Top 5 Sharpest Katana in History / History of Japanese Swords
2024 ж. 3 Мам.
753 327 Рет қаралды
Japanese swords are renowned worldwide for their sharpness. Among them, there are several famous swords known for their cutting edge. In this video, we will introduce the top 5 sharpest swords in history.
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00:00 Opening
00:37 "Honebami Toushirou"
03:44 "Kotetsu"
05:57 "Tonbokiri"
09:08 "Heshikiri Hasebe"
11:52 "Dojikiri Yasutsuna"
Narration is provided by J.B. Narration inquiries can be made at jjhiroshimaid69@gmail.com
this is an interesting topic! its a balance thing see almost any quality nihonto can be polished and honed to past razor sharp but that edge would never hold up under the stresses of combat. on the other hand a dull edge dose its owner no favors but is not likely to chip out or roll over or crack. the best blades have an even balance between sharp and durable. i have a kanbun shinto era hizen-to an O-wakizashi that due to its profile can be sharp as you need and durable at the same time. i have noticed that older blades tend to be thinner lighter blades have a springy feel and hold a fine edge, these for me are in their own category and are almost impossible to reproduce. its super interesting to me!
Maybe older blades have been repolished more often, therefore beiing thinner
Thank you for always providing informative comments!
@@HistoryofKatana Interesting, so it must have been a blood era during its time. I liked this and subscribing too.
The edge of any cutting tool or weapon is dependant upon its use and is usually 22 or 24 degrees with its main blade thickness determining use and angle. You do not put the same angle on a machete as you do on a chefs knife.
@@charlesmeaux3954 with Japanese swords their is no bevel at the edge, each side is polished all the way to the cutting edge meeting on each side rather than an angled bevel like on a pocket knife. that's why toughness is so important. a blade that's brittle will chip or even break.but if evry thing comes together and works perfectly during yaki-iri you can have a tough blade that will resist chipping while being razor sharp at the same time. that is the goal. lighter tougher and sharper swords wer the result. a few of these swords wer so well done that they can not be recreated to this day! its interesting.
Way back in early 1980's, i watched a national geographic episode about Japan. There was one segment on that show, that showed the crafting of the Japanese sword, and i was so mesmerized by it that i immediately started forging swords out of any kind of metal that i could find as a young kid, it was my goal as a child too create edged weapons, and as the years progressed and as i got older, i got better, we didn't have the Internet back then , so finding any information about bladesmithing, was very difficult. So it was mostly accomplished by trial and error, but eventually, I learned throughout hard work and alot of disappointments , and alot of years. Now that im 52 , and old an old man, i hope that what little i wrote, can be an inspiration for the next young bladesmith with a dream in his or her heart.never give up on anything in life that you want too become, life is a journey, make it yours, sincerely " Gary E Garner.
Well said Gary
Jesus Christ loves you 💙 He has a plan and a purpose for your life, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jesus Christ loves you 💙
As a Japanese person, I have never seen a video that explains the katana so accurately. wonderful. Even for Japanese katana enthusiasts, there is a lot to learn from this. In Japan, the kotetsu is said to be the sharpest katana. The reason Kondow didn't get injured was because his technique was excellent. It is considered wrong to use the katana to defend against attacks. Although this was not possible for many samurai, kondow was faster than his enemy's attacks and used his katana accurately, so he did not need to defend. In fact, many Japanese swordsmanship schools do not teach defense. Teach to avoid. The katana was not damaged because he attacked with the part called "monouchi". Normally, no matter how much you practice, it is impossible to perform the same attack as him🤔
I would like to respectfully point out that I think there is something getting lost in translation about your remark "…many Japanese swordsmanship schools do not teach defense". The English words "defend" and "defense" have a very wide meaning. "Defense" in English would include kenjutsu terms like: mamori 守り (protect), tome/-dome 止め (stop, block), uke 受け (receive), kaeshi/-gaeshi 返し (reversal, parry), harai/-barai 払い/拂い (sweep, parry), and even kawasu 躱す/ inasu 往な (to dodge). You are correct in that most kenjutsu schools teach that blocking (tome) is a last resort, and that binding with the opponent's blade should generally be avoided. Even in European swordsmanship, blocking is less common than movies lead you to believe, although binding does get used frequently due to the differences in handguards (tsuba) when compared to the katana (but still not in the "stop for a close-up and trade insults" manner that movies frequently use). None of this changes that Kondou must have been incredibly skilled, and even through an extended fight, he was able to avoid using techniques that were more likely to damage his katana.
