わが国の伝統的たたら製鉄の歴史と技術的特質

抄録

The origin of the Tatara iron-smelting furnace dates back to the mid-6th century, in the late Kofun period. The furnaces that appear in the Chugoku region are called box-shaped furnaces and differ significantly in shape, size and technology from those of the Korean Peninsula of the same period and were not established under direct influence from the Peninsula. Rather, it is thought to have been born from a fusion with the blacksmithing techniques native to the Chugoku region. The furnace continued to rise and fall with the historical background of each period and developed in the Chugoku region from the Heian period onwards, before being established as Tatara in the early modern period. Its operating technology is characterized by the abundance of points for observing the situation inside the furnace during smelting.