 Tatara
Iron Making
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On the 29th of January, I went to Yokota to see the Tatara iron-making
process. I went to the furnace in the evening at 10:00 P.M. and again
at 5:00 A.M. the next morning. It was most impressive! The workers were
very cooperative and answered my questions cheerfully! I thank them very
much!
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Over the firing period, charcoal and iron-sand are slowly and carefully
added to the furnace in almost equal amounts, by weight--about 10-tons
amounts. That is a lot of charcoal, which is very light! It took two charcoal
makers one year to make the charcoal for the four firings they had this
year. Tatara firing is always held in winter. One firing takes three days
and is done once a week. It usually begins on Wednesday and ends on Saturday.
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One of the most impressive parts of all the things I saw was the flames,
their colors and their rise and fall due to the bellows pushing air into
the furnace. The timing of each burst of air from the bellows (12 per
minute) sounded like a giant breathing! I can understand why there are
gods associated with Tatara iron-making.
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The KERA-DASHI (removing the 2.5 ton ingot) was the last step and was
very exciting! Shouting, pounding and scraping being heard in a situation
that had some dangerous moments! Fire was still coming from the KERA while
it was being removed! I took many pictures and they came out well! I'm
happy!
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The furnace is destroyed after each firing and has to be rebuilt. This
calls for great knowledge, as do all the steps in the process. The MURAGE,
Mr. Abe and his second, Mr. Kihara, have this knowledge. They are masters
of the art of the Tatara! Mr. Abe is 91 years old and still active in
the work. All in all, it was a very valuable and educational experience
for me to see this ancient art being performed.
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