Journal

Notes from the field of Japanese arms and armour. This journal reflects my work within the field, including exhibitions, art fairs, auction visits, museum study, and related photographic projects.

Visitor viewing Kaga province samurai armour at the British Museum exhibition

Samurai – The British Museum

A personal study of selected works from the exhibition, focusing on samurai armour as art rather than function, with detailed observations often absent from the catalogue.

David Thatcher standing in the Watanabe Art Museum, Tottori, surrounded by Japanese samurai armour

The Watanabe Art Museum, Japan

A reflection on two visits to the Watanabe Art Museum in Tottori, spanning twenty years, and on the scholarship, private collecting, and legacy behind one of Japan’s most important regional

Close up portrait of David Thatcher holding a restored Japanese kabuto helmet prepared for the Samurai Art Museum Berlin

Samurai Museum Berlin

Samurai Museum Berlin The story of the Samurai Museum Berlin is, for me, inseparable from one of the most demanding and rewarding conservation projects of my career. I first met