Why Does Japan Still Make Katana Steel From Sand?

To get one lump of Japanese sword steel, men build a clay furnace by hand, feed it for three days and nights - and then break it apart. Tamahagane, often translated "jewel steel", still comes from iron sand, charcoal and fire in the mountains of Okuizumo, Shimane. Why, when Japan has some of the finest modern steel mills on Earth? Two honest answers - and two honest footnotes. CHAPTERS 0:00 The furnace they destroy 0:40 Why sand, charcoal and fire? 1:18 Born from sand 2:14 Where materials meet 2:54 Three days of fire 3:49 Breaking the furnace 4:32 Two honest footnotes 6:10 The cold question 6:36 Answer 1: what the fire does 7:15 Answer 2: steel and craft 8:21 The last full-scale tatara 10:15 The making is the story 10:56 Next time: Kusanagi WHERE TO SEE IT The Nittoho Tatara (Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords) is, as a rule, not open to the public. In Shimane, the Wako Museum (Yasugi) and the Okuizumo Tatara and Sword Museum (Okuizumo) explain tatara ironmaking. Check opening days before you visit. SOURCES & IMAGE CREDITS Footage of the Nittoho Tatara: 提供：日刀保たたら（公益財団法人日本美術刀剣保存協会）/ provided by Nittoho Tatara (The Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords), via the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan - Cultural Properties Digital Content Footage of Sugaya Tatara (Unnan, Shimane): Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan - Cultural Properties Digital Content (CC BY 4.0) Nihon Sankai Meibutsu Zue (first published 1754; this copy a later printing), "Tetsuzan" and "Tetsu no tatara" scenes: National Diet Library Digital Collections, public domain Wada Shigeyuki, "Satetsu to Nihonto" (1944), fig. 16: National Diet Library Digital Collections, public domain Tanto signed Ki no Masatsugu, "Tamahagane yakiire sankai" (Showa era, 20th c.): Kyushu National Museum / ColBase (https://colbase.nich.go.jp/), CC BY 4.0 Katana signed Chikushu-ju Minamoto Nobukuni Yoshikane, "made with nanban iron" (17th c.): Tokyo National Museum / ColBase, CC BY 4.0 Tohoku-in Shokunin Utaawase Emaki (14th c.): Tokyo National Museum / ColBase, CC BY 4.0 Mikazuki Munechika: Tokyo National Museum / ColBase, CC BY 4.0 Tamahagane (photo: Loulasedna), CC BY 3.0; iron sand on a magnet, Piha, New Zealand (photo: Tatiana Gerus), CC BY 2.0; Hii River (photo: As6022014), public domain - all via Wikimedia Commons Tatara furnace drawing, Adolf Ledebur, Stahl und Eisen (1901); balance-bellows drawing, Tawara Kuniichi (1910); Edo-period forge print, Musee d'ethnographie de Neuchatel (photo: Rama): Wikimedia Commons, public domain Susanoo slays Yamata no Orochi, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, Nihon Ryakushi (1887): Wikimedia Commons, public domain Izumo Fudoki (733), Nita district: "the iron ... is hard, and the best for making tools". Nittoho Tatara: restored 1976, formally restarted 1977; release of tamahagane: Society for the Preservation of Japanese Art Swords (touken.or.jp). Swordsmith numbers: ORICON NEWS (2017), quoting a director of the All Japan Swordsmith Association. Some scenes are AI re-creations, marked ARTISTIC RECREATION where they appear. Maps and diagrams by Katana Lore (simplified). Previous episode — The Maeda of Kaga, the family that guarded the Odenta:    • Japan's Richest Samurai Lord Grew His Nose...   #katana #tamahagane #japanesesword #japanesehistory #tatara