History lesson: European steel and metallurgy was vastly superior to contemporary Japanese sciences. Native Japanese steel occurs only in extremely small deposits of black iron-bearing sand, called tamahagane. The excessively complicated process the Japanese smiths developed for forging a sword was necessary due the the incredibly poor quality of their ore. Moreover, the technique of combining hard, high-carbon steel with softer, more resilient iron was well-known in Europe during the Dark Ages. It was employed by the Norse centuries before their ever was such a thing as a katana. Europe's technology had advanced sufficiently by the time the Japanese got around to it, and it was all but obsolete in the West. In fact, when the Europeans first showed up in Japan, the Japanese almost immediately begin European metal. Finally, many, many samurai wisely imported European armour, recognizing that it was far more protective than their own.

For further reading, I recommend: Arms and Armour of the Samurai by Ian Bottomley, any of the Osprey books by Anthony Bryant, and anything by John Clements for comparison of Western and Asian martial technique.


Great Movie   November 10, 2000
5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Excellent movie... But Sho Kosugi plays Mayeda not Toshiro Mifune.


Swashbuckling tale of shogun warriors   October 26, 2000
Julie Waller (England)
5 out of 7 found this review helpful

This video was originally released in the UK as "Shogun Warrior" and stars David Essex as an evil Spanish nobleman who is determined to win the day at all costs. Nothing stands in his way, except a heroic shogun warrior called Mayeda, played by Toshiro Mifune. Great combat scenes and a particular nasty ending for the evil Don Pedro. Has a love interest too as the shogun battles to save a ladies honor from the clutches of Don Pedro. Also stars John Rhys Davies (famous as Indys arab sidekick in the Indiana Jones Movies). Altogether a very enjoyable tale of tragedy, love and adventure.David Essex fans will not be disappointed.