Exchanges in Iron Making between Ireland and Japan
- Tatara in Woodford Furnace Festival 2020

Woodford in Galway County prospered in iron making in the 17th century with high-quality iron ore extracted from the land. The Woodford Furnace Festival has been held since 2018 to shed light on the history of iron making in the region. This year, in addition to approximately 50 iron making technicians from around the world, Master Akira Kihara (the National Preservation Technology Holder for tatara iron making) and Prof. Yasumichi Murakami (Ehime University) were invited from Japan.
In light of the pandemic, the festival was held online. Iron ore from Ireland was sent to each participating team across the world and their traditional methods of iron making were streamed online. The video of the traditional tatara iron making process presented by Master Kihara and Prof. Murakami attracted great attention on Facebook, with 25,000 people reacting to the video and 4,950 people viewing the detailed information.
Iron makers across the world are interested in the legendary “Tamahagane” in Japan and its technology. The festival organizer is keen to invite Japanese artisans to Ireland next year, and a demonstration of their iron making technologies with Irish materials is much-expected.

Main program