Originally published in Japan in 2005, each album in The Japanese Naval Warship photo album series contains official photographs taken by the Kure Maritime Museum, as well as those taken by private individuals. These pictorial records document the main types of Japanese vessels, from battleships to submarines, based on the best images from Shizuo Fukui, a former Imperial Japanese Navy commander and technician. These photos include the ones Fukui began collecting as a young boy and continued after he worked as a naval shipbuilder, and those that he was given in order to complete a photographic history of the Imperial Japanese Navy's ships, which include those gathered by Nagamura Kiyoshi, a shipbuilder who proactively collected photos, and the collection of machinist Amari Yoshiyuki. Moreover, with the help of shipbuilder Makino Shigeru, among others, Fukui was able to continue to gather photographs and other items throughout the postwar period. It is not an exaggeration, therefore, to say that Fukui dedicated his entire life to this work. These images are especially valuable because of the massive destruction of official documents at the end of the war. “This is an excellent photographic compilation of these two famous ships. The close-ups of previously-published photographs are very well done. Modelers will have no shortage of close-up detailed images to aid in their models. I highly recommend this book.” —Nautical Research Journa l “A must-have, and likewise for anyone considering modelling any of these perennially fascinating but under-documented warships.” —Warship “The Imperial Japanese Navy’s ‘Super’ battleships Yamato and Musashi were the two largest and most powerful of their kind ever built.... They were magnificent examples of the shipbuilders’ art and very significant in naval history.... This finely detailed and beautifully presented book does those magnificent ships proud. Replete with many excellent photographs and detailed drawings, it gives a comprehensive overview of their construction, trials and operations.... [A] fine book.” —Baird Maritime The Kure Maritime Museum is located in Kure City, Hiroshima Province. It is also known as the Yamato Museum. The collection focuses on the people of Kure, culture and industries, primarily shipbuilding and steelmaking. The museum houses over 20,000 Imperial Japanese navy photos. Kazushige Todaka serves as Director of the Kure Maritime Museum. He is the coauthor of several books on the Japanese navy. Robert D. Eldridge is the author of dozens of books in English and Japanese on U.S.-Japanese relations, Okinawa and Japanese politics. He received a Ph.D. in political science from Kobe University. He resides with his family in Japan.