@@jamesfrankiewicz5768 It was very helpful. thank you. My comment was made with the help of Google Translate, so I wasn't sure how well it would be understood. Most Japanese people generally have the same level of knowledge as I do, and there are very few people who have done as much accurate research as you. You have proven this knowledge wrong. That's great 👍 And I sincerely apologize that I don't speak English...... I asked for Google Translate! Please translate accurately! If the translation is weird, I'll uninstall it! lol
@@user-zt5xq5hw6u No need to apologize, we appreciate you trying! I have to say that my own Nihongo is fairly limited: budō-related words, food, greetings, those sorts of things. Translating between languages as different as ours can be difficult, and often small differences in meaning can make a big difference in what was intended to be said. You keep studying English, I will keep studying Japanese. Ganbatte!
@@jamesfrankiewicz5768 GOOD LORD!!!! You people just have to argue about the minutiae of things that really do not matter and are so close.
I will put my primary 8" chefs knife against ANY sword for "sharpness" then if you really want to pop a gasket, I have a 6" obsidian primitive knife that is sharper than any of those metal blades. 😛
Truly remarkable. Thanks for the video.
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Left a like as always❤… this content makes my weekend brighter
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Testing swords on prisoners. Ancient Japan was no joke. Amazing historical artifacts, thanks for sharing history.
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Great informative vid! I remember hearing of two blades thrust into a stream to test for sharpness. One blade easily cut the leaves that the current guided to the blade. But the other was deemed more powerful as the leaves avoided the blade completely.
This is so cool, thank you!
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It's fantastic to know the craftsmanship, it's very valuable to me as a knife maker, bless you 🙏
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One traditional Japanese knife was given to each naval cadet upon graduation, but there were so many of them that some were manufactured by traditional steel makers and some by modern steel companies. Students who knew that traditional swords were brittle had more orders for modern swords.
Fantastic video
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These are truly works of art.
Please, leave the playlists of the songs in your videos, the music is very beautiful and good for concentration.
European swords do not "focus on weight to cut". I have trained with both & they weigh about the same. The euro swords have what is called distal taper which makes them lively even in one hand. They also get plenty hard enough to be sharp & cut well. Yes a katanas edge is harder but it is also easier to damage when cutting hard targets. While the european sword is only slightly less sharp/hard at the edge it is far more durable b/c of its spring temper as opposed to the differental temper that the Katana has.
Thank you
Yes, thank you. I was very annoyed when I heard that to. This person is just another one who thinks European swords were just big clubs instead of real blades literally equal to the Katana.
Every one of these types of videos always has those people who have to compare the European swords to the Japanese sword .
Totally agree blades break and it happened more often than people would think I have had experience with blades of all kinds steel is steel and it doesn't matter what kind of sword getting cut or stabbed by a rust piece of crap does the exact same damage
Thank you for your interesting and informative comment!
Wow‼️ Lots of action😆 Merry Christmas🎄🌸🐨💕✨
Thank you so much! Sorry for the late reply. Happy New Year!
Anything that cuts through 6 bodies,and into the wooden post beneath,is strong as it is sharp,i am a blacksmith by trade,the amount of resilience and durability a thin blade needs to have for acomplishing such a task,is immense,also,you can never fight in an enclosed space such as an inn,without blocking or deflecting someone hurling at you,every sword user knows how much a blade that can withstand a battle and remain your life saver is worth,especially the blades that served for decades or centuries,even though if they are used once in a year,thise are centuries of battles,such a composition of metal internal arrangement is pure art,remember,the opponents wore armour,there were thousands of them,nobody who is not yoshitsune minamoto,could evade enemies,or precisely hit unarmored parts on them every time,so,lets appreciate the skill of those ancient artisans..thank you..
