TATARA SAMURAI

TATARA SAMURAI (2017) is set in Sengoku-era Izumo Province and follows a young man torn between becoming a samurai and continuing his village's tatara ironmaking tradition. It is an exceptionally rare film that places the production of tamahagane — the raw material of Japanese swords — at the heart of its narrative, depicting the grueling three-day-and-night tatara smelting process using iron sand and charcoal. Tatara steelmaking is a tradition centered in Okuizumo (modern Shimane Prefecture) that has continued for over a millennium. Today, the Nittoho Tatara operates several times a year, supplying tamahagane to swordsmiths across Japan. The film conveys that a sword is not merely a finished product but the culmination of an immense journey beginning with grains of iron sand. Every sword at DATEKATANA is an authentic Japanese blade forged from traditional wako (Japanese steel) produced through this tatara heritage.