The village of Sannai, inhabited by people involved with all the levels of the iron production process, was built around the ironworks. The location was purposefully set near a forest for charcoal, iron sand, flowing water, and the conditions for convenient food importation and shipping of completed iron.
In short, the people of Sannai built a village specifically geared toward iron production.
The population of the village fluctuated depending on whether it was in its prime or during its decline, however it was thought to have always been a rather small village (current population: 25).
The average house occupied only 3.3 square meters, and workers lived with their families.
Farmers from neighboring towns would come to the village to sell their crops, and people would bring in clay to build the furnace as well as iron sand and charcoal.
Many facets of life in Sannai were dictated by a set of rules called shimariai, meaning “to bind one another.” Some examples are below.
By creating and promising to abide by such rules, the people of Sannai upheld public morals.
The following was written regarding wages:
Tatara iron production requires about 15 metric tons of charcoal for one production cycle, and that charcoal is made using a kiln.
Those tasked with making the charcoal are called yamako.
First, the yamako build a large elliptical kiln out of clay and stones. The walls are about 1 meter thick, and a temporary roof is made using bamboo grass and sticks.
Construction alone takes half a month. Making a kiln to fire 1.8 metric tons of charcoal requires the work of 40 people.
It takes 14 people to collect the necessary amount of wood to make into charcoal. The yamako also must cut the wood to the appropriate length (150 centimeters) and put it inside the kiln.
About 20 of these kilns are required to provide enough charcoal to fuel the ironworks.
Murage is the Japanese name for the manager of the ironworks.
There is a saying, “First, furnace; second, clay; third, the murage” (alternatively, “First clay, second air, third murage”). The clay used to build the furnace and the air pumped into it are more important than the skill of the murage. However, it is up to the murage whether good materials are chosen and bellows are properly controlled.
The tatara ironmaking consists of laying the foundation, building the furnace, three days and three nights of production, and removing the finished metal. This is all done under the direction of the murage. After burning wood where the furnace will go and patting down the ash using a long stick called a shinai, the iron-makers build the furnace in three levels: base, middle, and top. The quality of the clay heavily influences the chances of success or failure, so the role of the murage is crucial.
Air, which is pushed through the bellows built on either side of the furnace, is not allowed to stop during the three days and nights of production and requires most of the murage’s attention. Under his command, 11 workers add iron sand and charcoal and remove impurities.
Iron sand inside the furnace reacts with oxygen from the burning charcoal to become iron. The murage adjusts the amount of air from the bellows to control the strength of the fire, constantly watching the color and intensity of the flames and checking the 40 holes at the base, called hodo-ana, for changes, and judging conditions inside the furnace by listening to the sound when iron sand is added. The iron inside constantly changes shape as it grows, so the air, and placement and amount of added iron sand and charcoal, has to be adjusted in small increments. The current murage, Akira Kihara, calls these adjustments “The Path of Fire,” which a murage can learn only through experience and intuition.
Choosing the raw materials and building the furnace, and the three days and nights of uninterrupted labor are all done under the direction of the murage. Success or failure rides on his leadership.
When conditions for ironmaking are unfavorable, the murage walks barefoot to the small shrine of Kanayago, in Sannai Village, to pray for success.
Kanayago is the Shinto spirit of iron. Tales say that Kanayago is jealous of young women, so they are not allowed to work the tatara, and meals during production are to be brought by children or older women. Long ago, workers maintained a pond which Kanayago was said to use as a mirror to do her makeup. This was proof of their strong belief in her power.
Kanayago represents the idea that tatara ironmaking is always subject to the uncertainties of nature, and even the most skilled murage cannot escape from this fact.