I wouldn’t take all those legends as fact. It’s very likely there was a great deal of exaggeration involved as they were passed down.
Katanas were never capable of cutting through anything harder than flesh. They're notorious for being brittle and broken when meeting anything bone or steel.
The best.video.katana😊
Awesome
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and one more thing I've learnt about this things about Japanese history thru one of the games they made about it
kiri can also be translated as slayer from how I understand it and what is the context of the sentence and from the way it's described in this video translating it as slayer could be the one it means
I thought this would be about the Tameshigiri cutting test swords. Missed an opportunity there
I cannot believe that Hatori Hanzo swords did not make this list.
someone is already posted this.. hahaha.. im too late..😅
Is it sharper than the Ginzu 2000 though
Such a fine, beautiful japanese swords! 🌻🫶
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@@HistoryofKatana Thank u for sharing is phenomenal work! 🫶
I look forward to your continued support!@@HoneyHyewolf1412
My father was born in 1930 and is still alive today. He was a child when Japan took over his homeland. He recalled how when they took over his village, a Japanese officer pulled out his katana and cut off a guys head in one swipe. He described the awe he felt at that moment and ever since he favored Japanese made products. Japans ruthlessness kinda explains how they were able to take over Asia during WW2.
Cool.
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On 7.17 there is the painting of the samurai holding the spear, in the background you see 2 soldiers and its like the are shooting or holding a fire arm .... Did they have fire arms in that period or what is exactly depicted by the 2 soldiers?...
Thank you for watching the video in such detail. Yes, in the 16th century, when Tadakatsu Honda was alive, matchlock guns had been introduced to Japan and had begun to be used in battle!
I feel the stature of the ancient Japanese may be a little over-emphasized. There are some paintaings that make out very developed musculature, and I think it would be implausible to think that such individuals could be weak in modern terms (we are on average a lot weaker than people from before the Industrial Revolution since we don't do as much physical work lol).
Good point. Their is evidence that samurai during the Nanbokucho were very strong and built even , taller up to 6ft.
@@prabshiro Rice agriculture was still slowly building during the Nanbokucho period, so they probably more typically had a more nutritious diet than later periods. White rice (which certainly tastes better than brown), is actually rather devoid of nutrients, and is mostly just starches (carbohydrates). That, and Buddhism was less widespread, which those early forms of Buddhism that came to Japan also strongly discouraged eating red meats and pork.
Ancient Japanese people had far superior physical strength compared to modern Japanese, thanks to agriculture and rice.
Thank you to everyone for the comments!
Funny that Europe and Japan had sword that weighted essentially the same amount, but let's not mention that 😂
and all have the same bodymechanics. katanas are just the best thing you can do with shitty steel.
@@nachtschattenmacherisn’t that the beauty tho… to take something inferior and make it up to spec through trial, error and time. I think many legendary stories came about that way. A good sword cutting through an inferior one is not a magical kill it all blade. Just a better sword. So in the end u are right. It might be the best thing to make of bad material. I never looked at it that way thank u for sharing
Let's add that surviving old katana are also generally the ones that were high-quality to begin with. There's plenty of examples of old European blades which are dinged-up, corroded, bent, broken, etc. There's probably a fair amount of katana that, after being severely damaged, were recycled to a forge as stock material for spears, knives, and arrowheads, etc. Europe just had more abundant sources of iron ore, so they were less meticulous about scavenging after a battle.
@nachtschattenmacher you misunderstand. The steel was scarce and of pure quality, they found d a way to turn that into immaculate amazing steel. Thus making swords that lasted many battles and generations with nothing more than some maintenance and resharpaning
@@410cultivar the way Tamahagane is made out of ironore-sand is one of the problems when trying to make good quality steel. you bring a lot sulphur and phospore into the steel, which make steel brittle. so you have to folde the steel for purification.
