Craftsperson: Nahoko Isota 磯田菜保子
Material:Tamahagane
Approximate Size: 1mm x 1.5mm
About Tamahagane
A tough material with extremely low impurity content and high carbon content, "tamahagane steel" is the one and only raw material used for making Japanese swords.
Okuizumo City is famous for “Nittoho Tatara” — the only Tatara in Japan that continues to make Tamahagane forged in the traditional way developed more than 1000 years ago. The craftspeople at this Tatara work for three days and three nights straight, with temperatures up to 1400 F / 760 C. Such difficult and dangerous work is only done once per year, but the Tamahagane produced from Nittoho Tatara is of the highest purity. This manual forging process also results in a unique, imperfect shape, and allows for the steel to take on all kinds of beautiful blues, oranges and purples. As such, it is highly coveted, and nearly impossible to obtain by anyone but certified Japanese swordsmiths.
Nahoko Isota 磯田菜保子, a jewelry maker who lives in Okuizumo City decided to use this precious tamahagane steel to make a more familiar accessory in order to hand down the attractive and historic materials.