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*''Japanese'': 鉄 ''(tetsu / kurogane)''
In the [[Yamato period]], the [[Wake|Wakabe clan]] maintained a monopoly on iron ore for a time; this came to an end in or around the reign of [[Emperor Kotoku|Emperor Kôtoku]] ([[645]]-[[654]]), after which all iron ore had to be turned over to the Imperial Court.
In the [[Yamato period]], the [[Wake|Wakabe clan]] maintained a monopoly on iron ore for a time; this came to an end in or around the reign of [[Emperor Kotoku|Emperor Kôtoku]] ([[645]]-[[654]]), after which all iron ore had to be turned over to the Imperial Court.
In the [[Heian period]], iron produced in Japan was produced chiefly from sands, rather than ore, in a process called ''tatarabuki'' iron production. This took place chiefly in [[Bizen province]].<ref>Gallery labels, ''Jidai wo tsukutta waza'' 時代を作った技 exhibition, National Museum of Japanese History, July 2013.</ref>
In the [[Heian period]], iron produced in Japan was produced chiefly from sands, rather than ore, in a process called ''tatarabuki'' iron production. This took place chiefly in [[Bizen province]].<ref>Gallery labels, ''Jidai wo tsukutta waza'' 時代を作った技 exhibition, National Museum of Japanese History, July 2013.</ref>
Ironworking is believed to have been first introduced into the [[Amami Islands]] around the year [[500]], and to have spread to the other [[Ryukyu Islands|Ryûkyû Islands]] from there.<ref>[[Richard Pearson]], ''Ancient Ryukyu'', University of Hawaii Press (2013), 148.</ref>
In the [[Edo period]], the shogunate established a ''[[za]]'' guild in [[1780]], at the direction of [[Tanuma Okitsugu]], which would have a monopoly on the sale and distribution of iron. Its offices were attached to those of the [[Osaka]] ''ginza'' (Silver Monopoly), which then collected all iron pig mined in the archipelago, to be resold out into the realm. Established alongside a similar brass monopoly, both were quite short-lived, being abolished in [[1787]] by [[Matsudaira Sadanobu]].<ref>[[John Whitney Hall]], ''Tanuma Okitsugu (1719-1788): Forerunner of Modern Japan'', Harvard University Press (1955), 77.</ref>
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