European swords are usually made with the idea of making them light as they possibly could be. A single handed version will usually be under or around 1000g. And possibly 1500g. Many especially sabres prior to mass production could be as light as 6 to 700g. 2 handed swords come at higher weights but not all the time. Both European and Japanese not mention Mongol or Chinese to Indian regions all excelled in blade smithing and arw not comparable. No comparisons are necessary they are all good
Greetings from Germany. It's really fascinating how many historical things can no longer be recreated these days. I'm not just thinking about Japanese swords. Anecdote: A German blacksmith did a test years ago. It was about the myth that "katanas" can pierce other swords. As a counterpart he used a German longsword. The modern "Katana" broke in two. The modern long sword had only one notch.
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VERY INTERESTING! I OWN SEVERAL.KATANAS!Certainly nothing like the Beauty, Quality, Historical Value, & Amazing Cultural Feats of Bravery! I am in awe of their Legends, & those who wielded them!! Sharing/Learning: the heart & soul of those blades, sharpness, & creators who forged them; is sacred history of heros! Thank you for the opportunity to learn this history! J
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One word, respect.......
Thank you very much for your comment. It truly makes me happy to receive such comments, and they are a great encouragement for me in making videos.
You do realise Western swords were not all made to CUT you had western swords that were more focused towards thrusting not to mention they typically weighed the same as a katana of course that would depend on the type of sword but when it comes to European swords of a similar size to the katana they weighed basically the same amount not to mention balance is a very important thing not just wait from my experience I’ve noticed that a katana’s point of balance is actually higher up the blade which makes it more top-heavy and better at slashing
ke indonesia om, di sini ada senjata samurai rol tombol2an dan model selendang😂
Gran video pero falto el nihonto más famoso de todos, honjo masamune
Your credibility evaporated as soon as the weight comparison ended. Both japanese katana and european long swords are essentially the same weight, long swords tend to be both longer and pointier giving them a better advantage for stabbing and having a dual edge profile allows you to have a second sharp edge for slashing if your sword is damaged
I believe he's referring to the medieval Broadsword. The heavy two handed beast.
@jonbutcher9805 you're being extremely charitable.
I was just wondering if any of Miyamoto Musashi's swords still exist?
Yes, I’m a museum dedicated to the swordsman.
A few
Would the oar he used as a boken during the beach fight with Kojiro perhaps survived somehow?
I see a lot of names from various anime both persons and swords! I like this!
Rich leaders with expensive swords were alive not with the help of katanas sharpness, but with security guards and status
"Awe, that's cute " ~Green Destiny~
The AI voiceover almost convinced me 😂
Never understood the east/west sword arguments....they are literally the same tool, used for the same purpose...size shape and weight all for different needs or preferences. The processes involved were different sure, but even then were talking heat, ores, and smithing. Any argument about wich is "better" is kind of redundant unless your putting each sword in the exact same situations to test what performs "better". I say better in quotes because are we saying thrust?stab? Slice? All around? I dont know what better is supposed to mean when its something that is essentially the same tool with different shapes, sizes, and hilts guards etc. I love swords as a whole and each one tells a story of the culture that made it.
the difference where armory of japanese and western. westerners where full of armor because they were abundant of metal resources - and so there sword design to robust to penetrate thick armors. meanwhile in japan, iron was rare and so you can see in there armory. so thus the weapon they design. katanas were made with less material so they made it so sharp to easily kill an enemy.
What is Sharpest as opposed to just Sharp? How Sharp can a blade get before it can no longer be any sharper. Personally, I think sharpness comes down to a few factors One the Blade design and the quality of it itself, Two what is material the blade will be cutting, and Three the Technique used to cut and or slice the material it was intended for to cut.
ive a mino den ko-wakizashi crafted in the 1420s by the smith kane-tome - with ko mokume hada - hamon is gunome with midare utsuri. its hara zukuri and is scary sharp! blade is just over 12 inches or 30cm 2 peace gold foiled hibaki and the saya came with solid gold shitodome and the lacquer is top level work. def not the property of an average level samurai. the blade is slender thin and razor sharp. perfect for collecting trophies.
