San Mai laminated steel

Houlahound said:
That's my point, Europeans evolved metallurgy to the point of creating better steel. The old Japanese methods and materials were surpassed by European science. The Katana is literally a sharpened crow bar by design.
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No, not at all.
First, you aren't comparing steel by time period. Modern European steels are no better than modern Japanese steels.
Second, depending on use, modern steels have arguably not exceeded old crucible steels and their equivalent. The best ancient steels still hold up. Arguably because of design choice - ie chippy vs easy to sharpen, etc.
Third, katanas are not literally sharpened crowbars. With modern steels you aren't really getting lighter and still hitting armor & bone. It's European swords that were, for the same reasons that cast iron pans are so heavy. It's a design choice made because of the flaws of the steels of the time. Nobody picks up a katana and broadsword and comes away thinking how heavy and cumbersome the katana is.
 
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