I was looking at a katana sword and it doesnt give any information on it having a hada. It has a hamon, is full tang, and is made of quality steel, though no hada is mentioned. (grain in the steel) Is it possible for a katana not to have a hada? Does this not make it a "REAL" sword?
The hada is the grain displayed when the steel is folded and the blade is polished to the point that the scratches are smaller than the individual layers of the steel.
If the sword is not folded, made from folded billet or pattern welded steel there will be no grain.
There are many well made blades from Howard Clark, James Raw and other respected swords smiths outside of Japan that display no hada. So while a polished sword from Japan should have a hada a real sword forged elsewhere could very well be lacking one.
The best thing to do is post the exact sword you are talking about and I will give you my opinion about it.
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