Martial Arts Book Reviews

Recommended Martial Arts Books

Book Reviews

Koryu.com Bookstore

Koryu.com Book Reviews

Here are some reviews of martial arts books and other books on various aspects of Japanese culture that we recommend. We only review books that we feel have some special value to those interested in the Japanese martial arts; not surprisingly, not all popular books you find in the bookstores meet our criteria.

A Way to Victory: The Annotated Book of Five Rings

Miyamoto Musashi; translated by Hidy Ochiai

A-Z of Judo

Syd Hoare

Across the Nightingale Floor

Lian Hearn

Aikido Student Handbook

Greg O’Connor

Autumn Lightning

Dave Lowry

Castles of the Samurai

Jennifer Mitchelhill; photos by David Green

Children and the Martial Arts

Gaku Homma

Classical Budo

Donn F. Draeger

Classical Bujutsu

Donn F. Draeger

Clouds in the West

Dave Lowry

Code of the Samurai

Daidoji Yuzan; translated by Thomas Cleary

Connoisseur’s Book of Japanese Swords

Kokan Nagayama

Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu

Stanley Pranin

Daughter of the Samurai

Etsu Inagaki Sugimoto

Dueling with O-Sensei

Ellis Amdur

Furyu: The Budo Journal

Wayne Muromoto

Geisha

Liza Dalby

Hagakure

Yamamoto Tsunetomo; translated by William Scott Wilson

Heiho Okugisho

Kansuke Yamamoto

Hidden in Plain Sight

Ellis Amdur

Hired Swords

Karl F Friday

Illuminated Spirit

Dan & Jackie DeProspero

In the Dojo

Dave Lowry

Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia

 

Japanese for the Martial Arts

Alexander D.C. Kask

Kata

Boyé Lafayette De Mente

Katori Shinto-ryu

Otake Risuke

Keiko Shokon

Edited by Diane Skoss.

Koryu Bujutsu

Edited by Diane Skoss

Kyudo

Hideharu Onuma

Legends of the Samurai

Hiroaki Sato

Martial Arts and Sports in Japan

 

Martial Musings

Robert W. Smith

Memoirs of the Warrior Kumagai

Donald Richie

Modern Bujutsu & Budo

Donn F. Draeger

Moving Toward Stillness

Dave Lowry

Old School

Ellis Amdur

Persimmon Wind

Dave Lowry

Samurai Bulldog

Chibinosuke Dogizaemon; as told to Jeffrey Hunter

Samurai: An Illustrated History

Mitsuo Kure

Sword & Spirit

Edited by Diane Skoss

Sword and Brush

Dave Lowry

The Book of Five Rings

Miyamoto Musashi; translated by William Scott Wilson

The Demon’s Sermon on the Martial Arts

Issai Chozanshi; translated by William Scott Wilson

The Fighting Spirit of Japan

E.J. Harrison

The Life-Giving Sword

Yagyu Munenori; translated by William Scott Wilson

The Lone Samurai

William Scott Wilson

The Salaryman’s Wife

Sujata Massey

The Secret History of the Sword

 J. Christoph Amberger

The Spirit of Budo

Trevor Leggett

The Sword and the Mind

Hiroaki Sato

The Unfettered Mind

Takuan Soho; translated by William Scott Wilson

Traditions

Dave Lowry

Wave Man

Chris Bates

Books published by Koryu Books

Here are the books we publish; you can purchase them from us directly via our online ordering system.

Illuminated Spirit

Keiko Shokon

Koryu Bujutsu

Persimmon Wind

Sword & Spirit

Wave Man

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