A last note on The Last Samurai
10 o'clock, December 17, 2003
Something I forgot to mention: Whatever sound-effects guy put in the shink noises when the swords are drawn, needs to go back to Foley School. And if the sound-effects guy knew better, and someone higher up on the Hollywood food chain made him put those noises in, that someone should be sentenced to twenty-four hours of sitting in zazen on a hard wooden floor, while a priest with a wooden paddle stands by to make sure he or she concentrates properly.
Japanese swords have wooden scabbards. They do not (sorry, Brandon) go shink. At most, if you screw up, they might go clack. When drawn properly, they make no noise at all.
I'll bet you good money someone, be it foley guy/director/producer/studio exec, justified it for the same reason that movie starships make zooming noises in space: it may be wrong, but (American, at least) audiences expect it.