John C

John R. There are probably many ways you could organize the parts, however one thing I would do is change Kojiri with "drag", and link it to the scabbard instead of the blade since it is integral to the saya on type 95s. You could add "ashi" or suspension ring and move the Latch slot indicator. The tsuka definition is up to you of course, however since in this case it is a single cast piece, I would probably omit the Kashira designation. You could also add the sarute barrel and sarute (with leather tassel for that matter) to the end of the tsuka drawing. You may want to add a line to the habaki since it is a separate piece. Additonally, since it is unique to the type 95, you could add a line to the serial numbers on the blade and to the stamps on the fuchi. Not sure how detailed you want to get, so just some options. Here is a good reference for some of the parts: http://ohmura-study.net/793.html John C.

Okan: This reminds me of a Japanese saying "like flowers on brocade", roughly the English equivalent to "Icing on the cake." John C.

Don't mean to jump Conway's answer but I have a question: Do you mean registered swordsmith? I ask because all swordsmiths are blacksmiths, however not all blacksmiths are swordsmiths. (Deep, right?) I just mean that once a smith develops the skills to make a quality sword, he is by definition a swordsmith. Now whether or not he is a registered smith for the military is another matter. John C. p.s. when swordsmtihs weren't making swords, they made other items like kanna planes, knives, and scissors.

I'll address these quickly. You asked "who is to blame." The criminal, by definition, is to blame for commiting a crime. The victim does not commit the crime. Period. We would need different definitions for these if the criminal and victim were one and the same. The other parts of your response refer to having a defensive posture and taking responsibility to ensure you are safe from criminals. That's a separate issue. I'm giving you the theory behind the concepts of criminalization and victimization. There is one simple measure that some states have already passed, as an example. It's called "Ban the Box." I talk a little about it in one of my books. The measure refers to the question on many job applications about "have you ever been convicted of a felony." The second part of the measure has to do with criminal background checks. If the applicant answers honestly, they can't even get hired at Wally world. If they lie but a background check shows a record, they can't get a job. You may be surprised how few jobs are available to those who have been convicted of a crime. As I stated earler, employment is one of the best methods to reduce recidivism. Why is that? Because most criminals are not violent, street thugs. Most have made a mistake or were forced by circumstances to commit a crime. Not bad people, just bad choices. Obviously, this does not apply to everyone but it is a step in the right direction. Heck, even the president couldn't get a job at Wally world because he is a convicted felon. Another avenue is skill development while in prison - welding, plumbing, carpentry, and other trades can be taught. Self-employment does not require a background check (in most cases). No argument about these two points. It all starts with the parents. Offering adult education where the pitfalls of raising kids poorly is taught. "Troubled kids" become delinquents, delinquents become criminals if there is no intervention. The number one cause of delinquency? (drum roll...) - The lack of effective parental supervision. Creating more workplace childcare for adults who work two or three jobs and can't "effectively supervise" their children will reduce delinquency rates. Greed: What can you say. A good resource for this is a book called "The Rich get Richer and the Poor get Prison." I can't argue too much with this last one either, other than to say "money fixes all evils" meaning if you throw enough money in the RIGHT DIRECTION, you can solve a whole bunch of problems. The biggest hurdle of any program is funding. Give me Elon's bank account number and you would be amazed at what I could do with it. I gaurantee there wouldn't be one single hungry child or homeless person in this country. John C.

Specifically, those two things positively impact (treat) recidivism. So it is a three-fold process: getting parents to teach non-criminal values to their children, helping the ones who fell through the cracks (jobs and education); and keeping space for true sociopaths to remain in prison. That last bit seems contrary, however we must acknowledge that there are those folks, whether born or developed, who do not have the capacity or desire to "work and play well with others." John C.

The criminal, of course. Victim blaming was a defense strategy popular up until the 1980's. The most prominent example is blaming a woman who gets sexually assaulted because she wore "provocative" clothing. A similar concept is Victim Precipitation, whereby "the victim started it." These are some of the global attitudes that prevent societies from ever solving the crime problem. We blame the victim, address the crime itself through incarceration or fines, however we never address the underlying causes that create criminal attitudes (or as we call it, attitudes favorable toward law violation). I usually do not give a personal opinion, however I'll chime in with my view. I don't think we should give up on tryng to make a better society by suggesting that a world without crime cannot exist. It can. But it certainly would not be easy. It would take some real political will to buck the established norms and actually change the attitudes of people in a society. Sociologists, Economists, and Criminologists have had the anwers for a very long time. The problem is that answers contradict established political rhetoric that wins votes. Example: "I'm going to be tough on crime" rhetoric. And the action is always the same: stiffer sentences for certain street crimes and the establishment of laws that have little to no effect on actual crime rates. We NEVER hear a politician say he or she is going to solve the crime problem by creating jobs and increasing educational opportunities for folks getting out of prison, the two most impactful preventative measures for recidivism. Let's start changing the attitudes of folks who believe they have the right to take from others and hurt others to further their personal goals. It doesn't start at the jailhouse door. It starts with what parents are teaching their children. (I said it wouldn't be easy) John C.

