Tatara (furnace)

The tatara (鑪) is a traditional Japanese furnace used for smelting iron and steel.

The traditional steel in Japan comes from ironsand processed in a special way, called the tatara system.

Tatara steelmaking process using ironsand was conducted in the Kibi Province, which later became the base of the Bizen school of swordsmithing, around the middle of the sixth century, and steelmaking using ironsand is thought to have spread from Kibi to various places in Japan.

It is a foot-operated blower called a tembin fuigo (天秤鞴), which can blow a large amount of air into the furnace to increase the temperature.

Steel is smelted at Shimane facility for Japanese swords (nihontō (日本刀), commonly known as katana (刀)) by contemporary Japanese forge masters like Kihara Akira and Gassan Sadatoshi is still smelted in a tatara.

Today, the term 'tatara' is applied to steelmaking technology using ironsand, which flourished from ancient times to the Edo period.

Charcoal is added to a clay Tatara furnace in Niimi , Okayama until a temperature of over 800 °C is achieved.
Engineering drawing of a Japanese Tatara-furnace
Working the bellows of a Tatara.
The structure of a tatara . On the two sides of the furnace are visible two bellows. This structure was completed in the 1600s during the Edo period .
Tamahagane, which is used to forge the blade of traditionally made Japanese blade nihonto .