Got knife, will travel ... but not to Japan!

Sometime last year, Japan issued new rules for carrying knives. Even before the rules were supposed to go into effect, I began to hear horror stories. The first was from a fellow Scouter, he was sitting in his car, waiting for his wife to return from a quick shopping trip in the near-by store. The police came by and asked what he had in his car (which is a storehouse of his scouting gear) . Then, they went through and removed his camp knives ... including a fishing knife he had thought lost, which they found under a seat. It seems he was also dragged to the police station and charged with carrying weapons( ( or something like that).

About a week after that event, with the new law due to kick in still a week away, an elderly foreigner stopped by a police box, in a part of town where foreigners often go for entertainment, to ask directions. In the course of conversation, the police asked him if he had a knife. The guy pulled out a pocket knife he had had all his life, much like mine, and not only was it taken from him, he was hauled in and booked!

Therefore, looking ahead, I paid a visit last week  to my local "koban"(police box) to check the process I need to do to teach knife skills to Cubs and Boy Scouts. My local police are not much into knife confiscation but you never know... The officer on duty called the headquarters and asked. He learned you can carry a knife (maybe) but the blade can't be over 6cm.  As you can see, my old pocket knife is in danger. I suspected as much because I think that old tourist was carrying a typical pocket knife. Whether it is the sharpened edge that is measured or the entire blade is also somewhat foggy.

I took the "Totin' Chip" and "Whittling Chip" cards and showed them to the officer and asked how he proposed I teach these things without actually having a knife ... unless I do it in my own little room. How can I get my tools to camp without having them taken away? What keeps the police from standing outside the knife store and grabbing your purchase as you come out the door?

In the end, I was sent to the web site where you can down-load several pages of forms (in Japanese, of course) . These I need to fill out and take to headquarters where I can get a permission slip to tote my knives. It is not clear if I need a new slip for each time I go out with a knife or if I need to know the exact date of the event where I will use the knife (time and location and number of participants)

Only old lady foreigners would ask such questions. The general public would just give up and accept the law. The saga to be continued.

Here are the first five of the pinewood derby cars I made for our Pack's open competition.  This "Re-cycle" was made in 1983. Extra wood was added to raise the ends since the blocks in the kit had a dip in the center. A pull-tab was fastened to the front.

"Chips Ahoy" 1994 is carrying an axe because he was my Woodbadge patrol animal. The back end says, "Nice gnawing you".

The "Top Banana" was 1985. I filled the dip in the block with a piece of wood and added wood to the high end. As I recall, this was a pretty fast car.

1986 was an "E-racer". Nothing to add as I cut the block to the level of the notch.

1987 was the "Missing Link". I couldn't separate the links or the car would be too long but I freed the ball in the cage and the vibrations from the track caused it to turn as it ran.

All but the recycle have made trips to the National Jamboree where they were on display at the Boys' Life Whittling booth.