My thoughts as well. Some type of belt or strap clip. John C.

It actually only brings up 4 results. Japanese Polearms, by Ronald M. Knudson. https://archive.org/details/bwb_S0-EKD-837/page/n7/mode/2up John C.

Some additional information on pole shapes. John C. p.s. For all interested, this is from Japanese Polearms available for free on the Internet Archive.

Putin just signed an executive order allowing the seizure of houses under the auspices of being "ownerless". 14,000 so far in the Russian controlled area. John C.

Not in my wildest dreams could I find something that nice. Great score. John C.

Not sure of the name Kane something - shige perhaps? It's dated showa 17 (1942). John C.

Great. One more thing to worry about - micro-burps. John C.

George: Here is a link to a yari shirasaya I made. Just for inspiration, you can do it with very few hand tools. John C.

Love this theme. Have you done a scratch test? The color looks off for gold - some sort of shakudo maybe? Wish I had the cash. John C.

Piers: Would this be the lucky rain coat or the robe of fairy feathers? John C.

I'm probably mis-remembering, however wern't yasukuni smiths supposed to sign above the mekugi ana? Or was that only certain smiths? John C.

Mitchell: If you're interested in manga or graphic novels, there is an excellent book series called Showa written and illustrated by Shigeru Mizuki. It is a thick 4 volume set where he goes into great detail about his experiences. The first volume is on how Japan made it through the Depression and the resulting political and domestic decision making that led to Expansion and militarism, particularly as it relates to China. The other 3 cover the years he went to war, the US occupation, and finally the rest of the showa era to 1989. It's written in English, however it reads right to left like a Japanese book. He is an amazing artist so a long, but enjoyable read. John C.

Ah. I missed this as the point. Then absolutely. I think most Japanese soldiers realized it was a one-way trip and decided to take their swords anyway. John C.

I think this is one of those de jure vs de facto situations. Technically a violation of the UCMJ, however there were many private companies that made bowie knives, for example, and shipped them overseas during ww2. I am reminded of General Patton's ivory handled pistols he carried. Even in peacetime, federally activated national guard police officers carried their private back up guns to the L.A. Riots. Stretching the concept a bit further, picking up a foreign weapon on the battlefield and using it is common practice. John C.

How well does the letter align with what historians have documented over time? John C.

Bruce: Please excuse this if I have posted it before. From Ohmura's website, he talks about a quote from Major Ota and swords with "star" and "numbers on the stem butt (nakago)" [emphasis added]. Maybe this is one of those. "Major Oto, who supervised the production of military swords as the manager of the Nagoya Army Arsenal Sekibu Factory, described the blades made by swordsmiths in accordance with the official standards as "Army-style modern forging swords" in his memoirs. It is possible that this "formal modern forged sword" was the official name of the military.　The sword blade stems delivered to this armory are: (1) Those with only a "star" mark that has passed the Army Material Inspection (2) A "star" and a number stamp on the stem butt (3) A "star" and an inspection mark on the stem building (4) There are various types such as those with a "star" and a small "sekiin". Items made before the designation of a swordsmith or items sold directly without delivery to the armory due to special circumstances even during the period of swordsmithing will not be marked with these inspection seals, number stamps, etc. A sword that does not have the date of manufacture cut on the back of the stem is not a sword that has been once delivered to the armory, even if it is a standard sword of the swordsmith. In addition, "non-standard swords" that greatly deviated from the tolerance range of the dimensional standards indicated by the specifications and drawings, such as being important, deeply warped, or too heavy, were not delivered to the armory, but were sold directly to sword dealers and officers. Of course, these are not stamped with stars or numbers." John C.

You won't get any arguments from me. USPS is absolutely terrible where I live; no oversight, no accountability for mistakes, and no disciplinary action for those who consistently get it wrong. Our community FB page is filled with the same horror stories. John C.

Next time you are in a shooting mood, I would love to see the flight characteristics of one of these . I read that they used 4 feathers to stabilize the flight (meaning non-spinning, I assume). John C.

Translation of the above post by Microsoft Word: "Since there had been a sudden increase in specific search and referrals, I looked into it and found this place. It's developed and operated by a Japanese person individually, so please get along if you'd like! (I'm not good at English, so sorry for using Japanese)" John C.