“Old enough to know better” loses out to “old enough to just not care” as two seniors slice each other with same weapon.

By and large, getting drunk and solving your problems with your fists is a young man’s way of doing things. Consider, for example, 63-year-old Chikai Tamura, who was out drinking at a restaurant in the town of Yukihashi, Fukuoka Prefecture last Friday night.

While at the establishment he became involved in a verbal altercation with another patron, an unnamed man who is eight years Tamura’s senior. But even after the pair (who were previous acquaintances) left the restaurant, Tamura decided against using his fists to settle their differences.

Unfortunately, he decided to use a sickle instead.

Reports don’t indicate whether Tamura happened to have the gardening tool on him while he was drinking at the restaurant or if he procured or retrieved it from somewhere after leaving. Either way, he swung the bladed instrument at the other man, striking him in the head.

However, the blow was not fatal, and the man, showing what must have been incredible determination, managed to wrestle the sickle away from Tamura. With the tables turned, the man counterattacked, swinging the weapon and slicing into Tamura’s leg. Doctors estimate Tamura’s wounds will take three weeks to heal, with the prognosis being one week for the man who was struck in the head.

When questioned about the incident, Tamura said that he merely intended to intimidate the man, telling investigators “I swung [the sickle] to threaten him, and ended up hitting him. I wasn’t trying to kill him.” The man also denied specifically wanting to inflict bodily harm, saying “I swiped [the sickle] in the direction of his leg, and wound up hitting him.”

The flimsy excuses weren’t enough to convince the police to let them off, however. The fact that a late-night sickle fight on Friday the 13th would make a fitting horror movie plot isn’t buying them any leniency, either, and the Fukuoka Prefectural Police have placed both men under arrest, charging Tamura with attempted murder and the other man with assault.

Source: Livedoor News/Yomiuri Online via Jin
Top image: Pakutaso

Follow Casey on Twitter, where he knows that photo also looks like a scythe, but it’s closer in size to a sickle.