That's amazing! Thank you for sharing! I would love to own a famous sword like that someday.
Nice but steel is steel I have a few edo period swords but I use one with modern steel that's but ugly and it would work just as well don't get hung up on traditional thinking it's a mistake steel is steel useless traditions don't matter to crazy people that are trying to kill or chop off a leg I enjoy showing others exactly what I mean most people are not prepared to fight with no regard to tradition and customs and don't have the ability to face someone who doesn't
Sir perhaps you don't know about Maharana Pratap,an Indian king in a battle cut vertically his opponent Bahalol Khan including his horse into two piece with a single blow of his 25 kg sword.what a sword and strength.You can search in Google.
These swords are better for slicing because of the curve of the blade and the edge not just the edge.
When a sword shatter bones doesn't it mean that the blade is dull? I know the fact that when the blade is sharp it slices through bones clean.
Such beautiful blades, I have always wanted to see the most famous katana in Japan.
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Thank you for history not ususually accessible in the US
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You forgot tenseiga,seshoumaru sword that can heal human but deadly to the demons
How sharp is it? Do not look directly upon the edge. If you do, your eyes will bleed.
one of them cut through the barrel of a machine gun during WW2 and must have been a 15th-17th century sword.
@@NationChosenByGodfake history.
@@gsernar6491 Having purchased a set of antique straight razors and then learned to sharpen them and shave with them I can personally attest to what sharpness means and how to properly achieve it. It is a technical achievement that can be perfected only with education. The katana is such an achievement. Legends are quit a natural result to any such accomplishment.
The testing of a sword- a katana, was done on humans, alive or otherwise but criminals. It was more of a qualification. All the best katanas were also being “blooded” and verified to be able to do their job. The finest have always been the most expensive. A daimyo or samurai depends on weapons that perform. And the more renown the warrior the greater honor if he qualifies the weapon. For the maker.
Really strange how proportion was disregarded or misunderstood by all the artists
Wait, is not the Dojikiri a tachi rather than a katana?
How come Murasama katana is not on the list?
Medieval katanas were exactly what they were meant to be: a status symbol, same as European swords. Using both these weapons in battle would be today's equivalent of going to fight in Ukraine with just a handgun.. And if I had to choose, I would use an European sword because you have a better chance to stab through armour with the blade or close range with the handguard
Thank you for your interesting and informative comment!
I wonder how the honjo masamune would have stacked up against these
I am considering making a video about the HONJO MASAMUNE sword as well. Please look forward to it!
OK👍👍🙏
EDGE RETENTION IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING!!!!!
Good Japanese pronunciation other than at the beginning, when you pronounced the name of the city of Ōsaka incorrectly. It's OH-saka not ohSAka.
Me over here with my 5160 spring steel Apokatana from Zombietools swinging it like a baseball bat to see how many trees I can chop down before it snaps. So far so good, tough blade 👍
2:14 That's a Buddhist monk. How did he end up in this story?
Japanese imperial swords from the 13th century in the museum of the Czech Republic: kzhead.info/sun/ZcahaKebpZtumGg/bejne.html
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6 bodies!!!!! Omg
All I care about is having a good blade in the kitchen. But, they tend to be expensive 😖. It is worth the money, though
Where's the Onijo Masamune?
