Anyone familiar with this book?

[Brian Dunham]

Is anyone here familiar with the book "Jutte Torinawa Jiten:Edomachi Bugyoujo no Soubi to Taihojutsu", by Yumio Nawa?
I am looking for a general description of the books contents.

[Don Cunningham]

Yes, I have a copy of this book. It has some excellent photos of Yumio Nawa's jutte and other arresting implements collection, even some photos of him in vintage clothing.

The title basically translates as "jutte and torinawa dictionary." There is a lot of terminology definitions and some great illustrations showing the part names of such implements. I'm still translating sections, but it is a real bear. He uses a lot of ancient technical terminology in his kanji, many of which are not familiar to the average Japanese or even listed in most kanji dictionaries. Fortunately, I know a local sword collector who is both a native Japanese speaker and familiar with most of the terms, even though he knows very little about jutte or other police implements. If I wasn't able to consult with him on many kanji that elude my translation, I wouldn't be able to get through any of the text.

There are also some modern photos of practitioners in the back. These are not well done and it is hard to see what technique many are attempting. If they weren't basic jutte techniques, I wouldn't have been able to understand many of them. They do have some interesting practice weapon versions of jutte, which I may try to copy later. One of the big problems we have is using a regular jutte against a bokken, since the typical kage (hook) isn't large enough to accept the width of a wooden blade.

The book costs about $70 new and is available by special order through Sasuga Japanese Bookstore. I paid more than double that amount for a used copy on eBay before finding it is still available from one Japanese wholesale distributer. Otherwise, it is out of print. Just tell Karen you want the same book I had her trace down for me.

[Brian Dunham]

Don,
Thanks for the info. Actually, Sasuga is where I ran across the title. I just wanted more info on it before I dropped the cash for it.

Thanks again