I am happy to report that we now have commitments to buy 269 copies of the Book on Japanese Horse Medicine from 1236. Which means…. this is going to get done!
In addition to the translation, done by my friend Dr. Dan Sherer, and the medicine commentary, which will be done by me, I decided that it was also important to get some historical perspective on horses in Japan, to set the book in its time. To that end, I’ve been accumulating resources – and a co-author/translator.
Resources first. I’ve acquired several groups of essays on the history of Japanese medicine (in English) as well as a book on the history of horse in Japan, written in 1964 (in English). These are super helpful, but particularly in regards to horse history, not as authoritative as I want. Happily, I was able to locate a 10 volume set on horse history that was published in Japan in the mid-1990’s, and I now have the entire edition.
However, they are in Japanese. I’m learning Japanese, but I’m not ready to tackle this yet!
ASIDE: For fun, see how many times you can see the Japanese character for horse, 馬, on the spines of the book in the series (hint: a couple of them are right under the numbers 7 and 8).
So, we’ve got a new co-author. Kaoru Tomoyoshi is a registered National Japanese Guide who I met on a trip to Japan in 2019. She lives in Kobe, and she’s going to assist in reviewing and translating information from the series, particularly volume 3, which deals with horses in medieval Japan, and volume 7, which talks about Japanese medicine in general. With these additional resources, I’m confident that the book will provide a concise and authoritative view of the time in which the horse book was written.
BY THE WAY: If you ever plan a trip to Japan, and want to see Kobe, or the surrounding area, your visit would be so much better with Kaoru as your guide. Let me know if you want contact information.
The more people that order the book, the less the cost will ultimately be. If you’re interested in getting a copy, please fill out your information at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/QQK6Y5X
