Japanese blades are culturally interesting objects both from the stylistic point of view and because of their fantastic performances. In this work, we present new results, using a non-invasive approach, concerning these peculiar artefacts. Two integer Japanese swords, pertaining to Koto (987-1596) and Shinto (1596-1781) periods have been analysed through neutron-imaging techniques. The experiments have been performed at the ICON beam line, operating at the spallation neutron source SINQ, Paul Scherrer Institut in Switzerland. The reconstruction of projection data into neutron tomographic slices or volumes, allowed us to identify some very peculiar characteristics, related to the forging methods and to the different thermal treatments applied to produce the cutting edge and its unique feature.

Neutron scattering length of a proton is largely dependent on proton spin polarization (P_H), when neutron is polarized. This effect can be utilized for contrast variation in small angle neutron scattering (SANS). In this article, we will report our recent experiment of spin contrast variation study at BL15 TAIKAN in November 2014. For silica-filled SBR rubber sample, we discussed transmission, coherent and incoherent scattering intensity, as a function of P_H.

We review the neutron imaging (NI) and small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) instruments at KUR, Kumatori, Osaka, Japan. There are two NI and one SANS instruments. The both instruments are compact and used flexibly. Some challenging experiments taking advantage of low neutron fluence are described. The feature of KUR is also described briefly.

PLANET is a time-of-flight (TOF) neutron beamline dedicated to high-pressure experiments. By using several high-pressure devices, neutron diffraction patterns are obtainable at wide PT condition, ranging from 0-20 GPa and 77 K-2000 K. To obtain clean pattern, the beamline is equipped with the incident slits and receiving collimators to eliminate parasitic scattering from the high-pressure cell. The high performance of the diffractometer with the resolution (Δd/d ~ 0.6%) and the accessible d-spacing range (0.2–8.4 Å) together with low-parasitic scattering characteristics enables precise structure determination of crystals and liquids even under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions.