Japanese Katana

New Set of 3 Japanese Katana Samurai Sword with Sheath
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US $13.77

SHARP WHITE Chrysanthemum TSUBA JAPANESE KATANA SWORD CAN CUTBAMBOO
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US $9.00

NIHONTO NBTHK HOZON NAGAHIRO KATANA SAMURAI SWORD MINO JAPANESE
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US $4,850.00

BLACK TSUBA BLACK SAYA JAPANESE KATANA SWORD CAN CUTBAMBOO
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US $9.00

HAS EAGLE SAYA HANDMADE JAPANESE SWORD SAMURAI KATANA
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US $9.00

HAS XIAODAO GREEN SAYA VINTAGE HANDMADE JAPANESE KATANA SWORD
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US $9.00

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Is there anything that a Japanese katana blade is incapable of slicing through if so what?

Before I state my opinion, based on physics, metallurgy and common sense, let me make an analogy.

There is a difference between hard brittle.

A diamond is the hardest substance on the hardness scale - it can stratch anything else. However, scratching - the hardness test - is a shearing motion rather than a lateral striking motion.

If you take a common brick - you know, like to build a house and smash it down on a diamond, the diamond can shatter. This is because the brittle test is about lateral striking - the brick can and does win even though the diamond is harder and would thus scratch the brick.

That said, a katana, when talking about the equivalent 'hardness' won't go through anything. Other metals may not break the katana, but they would certainly halt it being able to cut - feudal japanese armor, against common wisdom had metal bands and plates in it - it wasn't all bamboo.

Also, resisteing the cutting motion of a blade is different from twisting or paralel striking to the cutting motion of a blade. The katana was very tough when it comes to durability as far as motion against the cutting direction of the blade. However, a jitte could easily snap a blade when used paralel to the length of the blade - in that direction the blade is brittle.

If a sword were to cut into a tree, it would not break, but if you start moving the blade from side to side, the blade would snap. Either way, the tree would not be cut through - the blade is like the brick. It can't 'scratch' the katana blade, but it can 'shatter' the katana blade.

The katana blade, was sharp and tough, but it was not immune to damage.

Things a katana would not cut through:

Brick
Metal
Wood of sufficient thickness (not that thick by the way)

Furthermore, there are more variables at play than the sharpness of the blade.

Examples: the force of the strike and the toughness of the target (a thin piece of wood might break due to the force of the blow but not the cutting edge of the blade for instance). The same board, cut along a length rather than the face would lodge the blade in the board and if twisted would then break the blade.

I saw a video of a 50 cal machine gun firing at the blade edge of a katana. The katana kept cutting the bullets in half. Amazing, yes, but remember to account for the fact that the bullets are concentrating alot more force in their motion against the blade than a katana strike would concentrate force with a strike of any kind. This is a limit of the wielder rather than the blade itself. On the other hand, the bullets are so heated along their trajectory that they can be treated as if they are a fluid so at that speed and energy, its not as hard for a sharp blade to cut a bullet in half as it might seem - a good kitchen knife might do the same.

Does this mean the katana would break? No. Does this mean the katana isn't sharp? No. Does this mean the katana isn't all it was cracked up to be? No. Does this mean that even though the blade as the unstoppable cutting tool isn't true that the katana isn't the best historically speaking cutting tool known to man? No. Does the mythology behind the katana mean that there is a misunderstanding of the physics of how a blade in general works? Yes.

Japanese Katana Vs European Broadsword