Family Crests of Japan

Rating:
Summary: Family Crests of Japan is better than Japanese Design Motifs
Review: I found this book to be much more well-organized than the 'Japanese Design Motifs' book. Japanese Design Motifs can be overwhelming to look through since the pages all look the same and display an enormous amount of designs with only slight variations. Japanese Design Motifs becomes very tedious and it is very hard to refer back to a favorite crest design and/or compare it with another design on a different page.

Family Crests of Japan doesn't provide as many designs as Japanese Design Motifs, but its format is much easier to look through and it still contains a great amount of designs. Each design in Family Crests of Japan is accompanied with a short description on the same page, a practical feature that isn't included in Japanese Design Motifs. The descriptions help distinguish and differentiate designs from each other, defining the symbolism and significance behind each design. Family Crests of Japan also includes several photographs of buildings, clothes, and items that use certain design motifs, which is another feature that I didn't find in Japanese Design Motifs.