Great budo photography and articles

Hiden Budo and Bujutsu Monthly Journal

Brand: BAB Japan Publishing

Price: 1000 yen

Place of purchase: Amazon Japan

Rating:

One of the appeals of Hiden is that the topics they cover are extremely broad. The features and series include philosophy, mechanics of martial movement, literature, and history topics. While some articles are stuffed with martial jargon that requires a lot of kanji knowledge, for the most part, the articles are written clearly and coherently. The special features, as in this February 2022 edition, often have collaborations between practitioners of different arts, a testament to the inclusivity of Hiden. There is also a report on traditional martial arts practiced abroad, and frequently non-Japanese arts are covered.

At 1000 yen per issue, it's a bit of an investment. Not all of the articles may be relevant to the arts you're interested in. I suggest browsing the Amazon page or the Hiden webpage to pick particular issues that you'd like to read. There are occasionally fluffy pieces about pop culture to bulk up the issues. It's not a scholarly journal, after all. Hiden doesn't have an English language edition, so you'll either have to have somebody read over your shoulder or get good at using your mobile phone to translate text.