| Actually, there is access to extremely high quality steel that is used by some Western swordsmiths in making katana. The way that the Japanese forged it, with the intense folding to remove the impurities, they turned the crud-filled ore that they had access to into a good sword.
There is another way of creating swords now. By incorporating, say, Swedish powdered steel (as one of Bugei's top-of-the-line katana does), the artist may create a sword that matches, or perhaps even beats the strength of the katana of Masamune's era.
The question becomes, is this improved blade the work of the forger, or is it merely access to better quality materials? Those who make decisions about such things in Japan have decided that it is merely the materials that have improved, not the forger. (again, this info is as of the 80's. If anyone has more current info, I'd love to hear it. I plan on, at some point, purchasing a shinken, or True Sword) |