I have seen on the blog of a well known woodworking personality that he seems to have discovered that the chip breaker is indeed a functional item,and made it an article on his blog. Formerly,he had not seen its usefulness,apparently.
He does mention in the body of the writing: "After recent discussions of the Japanese film"(words to that effect,at least),he has learned the usefulness of the chip breaker. No names are mentioned,and that statement is rather brief.
I would like to remind everyone that it was David Weaver here who brought the Japanese film to our attention on SMC. I just want to make sure that credit is given where it is due. David does not have a blog,and that is a handicap to those of us who do not,or choose to not have one. I don't feel that I am currently active enough to have a blog.
I learned a lot myself from David's presentation of this material. Formerly,I had used mostly single iron antique planes,which were the norm in the 18th.C.(except for late in the period). I'd used other dodges to get around tearing,such as planing curly maple directly across the grain with a very sharp iron, sharpening to a higher angle at the cutting edge,or other methods. So,I found David's info,and the film very useful.
I am glad to see that apparently David's thread and subsequent discussions have been educational to all,even some of the "gurus" among us :)