Holy shit you’re wrong, now with references

https://gunbai-militaryhistory.blogspot.com/2018/02/iron-and-steel-technology-in-japanese.html

The truth is that the steel made from Iron Sand was not lower quality than the Steel made from other sources of Iron.

There was nothing inherently low quality about using iron sand anyway. Impurities were carried away by slag and the iron in the sand was easily recovered using washing and later electromagnetism. Imports were used as demand increased.

Impurities are melted into slag. Not the iron. That’s what slag is.

What century of katana are you speaking about? Many katana were used with modern metallurgy technology and imported steel. Do you think modern Japanese created cars are also made from steel refined from sand? Do you think the guns Japanese Samurai used were made from steel refined from sand?

The Japanese used western imported iron a lot, as well as western imported guns.

It’s difficult to get historic figures for this, but in the early 20th century anywhere between 70-90 percent of iron ore used in Japan was imported, and even almost 100% in some years. There’s highly likely to be history to this importing going back a long while. https://d-arch.ide.go.jp/je_archive/english/society/wp_je_unu33.html

Tamahagane steel, the stuff produced from sand, was likely much more popular for ceremonial blades whereas imported steel for blades meant for actual combat. This means the historic examples we have left are more likely to be Tamahagane steel, but if a western swordsman and a Japanese swordsmen were in a position to fight, both would likely be using steel of a similar quality as they would both be using steel from similar places.

One thing to remember is that the empires at the time were very competitive and if Japan was fighting with one of the imperial powers, you can be damn well sure a rival imperial power is supplying Japan with the best equipment to fight back.

Both Europe and Japan had lots of different types of sword, ranging from short to long and light to heavy. You should compare like for like.

Both Europe and Japan used weapons both in warfare and ceremonially.

Yeah they’re a bit better at slashing whilst a straight sword is slightly better at thrusting. Typically a curved sword is a bit better whilst on horseback or whilst fighting unarmoured or lightly armoured opponents and straight blades are a bit better whilst fighting one-on-one and against somewhat more armoured opponents.

But these are slight differences and sword styles are also varied in each region, so the Japanese did develop swords which were more adapted to thrusting with reinforced tips and Europeans did develop swords which were more effective at slashing.

I think some people obsess over what swords are the best and the worst. In reality the style of sword was unlikely to be the major deciding factor in a one on one fight. The amount and quality of armour and the skill and capacity (Size and strength) of the fighters themselves are much bigger factors.

The whole “Japanese steel was really weak” thing is as much of a myth as the whole “katanas are super powerful superior weapons” thing.

They’re all just swords, and don’t make that much of a difference either way.

Yep, just seems disingenuous to act like the history of the spice trade hasn’t affected our food culture when it clearly has massively. Hell, even curry in Japan is popular not because of India but because of British influence. The reason “Katsu Curry” is called Katsu is because of the English word “Cuts” referring to the cuts of meat in the curry, which is Japanese sounds like ‘katsu’.

I’m British and I see it’s wrong because it simply isn’t true… We have a ton of spicy foods. The stereotype that we only eat comfort foods like in the meme is old and worn out. Maybe that’s all you eat, but that’s on you.

I appreciate this, it’s really good advice and what I try to do, but I can always be better.

At the moment I volunteer for a food bank that focuses on redistributing surplus food stocks from businesses instead of having them go to the bin. This is because I abhor waste.

I also volunteer for the Scouts because it upsets me to see young people glued to screens all the time, never leaving their home, and not knowing what the real world and real social situations are. Also, I missed out on a lot of these things as a child because I shied away from them and nobody encouraged me. I enjoyed hiking with my older brother and my uncle, but the premise of joining the Scouts was never even given to me as an option.

It’s amazing to see kids say “what’s this plant, what’s that tree, what is that mushroom, can I eat that berry?” and sometimes being able to answer them, or at least tell them how they can find themselves an answer. “Take a picture of it, do some research, tell me what you find out next week”

Now you’re speaking my language, come and shake my hand… actually, nevermind.

There are many reasons we are screwed as a species. There’s pretty much nothing I can do about it, unfortunately.