Part 1: Traveling the San’in: Orochi and the Mythical Origins of the Sword Part 2: Japanese Swords: ‘Tatara,’ the Traditional Iron and Steel Culture...
The traditional dance performance of Iwami Kagura tells the story of the discovery of steelmaking in Izumo, Japan, through the metaphor of the deity...
The raw material used to make Japanese swords is called tamahagane. On January 24, production of the annual batch of tamahagane for Japan’s swordsmiths began...
I recently took a trip to Shimane Prefecture, also known as the San’in region, to research some of the mythical origins of the sword and...