최근에는 골동품 정도 .. 보여지던데 ..중장갑 입고 칼을 쓰던 무사들은 .. 총포에 쓰려졌고 .. 기마 군 사라지고 ..차량이나 기계회 기갑 교체된 상황이라.. 일본 칼이 멋있긴 해요.. 조선의 칼은 판스프링 형태의 칼의 몸통 격검을 견딜수 있게 만들고 .. 칼의 날 부분만 열처리해서 .. 칼의 날이 되는 부분 만 경화 되어 있죠 .. 조선의 칼보다 일본의 칼이 화려 해요 .. 조선의 칼은 판스링 같은 이미지 주죠 .. 일본의 칼은 제련 과정에서 깨지는 것을 방지 하려고 .. 성형 전에 .. 연한 강철을 칼의 중앙에 심어 놓고 성형을 한다 해서 .. 미국의 특정 방송 프로그램에서 일본도 만드는 장면 만이 나오더군요.. 칼의 몸통에 열처리 들어가면 .. 격검 과정에서 칼이 깨저 버리더라구요.. 조선의 칼은 칼의 몸통에 열처리 먹지 안게 칼의 날부분만을 열처리 했죠 .. 조선의 칼은 열처리 된 칼날이 깨저 나가도 .. 칼의 몸통 부분은 판스링 특성이 그대로 살어 있어 .. 칼날이 깨지면 갈어 내고 형상을 잡은 뒤에 칼의 날 부분만을 열처리 해서 제사용할수 있죠 .. 깨어진 부분을 갈어 내고 칼날 부분열처리 해서 사용하는 조선의 칼과 조금 다르군요 ..
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Is this person a Joseon's sword company representative/salesperson???
Ulfberht Viking swords are meant to be top tier too.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Are any of them as sharp as modern blades?
Soo, they were putting points in Dex instead Str...
The idea that western swords relied on great weight to cut is just ignorant. Right, katanas are razors and Western swords were just dull bars of metal.
Agreed. I'm pretty sick of this BS to. Western swords were and are easily as good as Katana's. Even better in many regards.
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@@thaynealexander🤣
@@marshalljulie3676 You disagree?
They basically were! Beauty does not belong in or would ever be part of a western or even Nordic swords! Size and brutality is all they cared about! Not ability or usefulness
my only dream is to become a samurai or a sword master
Just don't do it in a hotel parking lot on meth.
Starting the video by saying that the Japanese didn't rely on the weight of their swords is interesting as their swords are generally much heavier in relation to length than European ones. And so trying to argue that Japanese people being shorter was compensated by sharper swords, when European swords were longer and lighter, seems like an odd argument. There is no need for exaggeration and weird arguments when Japanese swords are incredibly interesting as is.
I have a Kai kitchen knife made in japan and i cut all my food with.the warrior spirit and sake.
I find this vary Morbid, disturbing back culture video in how these swords are characterized
Interesting comment. Welcome to life as we know it. A life that is sometimes brutal, cruel, tragic, traumatic and worse even without human intervention.
Bro u forgot about Inma .....
Where is Kogarasu-maru?
I didn't see Beatrice Kiddo's Hattori Hanzo sword mentioned.
Originálne čepele z ocele TAHAMAGANE krasne hystoricke kusky🔪🔪🔪🔪🗡🗡🗡🗡🗿🗿🗿🗿🗿🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵
💖🇯🇵💖
Heard u don't feel the cut
Divim se samo narodu Japana.❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤.
So zoros sword is the national treasure.
the 1st sword is a Naginata-Naoshi most Naginata are sharper than most swords wider bevel almost zero grind also an Osarako tanto is in that category. most of the best smiths lived during the Muromachi. also European swords are much lighter an half an sword is lighter than a katana and a bit longer. an Alexandria is surprising light too.
I agree with naginata possibly sharper due to the way they were forged. However muromachi didn't have the best smiths. That honour goes to Kamakura/ nanbokucho period, just too many big names. Second possibly shinshinto. As many of them tried to replicate those periods.
@@prabshiro I forgot Honjo Masamune lived during the Kamakura period and his students like Kanemitsu. but most blades populated the battle fields of Sengoku Jidai are Muromachi even to late Tokugawa.
@hobbyman47 yep masamune, and before him kunimitsu, norishige, soshu tradition. You also the yamato schools In Nara. The muromachi era saw many mass produced blades, which lacked quality. Of course there also were some very good works by top smiths, but not as many. The Edo period or shinto swords were not necessarily seen as superior to earlier koto works. This is why many swords of the Kamakura and nanbokucho are highly appraised.
