Gizmodo: samurai

Woah, This Samurai Warrior USB Gamepad is All Kinds of Freaky

Danny Allen — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 09:50:00 EDT

Seriously, those green LED eyes would stare questioningly, deep into my soul while I tweak its switchable analog/digital nipples. It's modeled after the DualShock controller, and supports the PS3, PS2, and PCs. It looks bizarre, and I like it.

As you can see, a removable mask also turns the face into Skeletor. For $25, you too, can celebrate bad taste and creepy peripherals this Halloween. Yes, Sorceress! [USB Geek via Technabob and DVICE]

Student Kills Intruder with Samurai Sword After PlayStation, Laptops Stolen

Danny Allen — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:20:00 EDT

Holy crap. Detectives are still interviewing a Johns Hopkins University student who fatally lacerated the upper body of a man breaking into his off-campus residence overnight. The suspect also suffered a nearly-severed hand, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The house is home to four undergrads who had already had a Sony PlayStation and two laptops stolen earlier on Monday.

So when one of the students heard noises at about 1am, he went to downstairs to investigate armed with the sword. He saw that the side door to their garage had been pried open, and inside, the suspect lunged at him.

The guy probably didn't deserve to die, but Police have confirmed he has priors for breaking and entering.

Self defense or too much force? It's hard to say without being there. One things for sure: Don't fuck with gamers. [Baltimore Sun and ABC2 News] Thanks Joshua!

Pedometer Makes You a Character in a Samurai Storyline

Sean Fallon — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:40:00 EDT

Bandai is taking a new approach in the herculean task that is enticing nerds to exercise. This pedometer/calorie counter casts you as a 16th century Samurai hell-bent on controlling Japan.

You can choose between three daimyo characters from the Sengoku, or Warring States. The more you walk, the closer you and your foot soldiers will come to conquering Japan. Although, something tells me Samurai wouldn't need a nap after five minutes on a treadmill. [Bandai via Impress via Tokyo Mango]

Greatest Living Samurai Reduced To Slicing Vegetables, BBs in Slow-Mo

Sean Fallon — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 17:40:00 EDT

The noble Samurai has found his role in Japanese society reduced over the decades from a fearsome fighting warrior to a skilled cutter of vegetables and BBs that's paraded on TV shows for our amusement.

Granted, this video illustrates Samurai Isao Machii's impressive skill and hand-eye coordination, but until he can slice actual flying bullets instead of BBs, he will be nearly useless in battle (although he is still great for ratings). [Tokyomango via Neatorama]

Samurai Ergonomics

Brian Lam — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:00:51 EDT

I have ignored computer ergonomic professionals my entire computing life, but this winter, a pain in my lower back would not go away. Instead of listening to "experts" I followed the advice of ancient swordsmen.

Samurai guards used to sit in a kneeling position, with one knee up and one knee on the ground. The instability of the position, which required an active rebalancing, along with the slight tinge of pain on the lowered knee cap on the ground, made it ideal for long uneventful shifts. The position kept people awake, which kept them sharp and engaged so they'd be ready when the sonofabitch ninjas finally showed their facemasks. It's like a single replacement for a chair, and coffee.

I find that physiologically it also makes a great alternative to the sitting position, where one's back and gluts and neck are constantly stretched while the hip flexors and abs are constantly compressed but unused. This way, I stretch one leg at a time. The kneeling also keeps my eyes level with the screen of a laptop, and the desk too relatively high to lean on (which causes me to slouch). I don't get too tired, as I can rest my chest against the desk when I need to.

Through the day, I sit on an exercise ball, too, but I never feel better than when I am in the sitting stance. Swordsmen were also able to draw swords from this stance, to address attackers in front and behind them. I just change knees every few emails. Just in case the ninjas show. [Iaido, image from]

*This stance works for me, but I am not an ergonomic expert. Obviously.

UPDATE: Yeah, this shit makes my knees feel like shit. Don't listen to me.

Samurai Sword Umbrella: Fight the Rain With Honor

Sean Fallon — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 13:20:00 EST

Whip out your samurai sword umbrella and do battle with Mother Nature. Should you be defeated, the only honorable way out is seppuku—although that would be especially nasty with an umbrella. [ThinkGeek via Uberreview]

Samurai Underpants Sheaths Your Katana in Awesome

Elaine Chow — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:30:00 EST

Who doesn't dream of wandering the fields of ancient Japan, wielding a katana for truth and justice? Though the samurai age is long over, you can still ennoble your privates with awesome samurai underpants.

Samurai-themed underwear have become something of a runaway hit in Japan. Each piece is made to resemble the armor of famous Japanese samurai, such as Tokugawa shogunate founder Tokugawa Ieyasu or military hero Oda Nobunaga.

They can be found on Japanese company Sido's website, but everything is currently sold out. If you wait for them to restock, each piece will cost you about $100. [Japan Probe]

Samurai Sword Maker Holds The Key To Nuclear Reactors

Mark Wilson — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:59:12 EDT

In testament to old world craftsmanship, Japan Steel Works is both a samurai sword maker and the only company in the world that's good enough with steel to produce the central part of a nuclear reactor's containment vessel in one piece, an engineering necessity in order to reduce the risk of radioactive leaks. The company spends so much time and resources on each containment vessel that they can only produce four per year, flaunting a price tag starting with a $100 million down payment. [bloomberg via slashdot] [image]

Samurai Stormtroopers Hunt Down and Exterminate Ninja Jedis

matt buchanan — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 18:30:56 EST

If Star Wars took place in Japan and Jedis were ninjas, this is what Stormtroopers would hunt them down in during the Great Jedi Purge. They're obviously smarter than the average clone, too, since they're too dumb and clumsy to wield katana. Created by artist Yoshi Isao and on display at Gift Show 2008 in Tokyo, Giz Japan brings us this follow-up to his rendition of Darth Vader as Dark Lord of the Shogun. [Yoshitoku via Giz Japan]

The Last Samurai Bot Would Eat Tom Cruise's Children

Brian Lam — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:31:57 EDT

Here's a Japanese robot named Kiyomori designed to show off fully articulating knees that can bend and expand like human knees. Combined with the articulating pelvis that has 2 degrees of movement, it walks, they claim naturally. I'm not so impressed with its gait, which has been documented before, but note Kiyomori's glowing red eyes. Why does it have a full suit of feudal Japanese armor, a sword and 39 degrees of freedom? I'm not sure I know the answer to these questions, but I'm kind of glad it didn't draw its sword. Oh look, the brochure says it's "Ushering in the new world robot order" and will "spearhead the worldwide development of the new robot civilization." (Not kidding.)

Height: 160CM
Weight 74KG
Degrees of freedom: 39
Head: 2
Arm: 14
Waist: 3
Leg: 14
Walking speed: .5-1KPH
Power: NiH