Translations and analyses of source texts and analysis of source writings and densho. Please consult my essays and books for narrative writing.
Translation
Machine translation of historical writing that have been adjusted by hand. Some provide introductory sections and contextual information, especially if they are excerpts from my longer work:
- The Kenpō Ryakki of Kubota Sugane (1839): Eight technical sections detailed from the Kenpō ryakki of Kubota Sugane, with an extended note on the nagamaki. September 2026
- Kūkai’s Secret Key to the Heart Sūtra: A working translation of Kūkai’s Hannya-shingyō hiken (般若心經祕鍵, 818) — the esoteric reading of the Heart Sūtra as the mantra-samādhi of Prajñā Bodhisattva, divided into five sections each keyed to a bodhisattva. September 2026
- The Shinkage-ryū Sotomono of Nabeshima Naotomo (1705): Text on military strategy by Nabeshima Naotomo, related to Yamazaki Jinzaemon in 1705 when Nabeshima was ninety years of age. July 2026
- Drifting East, Mooring West: A small textual diversion: a matching-rhyme quatrain, brushed on a slip and bound into the front matter of the 1898 Takuan Zenshū, that turns on Zen imagery of drifting with conditions and remaining untouched by the world. July 2026
- Ōshima-ryū Sōjutsu Densho: We examine a densho from 1792 of Ōshima-ryū, a spear tradition stemming from Ōshima Hanroku Yoshitsuna who studied methods passed down from Yuasa Shinroku. Its signature weapon was a long suyari and it held a long-time rivalry with the Hōzōin-ryū. June 2026
Exegesis
Examinations and analyses across sources or on individual topics within specific sources:
- Comparing the Heihō Zakki (1708) to the Mokuroku Kudensho (1764): Summarizing Karukome’s analysis of the content of two Edo period Jikishinkage-ryū transmission documents. July 2026
- Analysis of Jikishinkage-ryū Densho Commentary: Using NDL cursive OCR models Waseda University Jikishinkage-ryū densho holdings allows us to better gloss commentaries in cursive script as well as small block character notes. July 2026
- Fixed measurement and the three accordances: Sōjaku-no-koto (相尺之事; mutual distance or measure) is one of the formal matters listed in historical mokuroku of Jikishinkage-ryū kenjutsu. We examine its relationship to Sino-Japanese philosophical concepts. June 2026
- Eight Phases and Eight Extremes: Detail of Hassō Happa from the 1800 Kashima-shinden Jikishinkage-ryū Hōjō densho of Naganuma Tadasato, copied by Ogawa Yashichi, its place in Hōjō swordsmanship, and how the eight phases may relate to the eight extremes of Daoist Huainanzi geography. June 2026
- Kodachi: The ura of Hōjō: Discussion of kodachi and habiki practice in Jikishinkage-ryū Seito-ha as informed by an examination of Saitō Akinobu (1901) Gokui Kyōju Zukai, explaining brief oral teachings. May 2026
