Tatara  �@   Intro-San-in�֖߂�

  

     Furnace at work during Tatara

�eTatara �e is a traditional method of steel manufacturing, the term originally meaning �ea bellow�f.  You have only a very limited number of occasions in a year to be able to watch the actual operation. The author is grateful to Mr. Kageyama of The Network for History and Culture in Shimane, �eMokumoku�f, for giving us a chance to participate in the tour. The operation continues for three days and nights without intermission, during which �eMurage �e, the project leader, has to watch the color of the flame in the furnace and adjust the amount of charcoal and iron sand to be added accordingly.  It is said, the color should be that of the rising sun for the first day, that of the glaring sun of the midday in the second day, and that of the sun set for the third day.

The Murage  we saw was a woman.  This would never have happened in old days.  The god of metals was believed to be a woman, very envious, and no woman was allowed in the furnace area.  The workers were all men and their wives could not wear any makeup during the operation so as not to incur jealousy of the goddess.  We visited the venue in the morning of the third day of operation, when the operation was coming to a completion.  The Murage, dog-tired after a hard work of three days and nights, with her face stained with charcoal, looked very satisfied with the accomplishment.  She was giving orders to about ten of young workers.  Her eyes were as vivid and fresh as the chilly air in the morning in this mountainous area.  I was reminded of the old days when I used to do experiments for a few days without sleep, tired but excited with the accomplishment.

This project, however, is not for the purpose of steel manufacturing.  It does not pay.  This is for the purpose of education and exhibition.  The trainees are college students and staff members working for some metals companies who want to know the principle of steel manufacturing. The place we visitied was in Yoshida Town in Shimane Prefecture, a beautiful mountainous place at about 2 hours' drive from Matsue.
                                
This used to be one of the base places for steel making. The riverbed, even now, is stained brown due to iron dust. A comprehensive literature is given in the home page by Hitachi Metals, Ltd.,
                             (http://www.hitachi-metals.co.jp/e/tatara/ )
so only a brief summary is given here concerning Tatara.

           Tatara which was demonstrated here is modern Tatara. Ancient Tatara dates back to more than 1000 years ago. This steel making technology is believed to have come from some ancient Asian country, probalby India. It was improved and refined around this area, where wood was abundant for charcoal and good quality iron sand was available. Actually two kinds of iron sand are necessary, 'Masa iron sand' and 'Akome iron sand'. The mixing ratio of them influences the characteristics of the produced steel.

             The furnace is compared to the vagina in which steel is given life. (That's why it is Goddess rather than God who takes care of metals). The kind of iron sand which is easily reduced and put into the furnace at the beginning is called 'komori 'iron sand meaning 'nurse' iron sand, which is helpful in every way in producing steel from other kinds of iron sand. The best part of produced steel is called 'Tamahagane' and its quality is on the world top level, and used for such sharp edges as Japanese swords. The furnace is built from soil. During Tatara, the soil wall of the furnace is eaten up gradually in the process of reduction and becomes so thin that it can barely sustain itself at the end of the last day. So, it can easily be broken to take out the contents, starting from the top.
              
                                
The contents are carried out for inspection with a singly-wheeled carrier.
                               
The big residual contains such valuable metals as Tamahagane.
                          
Thus, the soil plays a big role in the chemical reaction. We can easily understand its importance. But it is rather hard to imagine the role of another important element, the wind.
                              

The big house in the middle of the photo above indicates the location of a furnace. This place was chosen because the winds from three directions meet there, we learned. But the most important element is, of course, the know-how of Murage. He inherited it from his father, who also inherited from the grandfather, and so on. Murage's responsibility was very heavy, but he occupied the best place in residence, and earned the highest wages.