What is 'Buki Nihyaku Zu'?
Literally translated as "200 Diagrams of Weapons", this is a 170 years old Japanese book which documented various Samurai military equipment. Not just weapons, but also items such as tentage, battle formations, accessories etc...
Total 32 pages.
Notice as the pages transits from the original antique, to the replica.
Details About The Original Antique
Holes, holes...and more holes
This antique book is the most badly damaged by wormholes one that I've seen. The pages are fragile with some loose bits dropping out when I flip the pages.
To reproduce and spread this antique book once again, a lot of Photoshop work had to be done to repair the broken pages in order to restore the images and words.
200 Diagrams, 450 Items
Each page is divided into a 4-by-4 grid, which creates 16 cells. As you can see on the right, the items are on the left, followed by the names of it on the right.
Each diagram can actually contain one item or several. So although there are 200 diagrams, but there's actually a total of 450 items showcased in this book!
This book is an important historical source of reference, if you're someone who's serious about Asian military history and martial arts.
Though this is an antique Japanese publication, there are actually some items inside which are of Chinese origin. This is not surprising, since historically there were a lot of exchanges between these 2 countries.
Repairing & Producing The Replica
Reproduction Work
Because there were too many wormholes which damaged the drawings and words, extra Photoshop work had to be done to repair these "holes".
The end result is a clean and refreshed version of this antique publication, with the images and words patched up.
I hope the original author will be glad that his work is still preserved for the next generation of people.
Cleaned from ink smudge, wormholes & old-age.
1:1 Revitalized & Reproduced Accurately
1:1 Replica Manual
As far as I know, there are a handful of genuine copies of this antique book still kept in some libraries. But I'm not sure if they will allow anyone access to it. I had to pay a fortune to get a real copy!
As the years go by, these antique manuals may eventually be extinct from this world, either by losing them, or it gets damaged irreversibly from circumstances such as worm holes.
Every little detail is accurately reproduced in this replica, such as typing the pages with string and folding the pages.
This book measures 32 cm by 21 cm, with 32 pages, which is slightly larger than A4 size. Compared to most antique books which are around A5 size, this is considered to be quite a large one.
Put a copy at your Dojo, or use it as a historical reference material. Maybe a few hundred years from now, someone else might find your copy instead!
Shrink-Wrapped, 32 cm by 21 cm
English Translation
Translation AND Explanation
The original antique book only has the diagram and the name of the item. I've taken it one step further by providing more explanation whenever I can, in this special printed English translated book.
This book is printed and distributed by Lulu.com, so if you live in the US or in the West, you can enjoy cheaper postage!
Please take a look at some of the pages from this English translation book. You may click to enlarge the photos.
English Translation Book Cover
English Translation Preview #1
English Translation Preview #2
I Wanna Get This Book!
1:1 Replica Manual
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Shrink-wrapped
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Full color printing, 32 pages
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Slightly bigger than A4 size
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Traditional stitch-binding
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Guaranteed Postage
$20 + $13 Postage
English Translation & Explanation
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Black & white printing, 82 pages
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8.5 wide x 11 tall
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Perfect-bound Paperback
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Cheap shipping if you live in the US or in Western countries.