Sharp! Now you can buy scissors based on samurai katana
Want to slash through that water bill, or slice up that old love letter? Cut right to the chase with these cool Japanese offerings.
Someone page Michonne, the katana-wielding warrior from "The Walking Dead." A Japanese company has made a batch of four different scissors styles based on katana (traditional swords) used by famed Japanese samurai.
Cut up those old TPS reports with the style of a samurai.
Nikken Cutlery is offering the styles, each based on the personal swords of a different historical Japanese warrior. Each comes with a scabbard and display stand.
Three of the pairs are priced at 3,800 yen apiece ($34.85 US, £27.23, AU$44.09) -- pricey for a regular pair of scissors, but not too bad for a collector's item or a gift for a Japanophile.
One very special style sells for 15,000 yen ($137.64 US, £107.48, AU$174.07). That pair is based on Namazu Otoshiro, a sword owned by 17th century shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu and "named for its resemblance to the curved, sinuous tail of a catfish," according to SoraNews24. Only 100 pairs of that style will be produced, so if that's your Japanese jam, get it now.
The scissors are being sold through a crowdfunding site, but their goal has already been reached, so it looks like they'll actually be made.
The elegant design of a katana has been applied to other items. I just returned from a rainy trip to Japan, and even the umbrella I bought there was styled to look like a samurai sword. (And no, I didn't attempt to take it on the plane in carry-on luggage -- it was packed in a checked bag for the flight home. I don't want to end up on the TSA Instagram account like the owner of Satan's fidget spinner.)
Apparently I should've also stocked up on office supplies as well.
Star Wars at 40: Celebrate the many ways the Force-filled sci-fi saga has impacted our lives.
Logging Out: A look at death in the digital age.