are you sure? if it the last-hope-weapon kind of thing and can't break another katana why are every samurai bring 2 katanas ?
and why are meiji prohibit people to bring katana? not spear?
and what make you thing katana craftman are incompetent?
and what you think there is no certain technque when using katana?
and at the very last , what make you thing , at the tropical land like japan , wich have so many dense forest , why would spear become the primary weapon?
so many question.
1-I have no idea what you said in the first row, but Samurai never brought 2 katanas with them. They brought 2 spears, a dagger for close combat after thrusting the opponent with a spear and a sword (katana) as a last measure.
2-Everyone except the Samurai were prohibited to carry swords and a peasant carrying a sword was enough reason to kill the peasant and take the sword after a prohibition was issued in early Edo period.
3- Well the Japanese craftsmen decided that they need a sword, and they did create the Katana, ok, an avarage sword. What's the problem tho? 15fucking centuries these guys are making the same sword, over and over again, without trying anything new, without thinking of all the disadvantages (since it's a 2-handed weapon), without making even the slightest change on the sword, for CENTURIES. To be honest it's a great sword, it's not BAD but it isn't better than most European swords. What calls for an incompetent craftsmen more than not being able to make anything new and simply copying the previous generation? P.S. - They experiment with different curve lenghts and possition, but that's not innvoation (and it's not anything new, it doesn't really change the weapon)
4- It doesn't matter what technique you use. The katana was created from the same metal the samurai's armour was made- You can't cut metal with the exact same metal, neither another sword - here goes down the myth for being able to slice people in two and cut through weapons and armour. One other thing is that the Katana's blade is extremely thick, thicker than most swords, which makes it even worst for cutting through armour than an average broad sword.
5- Like I said, it's impossible to cut through the armour of samurai, therefore the Katana wasn't efficient at all. I am not really deep into the Japanese history, but it's a fact that the spear was a primary weapon, not only in japan but in the whole world at that time. I know for sure Samurai's primary weapon is a spear (2 spears total) a dagger when closed in and a katana for a last resort.
@ Ipman - it's not strong, a sword can't be strong. It's sharp, however, thick (as I explain above, the thicker the blade the less slashing power through armour and other solid material). No It can't break bamboo, it can cut bamboo - just like every other blade in the world.
Don't get me wrong, if the oppenent is without armour, the Katana is the best sword to cut him down- it's sharpness and curved blade are especially efficent against non-armoured people and it indeed can slice through a person with the right technique. However, in a real fight against armoured opponent it's not better than a normal sword.