Would a sword that is folded, made of high carbon steel with a real hamon line, and razor sharp be considered an authentic samurai katana?
Mushin makes many good points,, but there is one characteristic she left out. It must have been owned by a samurai. Nothing else is a samurai sword. As has been pointed out, there are many nihonto (that means "Japanese Sword") out there and there are katana and then there are katana shaped objects. If you TRUELY want to do some research on a sword, a good place to start is here:
I have met Professor Stein and the man is sword passion personified. I was humbled by his attention to a piece of metal garbage I thought was a jewel, and his words of encouragement made it a learning experience.
But to say it again.....If no Samurai owned it.....It's not a Samurai sword.
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