Almost every day from across the world, news of “samurai swords” being used in crimes ranging from robberies and altercations to attacks and murders are reported. In many cases, the so called samurai swords are not swords, but would qualify as machete, and many more are not even of Japanese origin, but so strong is the image of the samurai weapon that any long, sharp blade is instantly called a samurai sword by the media, sullying the samurai name and reputation of the classical weapon of the bushi. The use of different weapons in such contemporary crime has led to the need for identification of cut marks on bone made by specific weapons and to develop standards in investigation processes to assist in the identification of specific weapons, especially in the absence of eyewitness accounts.
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