Samurai-sword-shaped scissors prove popular with foreign tourists in Japan

Samurai-sword-shaped scissors developed by a manufacturer in Gifu Prefecture in central Japan are proving popular with foreign tourists as well as schoolchildren shopping for souvenirs.The "Japanese sword scissors" by Nikken Cutlery Co. in Seki, Gifu, mimic decorative features found in the swords used by such feudal-era figures as Oda Nobunaga, a 16th-century warlord, and Sakamoto Ryoma, who tried to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate in the 19th century.The idea for the product came during an after-hours chat Yuji Kumada, a 33-year-old senior official of Nikken Cutlery, had with two of his y…READ FULL ARTICLE