Tamahagane {tah-mah-ha-ga-nay} is a high quality metal (steel) made in the Japanese tradition. The word tama means "round and precious", like a gem or jewel. The word hagane means "steel". On the market, it costs 50 times more than ordinary steel. Tamahagane steel is used to make Japanese swords, knives, and other kinds of tools.


Good tamahagane contains around 1% of carbon and should not go over 1.5%.


Tamahagane is made of iron sand (called satetsu in Japanese). There are 2 main types of iron sands: akome satetsu and masa satetsu. Akome is of lower quality and masa is of better quality. The man who decides the amount of the mixing parts is called the murage. Depending on the desired result, the murage mixes one or more types of sands.

The iron sand is put in a clay tub (furnace) called a tatara. The clay tub measures about 4 feet tall, 12 feet long, and 4 feet wide. The tub is then dried and heated. The clay tub is heated to a high temperature, about 1000 ºC (1.832 ºF). Then, it is mixed with charcoal to give tamahagane hardness.

The process of making tamahagane continues for 36 to 72 hours, depending on how many people work and how much metal is to be obtained. The iron sand is added every 10 minutes and the mixture is frequently turned over.

When the tamahagane is finished, the clay tub is broken and the steel is removed. The best steel is on the edges of metal block, because this is the where the oxidation process is stronger. The quality of tamahagane is determined by its color: bright silver pieces are very good for making blades.

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