From 8 October to 11 October, the practical training of Tatara, the traditional Japanese steel manufacturing was conducted at Wakou Museum in Yasugi City. The ancient Tatara, which produces steel from iron sand and charcoal with a clay-made furnace is said to be the origin of the manufacturing industry in Shimane Prefecture, and the name of the method is adopted to the Next Generation Tatara Co-creation Centre.
At this operation, about 120kg iron sand and 210kg charcoal were used to produce 36kg of kera, crude iron. Shimane University has joined the training since 2009 for the practical course of “Tatara to Gendai Seikou”, the Tatara and the modern steel manufacturing, with the support of Wakou Museum and Hitachi Metals Ltd., Yasugi Works. This year, the course became one of the subjects of the Undergraduate Minor Program, “Manufacturing Training Program”, and 9 students participated and worked with the Hitachi Metals’ new employees. This operation gave them a wonderful opportunity to learn about the traditional iron manufacturing, observing the powerful method closely under the instruction of Mr. Kihara, Murage (master) of the Nittoho tatara.