Thank you for the informative comment!
@@prabshiroyep, there was a tsunami that destroyed the building where the shogun had a record of how the best smith's did thier Thang.
Sword, exactly great of Japan.
Das Deutsche Kurzschwert war jeder Samuraiklinge überlegen.
WHAT! no Hattori Hanzo???!!! 😬
I also plan to make a video about Hattori Hanzo!
@@HistoryofKatana 😄👍 thats awesome tho …
The Japanese Katana was the most elegant weapon
No European blade or Muslim blade ever compared to the Japanese katana
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400
It's awesome I love it, the katana is no more sharp the any other swords tho some European swords were sharper and better at cutting just by design alone. BUT The story and the legend behind thease swords tho, That is what makes them so important, coveted, special and it is the mysticism and story behind it along with the man who wields it. Very cool stories tho, and I can't get enough.
И за это респект японцам. Уважают свою историю и заставляют и нас уважать их
@Real_76 Nobody forces me to respect anything, I do it out of appreciation for the art work,craftsmanship, and imagination.
Said ; after ww2 the American army took alot of swords that were in some of those families for 100 yrs Or more.
Katana's are fine weapons, but let's not exaggerate. First of all, the smithing process was stolen from the Chinese. The Japanese sought to recreate the Chinese longsword and acquired the production method, but they accidentally messed up by cooling it too fast, which caused the blade to curve. Incidentally, though this was a flaw in production, they liked the result and kept it. Aside from the curve, the two swords are made almost identically. Moving on, the ancient vikings also managed to acquire the technology to create similar swords. They got it from trading in the Middle East. That said the number one best steel ever created in the ancient world would be Damascus steel, and weapons made from it could not be rivalled. To summarize my point, katanas are great, but they aren't unique for their sharpness. Arguably they aren't even best.
The legend of the ”Katana” as some kind of outerworldly miracle blade, crafted by legendary sword smiths possesing almost magical understanding of steel is - most likely - unfortunately not so very much more than that - a legend. It has been forged more in the chambers of writers or, lately, by film makers and the like than in smithys. Undoubtedly, these late medieval swordsmiths were very skilled craftsmen, as are their modern-day successors, the knifesmiths in the cities of Seki, Sakai and Sanjo, among others. What these legendary swordsmiths did not have access to was our modern metallurgy. Modern steel is not composed of iron ore and carbon but is carefully composed alloys of many elements in carefully researched proportions where each ingredient adds its own unique properties, so unfortunately I'm pretty sure my modern carbon steel knives make the sharpness and durability of these semi ancient swords quite mediocre in comparison. This is not written to detract from the knowledge and skill of the blacksmiths in question, but merely to give some perspective on then and now.
Thank you for your very valuable comment!
Well I have a katana that I'd dated around 1350 to 1400, and lemme tell ya,that thing is scary sharp! A friend of mine hit a deer with his car on accident and broke its back, but didn't have anything to kill it with, so asked me if I did & that sword was all I had with me. So we went to where the poor deer was in the ditch, and it took the deers head off in one slice! And this was a full grown buck! So, yeah, I never killed a deer with a modern blade, but that 600-700 year old sword did the job!
Until 1936, it was the katana that was known to be the sharpest steel ever seen, then a scalpel developer developed the rotary broach that exceeded the edge of the Katana for its renown sharpness.
The comment about weight difference is untrue.
I have two middle ages Samurai katana. My mother's uncle brought them back after the second world war. To hold them is to feel as though you are holding a feather almost. The balance is so fine, so perfect. The feeling of power is immense when wielding them. But the sharpness is indescribable.. I can see clearly that they are hundreds of years old ...yet the edges are true, and can draw blood to the touch. The stitching of the handles is the most beautiful artwork in the sword, and by far the most notable feature in appearance. How much are swords like that worth? There are no scabbards.
Thank you for your very valuable comment.