The ToShoW Swordsmith Database program is designed to assist you in the study 
of NIHONTO. It is basically a database program with many features that are
specifically designed for NIHONTO collectors.

Features include:

* A database of over 10,000 swordsmiths, which includes nearly all smiths of 
moderate or high importance, plus many other smiths recently entered by
Anthony Thomas. You can add as many additional smiths as you like to the 
database. You can also create your own specialized databases. Get together 
with other ToShoW users and share the data that you have entered.

* When a smith's record is displayed, you see the following info:
    Art name.
    The KANJI for the art name (up to 3 KANJI).
    Reference # (usually Hawley's #).
    The Ref # of the smith's teacher, if known.
    The NENGO (Japanese era), including the KANJI.
    The province, including the KANJI.
    The school, including the KANJI (usually).
    Three 'miscellaneous' fields that you can use for whatever you want.
    Some known examples of the smith's signature are displayed in Romaji
      and KANJI.
    Remarks.
  Note that the KANJI displayed are "printed style", and do not always bear
  a close resemblance to the way that smiths inscribed them. However, there
  is still the 'Oshigata' function (see below).

* Search for smiths in various ways, based on things like name, province, 
time period, school, signature, and remarks. You can search for arbitrary
strings within the Signature or Remarks fields - this is a very powerful
capability! For example, it is simple to create a list of smiths that included
the phrase "... FUJIWARA KANE..." in their signature - try that with a printed
reference!

* Print functions will work using almost any Windows-compatible printer. You 
can do a print-screen at any time, and you can print a sorted list of smiths 
that you have previously selected.

* ToShoW includes a database of over 6800 KANJI characters, including JIS 
Level 1 and Level 2. This includes nearly every KANJI that you are likely to 
see, and ToShoW has features to help you find those KANJI that normally 
appear on swords. You can also display or print the KANJI for sword-related 
words and phrases (compounds). All KANJI include JIS numbers in the database.
All but about 100 of the Level 1 KANJI include Nelson numbers and radical numbers.

* A KANJI practice function that works like 'flashcards'. ToShoW will help 
you learn individual KANJI, or sword-related compounds. You can choose to see 
either the KANJI first, or the reading first.

* An OSHIGATA image can be tied to any particular smith, so that you can
view/print it on demand while looking at that smith's record. Supported
image formats are BMP, JPEG, GIF, PCX, PNG, and TIFF. A few sample
OSHIGATA images are included - you provide any others.

* You can create a text file of arbitrary length for any particular smith. 
The file is instantly available while viewing a smith. You can search for
a string within the text files - for example: you forgot which file includes
that reference to an obscure smith's 2nd cousin - this function will help
you find it.

* ToShoW can display or print one of 11 maps based on a smith's home province.

* Display/Print NENGO (eras) based on name or year number. You enter either 
a Western-style year number (such as 1680), or a NENGO name (such as SHOWA), 
and ToShoW will display the appropriate era name, range of years, and the 
KANJI for that NENGO.

* While viewing a smith, click on the 'Genealogy' button to see that smith's 
lineage. Click on another smith's name in the lineage display, and ToShoW
will take you to that record.

* ToShoW includes support for cataloging specific blades, in addition to 
smiths.

ToShoW requires Windows(tm) 3.1 or later, 5MB of RAM, a hard disk with at 
least 15MB of free space, a mouse or other pointing device, and an EGA or 
VGA monitor. I have tested ToShoW on a 386SX 20Mhz system with 5MB of RAM, 
but the performance is "not so good". A much better configuration would 
be a 486 33Mhz CPU with 8MB of RAM. Any system that runs Windows 95 should 
work great.

Pete McCollum