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Katana in Tokyo Skytree forged from meteorite

4 Comments
By Fran Wrigley, RocketNews24

There’s a lot going on at the base of Tokyo Skytree. Not content with being the tallest structure in Japan and the tallest tower in the world, Skytree also boasts an entertainment complex the size of a small town. Hiding among the shops and restaurants is an aquarium, a planetarium, and a university campus.

Well, sort of. The Chiba Institute of Technology’s Skytree Town Campus is more science exhibition than campus – but it does have this Japanese sword made from a 450-million-year-old meteorite.

The wonderfully named Sword of Heaven (tentetsutou 天鉄刀) is exhibited alongside the meteorite from which it was forged. This awesome sword is the work of modern-day master craftsman Yoshindo Yoshiwara, said to be the finest swordsmith in Japan.

It is thought that humans’ first encounter with iron was meteorite iron – before the invention of smelting, meteoric iron was already being used to to make weapons and tools, including those owned by Inuit tribes first encountered by explorers in the early 1800s.

Sources: Tokyo Skytree Chiba Campus, Daigaku Press Center

Read more stories from RocketNews24 -- Tokyo Tower celebrates Tanabata with a beautiful case of the summertime blues -- Eight Tokyo observation towers – all free, all awesome -- Japan: Home to Nine Little-Known Guinness World Records

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4 Comments
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Me want!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Are they waiting for another meteorite to strike somewhere so they can fashion a matching handle?

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

Usually, handle is made by another craftsman

3 ( +3 / -0 )

How awesome!

1 ( +1 / -0 )

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