Meteors also happen to be a main source of iridium, an extremely hard and dense metal usually only found as an impurity of platinum. Because medieval smelting technology was unable to remove many of the impurities found in iron ore, meteoric iron weapons could be made much stronger than the more common ore-based ones. Real-life meteoric iron is one of the few natural sources of metallic iron (as opposed to iron ore). This trope can also be Truth in Television. Anyone with academic journal access can read more about this here. The trope that it is special or magical isn't documented from that long ago, but some scholars believe that the Older Than Feudalism story of the forging of Zeus's thunderbolts refers to meteoric iron. Anything made out of it will be some combination of magical, good, evil, or just incredibly strong.Ĭrafting meteoric iron is Older Than Dirt: iron from meteorites has been used to make tools and weapons since the Ice Age, when it was the only iron available. In the age when the refining technology of iron had not been developed, having a concentration of iron in a meteorite was probably considered a precious raw material for making a valuable sword.Meteoric metal carries inherent significance. The whereabouts of the last sword is not known, although it is thought to be buried in the tomb of Enomoto's descendents who had repatriated from China after the war.Įxamples of swords made from meteorites have been discovered around the world, including a dagger found in 4,300-year-old ruins in Turkey and among the funeral items belonging to King Tutankhamun in Egypt. The other was delivered to Ryugyu Jinya Shrine in Hokkaido, as Enomoto was involved in the building of the shrine. In addition, one dagger is at the Toyama Science Museum, which is the home of the Shirahagi Meteorite. Where did these 5 swords go? One long sword was presented to the Imperial Family for the coming-of-age of the then- Crown Prince Yoshihito (later, Emperor Taisho), and the other was donated by the family to Tokyo University of Agriculture, founded by Enomoto himself. Okayoshi wrote in his records that he had forged 4 of these swords in the ratio of "meteorite 7 parts, tamahagane 3 parts," and for the remaining dagger he used, "meteorite 1 part, tamahagane, 2 parts". He wanted to prove that Japan was also a country with a highly advanced civilization."Įnomoto asked a swordsmith named Okayoshi Kunimune to make two long swords and three daggers. "In his eyes, it probably symbolized the strength of a major world power. The former samurai was knowledgeable about swords, but this encounter with a meteoric sword must have come as a shock," explained tessen. Petersburg, Russia, it’s said that Czar Alexander showed him sabers made of meteorite. “While Enomoto was Japanese ambassador in St. 1 Iron Meteorite", which had been found in 1883 in Toyama Prefecture, and used it to make five swords, calling them "Ryuseito." He heads a Ryuseito study group composed of fans of the meteor sword genre.Īccording to the book, Introduction to Meteoritic Swords edited and published by the study group, Enomoto obtained the "Shirahagi No. “Takeaki Enomoto is the godfather of meteoric swords ," said a 30-year-old who goes by the name of tessen. He was happy with the finished work, adding: "It's an interesting blade pattern."
"I wanted to support the swordsmith, and I wanted Takami to experience swordmaking in a different way and to broaden his range," Tanaka said. Tanaka took the Campo del Cielo meteorite ー a large meteorite in his collection that was found in Argentina in the 1500s ー and cut out a part, giving it to Takami to make a sword. Concerned about the workmanship of the finished product, however, he visited Shoji Tanaka, 63, a Japanese sword enthusiast and mineral collector of Ono City in the same prefecture who had commissioned the sword.
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