Home

10%

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

Tradition, Innovation and Rejuvenation

By Tanja Houwerzijl

September 11^th, 2024

Day 1

It is nine o’clock in the morning and six men were cutting charcoal into rough cubes using traditional hand tools. Inside a heap of wood was burning. Eventually the team took up traditional wooden sticks and pounded down what remained of the wood, only to build another stack of logs on top. We were watching the preparations for the ancient process of Tatara steelmaking in which iron sand and charcoal are smelted into a rough block of steel called the Kera. This Kera consists partly of Tamahagane which is used in the Japanese sword, the katana. Tatara was Japan’s traditional way of making steel. Lacking a domestic source of iron ore, Tatara made use of locally available iron sand and it became Japan’s primary source of the steel for centuries. Iron sand rich hills made Shimane the center of Tatara steel making in Japan. It was only in the Meiji era when Japan re-opened itself to the outside world that the Tatara kiln was replaced by the blast furnace which could run on imported iron ore. Steel making bled away to be closer to main import harbors, leaving Shimane as it is now – one of the least populated prefectures in Japan.

The team which we were watching was part of the Tanabe Tatara Project, an initiative to revive Tatara steel making in the village of Yoshida and thereby revitalize the community. The driving force behind the initiative is Choemon Tanaba, the 25th generation head of a family which has been involved in the Tatara steelmaking industry since 1460.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

Day 2

On the second day the team made fist-size balls of clay drawn from surrounding mountains. The team would stack the balls into the permanent kiln forming a deep through. This clay which slowly burns away during the smelting process is an integral part of the Tatara steel making.

The traditional way of Tatara making does not use a permanent kiln. A new kiln is built by hand, which the team tears down at the end of each session. Only Tamahagane from this traditional process can be used to make the traditional Japanese sword, the katana. The Nittoho furnace, a 30 km drive away from Yoshida, runs on this traditional process. This furnace was created in 1977 under the auspices of the Society for the Preservation of Japanese Swordmaking. By then swordmakers were running out of Tamahagane. Large scale Tatara steelmaking had ended by the 1920s and only some minor operations continued until the 1940s. The Nittoho effort could still learn from five Tatara foremen, called murage, who were all into their eighties. Since then, swordmakers and the Nittoho furnace have worked in unison to preserve the crafts of katana sword smithing and traditional tatara steelmaking. The Tanabe Tatara Project takes a modern approach which builds on ancient Tatara techniques but also uses newer technologies. While the resulting Tamahagane cannot be used for katana making, many other craftsmen such as knife makers have been eager customers of the Tanabe Tamahagane.

As the kiln making wound down, a well-known sword smith stopped by to check on the latest Tatara run. When asked if he indeed only used the Nittoho Tamahagane for his katana swords, his answer was a surprise. He often uses Tamahagane that he makes himself in his blacksmith forge, a technique handed down from his grandfather. Maybe the unison of katana making and Nittoho furnace was not so closed after all?

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

Day 3

Early in the morning, a Shinto priest led a ceremony to bless the kiln asking goddess Kanayoga, the guardian goddess of iron- and steelmaking, for her support. He dipped a bowl of embers into the charcoal filled kiln, all according to ancient tradition. At the same time modern technology kicked in: the bellows and ventilation system came to life. Within seconds, the kiln was heating up to the requisite 1400 degrees Celsius.

From this point on, the murage was in charge. He decided how far along the Tatara process was and gave orders to the crew accordingly. His judgment is based on experience and includes looking at the color and shape of the flames and at the level of charcoal. Even today, for all the metallurgical knowledge in the world, no scientist has ever been able to fully explain exactly how the tatara process works to produce such pure and pliable steel.

The next twenty-four hours were hard work for the crew who kept putting charcoal and iron sand into the kiln with tools that had been used for centuries. After a few hours the impure residue in the form of pig iron started to pour out from side vents. The crew gathered up this slag in wheelbarrows and disposed of it onto a large smoldering heap outside. All the while the crew was waiting for the murage to order the next round of charcoal and iron sand.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

Day 4

By the next morning, the moment that the Kera would be deemed ready was getting close. The murage told the crew to stop putting in more charcoal and iron sand. The kiln had consumed 670 kg of charcoal, 614 kg of iron sand and well over 500 kg of clay. A short while later, the murage signaled for the last step in the process. A few crew members donned heat-protective gear as they would be exposed to the full blast of the heat that would be released once the kiln was lifted. This moment of kiln-lifting was magical. Suddenly we had full view of a white-hot mass of charcoal, fluid molten slag and the bright orange Kera. When the crew had gotten the first charcoal out of the way, they started to rake away the sloshing molten slag. The murage manipulated the crane to lift the Kera out of the charcoal and put it a few meters away on the stone floor – an impressive block of mottled, bright pink hot steel.

The Nittoho kiln has kept the Tatara and sword making crafts alive by staying firmly rooted in the past. The Tanabe initiative is keeping the tatara craft relevant for the future by innovating and making its Tamahagane available to other craftsmen. This sense of harmony between distant past and vivid presence is true for all of Shimane. Tradition and innovation each hold their places in Shimane, and we can only hope that taken together they will sustain and rejuvenate this beautiful part of the world.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

5 days of Tatara steel making in Shimane, Japan.

© 2026 Tanja Houwerzijl

“Can’t’ Stop, Won’t Stop” – 40 years of Hip-Hop in Japan

Interview witih Hiroshi Egaitsu (aka Egaluzee)

The red-crowned crane birds, a Japanese love affaire

tanchōzuru

Lake Akan & Ainu Kotan

阿寒湖アイヌコタン

Japanese "Shades of Grey"

The visual story of an ageing society

In the footsteps of Kôshū wine

Yamanashi, Japan

Navajeevana - Sri Lanka

"New Life"

Loading, please hold on.