fiction

MUSASHI An Epic Novel of the Samurai Era by Eiji Yoshikowa

Fiction

The Nicolas Linnear series by Eric Von Lustbader

    The Ninja

    The Miko

    White Ninja

    The Kaisho

    Floating City

    Second Skin

Also by Lustbader

    Black Blade

    Angel Eyes

    French Kiss

    Zero

    Shan

    Jian

    Black Heart

    Sirens

And His Sunset Warrior series

    Dragons on the Sea of Night

    Beneath an Opal Moon

    Dai-san

    Shallows of Night

    The Sunset Warrior