Katana

Historically, katana (刀) were one of the traditionally made Japanese swords (日本刀, nihontō) that were used by the samurai of feudal Japan. Modern versions of the katana are sometimes made using non-traditional materials and methods. The katana is characterized by its distinctive appearance: a curved, slender, single-edged blade with a circular or squared guard and long grip to accommodate two hands.

History

The production of swords in Japan is divided into specific time periods:

The first use of "katana" (gatana) as a word to describe a long sword that was different from a tachi occurs as early as the Kamakura Period (1185–1333). These references to "uchigatana" and "tsubagatana" seem to indicate a different style of sword, possibly a less costly sword for lower-ranking warriors. The evolution of the tachi into the katana seems to have started during the early Muromachi period (1337 to 1573). Starting around the year 1400, long swords signed with the "katana" signature were made. This was in response to samurai wearing their tachi in what is now called "katana style" (cutting edge up). Japanese swords are traditionally worn with the signature facing away from the wearer. When a tachi was worn in the style of a katana, with the cutting edge up, the tachi's signature would be facing the wrong way. The fact that swordsmiths started signing swords with a katana signature shows that some samurai of that time period had started wearing their swords in a different manner.

Katana (disambiguation)

Katana is Japanese for backsword and often refers to uchigatana, especially in English. For a list of fictional katana, see Katanas in fiction. Katana may also refer to:

Dreamcast

The Dreamcast (Japanese: ドリームキャスト, Hepburn: Dorīmukyasuto) is a home video game console released by Sega on November 27, 1998 in Japan, September 9, 1999 in North America, and October 14, 1999 in Europe. It was the first in the sixth generation of video game consoles, preceding Sony's PlayStation 2, Nintendo's GameCube and Microsoft's Xbox. The Dreamcast is Sega's final home console, marking the end of the company's 18 years in the console market.

In contrast to the expensive hardware of the unsuccessful Sega Saturn, the Dreamcast was designed to reduce costs with "off-the-shelf" components, including a Hitachi SH-4 CPU and an NEC PowerVR2 GPU. Released in Japan to a subdued reception, the Dreamcast enjoyed a successful U.S. launch backed by a large marketing campaign, but interest in the system steadily declined as Sony built hype for the upcoming PlayStation 2. Sales did not meet Sega's expectations despite several price cuts, and the company continued to incur significant financial losses. After a change in leadership, Sega discontinued the Dreamcast on March 31, 2001, withdrawing from the console business and restructuring itself as a third-party publisher. 9.13 million Dreamcast units were sold worldwide.

Anything (3T song)

"Anything" is a song composed and recorded by 3T It was their first released single, and was extracted from their first album Brotherhood. This single received a Gold Certification on January 26, 1996. It reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart as it was unable to breach the five-week reign at number one of "Spaceman" by Babylon Zoo, and #15 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The song was the 18th biggest selling boyband single of the 90's in the UK selling 480,000 copies. It is reported to have sold 2,000,000 copies worldwide.

Track listings

Anything (The Cranberries demo)

Anything is the first demo EP of the Irish band The Cranberry Saw Us, later known as The Cranberries. It was self-released in cassette format. This is the only release to feature the original singer Niall Quinn. By their next release, Water Circle, Niall Quinn had been replaced by Dolores O'Riordan as lead vocalist and primary songwriter.

Guitarist Noel Hogan designed the cover art. He made an error in the band's name, spelling it "The Cranbery Saw Us" on both the cover and the liner notes. The liner notes show the original sale price was £2.00 and overwritten with £2.50. There are no surnames mentioned in the liner notes.

Track listing

Personnel

Anything (The Damned album)

Anything is the seventh studio album by The Damned, released by MCA Records in 1986. On the album's release, it charted in the United Kingdom peaking at number 40 and was certified as Silver by the British Phonographic Industry. Four singles were released that all charted in the United Kingdom.

The album received some positive press but was later called inferior to the group's previous work by AllMusic. Vanian later stated he wished the album had better production.

Production

The album began production in June 1986 in Puk Recording Studios in Denmark. The Damned's vocalist, Dave Vanian, later stated that the group were forced into the studio to record the album before they had prepared any new material for it. Drummer Rat Scabies mentioned that the group had demoed the song "In Dulce Decorum", but most of the songs were written in the studio. In July, the group took a break from recording to perform a 10th anniversary performance in London at the Town and Country Club and two in Finsbury Park, where the group performed some songs that would appear on Anything, and were joined by Captain Sensible to perform "Smash It Up". On returning to Denmark, the group recorded a cover of "Alone Again Or" which Scabies originally thought was written by Roman Jugg. The album concluded production in August.