Nihongono hon wo kaitai desuga...

[ShizukanaSenshi]

... Amerika ni sundeite, chotto komatte imasu :-(

Does anyone know where I can find a reliable importer of Japanese language martial arts books? I was hoping to get several Best Karate books and several Aikido books in Japanese, but I'm having little luck.

I found an online Japanese bookstore (Honyasan - Kiita koto, arimasu ka?), but they keep rejecting my credit card - they say it won't work internationally, which actually doesn't surprise me, knowing the institution backing the card <chuckle>.

Any help or suggestions?

Yorosiku Onegai Simasu.

ShizukanaSenshi yori

Try Sasuga Japanese Bookstore:

http://www.sasugabooks.com/

I have made several special orders from them. Sometimes I've had an ISBN and other times just a partial title or author's name. They have one of the best search teams I've ever found. They can get any Japanese book or magazine still in print at a reasonable price.

[ShizukanaSenshi]

Cunningham-san,

Doumo arigatou gozaimashita. Asokode sagashite mimasu :-)

[Richard A Tolson]

Another good source is Mugendo Budogu:
http://www.budogu.com

Don't touch my moustache!

Mugendo Budogu does seem to have some of the more popular Japanese language texts, but their selection is very limited. I ordered a couple of books from them and it took forever to receive them. Further, their cost of shipping is calculated at the regular postage rate, making it more expensive in many cases.

[Edited by budokai on 08-07-2000 at 01:51 PM]

[Richard A Tolson]

Don is correct that the books they advertise are limited. However, I have never waited more than two weeks for a book and most have come in within seven days and their charge for shipping is only $5.45 for printed material.

[Edited by Richard A Tolson on 08-08-2000 at 12:52 AM]

[Joseph Svinth]

For a list of stores specializing in books on Asia, try

http://sun3.lib.uci.edu/~ltanji/asianv.htm

I ordered two books from Mugendo Budogu. It took more than 3 months to get them. When I inquired about the delay, I was promised free shipping for my patience. However, I was charged full shipping and never received any credit. Of course, I expect certain people will always disagree with anything I say. Richard, I didn't know you were fluent in Japanese.

[pboylan]

Don Cunningham wrote:

*******************
I ordered two books from Mugendo Budogu. It took more than 3 months to get them. When I inquired about the delay, I was promised free shipping for my
patience. However, I was charged full shipping and never received any credit.
********************

Sadly, Don is correct. We completely blew his order. There were reasons for it, but they don't count for anything. However, I was not aware that you had not been creditted for your shipping charges (since I don't do the accounting). I will see that that is corrected immediately. I'm very sorry about that, and wish you had informed me sooner (and perhaps not so publicly, but then, we kind of earned this chastisement).

As for our shipping costs, we were able to significantly lower our shipping costs for books several months after Don ordered.

As for Richard's praise for our speedy delivery, well, Thank You, Richard. We try to be that fast all the time, but we don't always succeed, yet.

I'm very uncomfortable talking about my business in a non-commercial forum like this, so if anyone has actual questions, please contact me privately. I prefer that e-budo remain free of commercials.

Sincerely,
Peter Boylan
peter@budogu.com

[Adam DArcy]

I thought I saw the exact same thread somewhere...(what can I say, I'm always the "boke"...

Check out http://www.kosho.co.jp. You'll find some *very very* expensive books up there posted, but to find MA related ones, you'll almost always have to call, fax, or email. One company I talked to was very helpful in helping me find Some Kuki Family related texts on the Net, but I had to call them several times till I found a helpful person there.

Goodo Rakku!

Adam