Thank you for the superb info Jens and Jim.
Jim it may be that Shakudo came via Egypt and Greece and the possible transfer of these alloys to Japan through India and China, from a PDF article online;
Dr. Cóilín Ó*Dubhghaill
Senior Research Fellow, Art and Design Research Centre
Dr. A. H. Jones
Senior Research Fellow, Materials and Engineering Research Institute
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield, UK
It is unclear exactly when the development of the shakudo alloy took place. It seems possible that it was developed in Japan from yamagane, or unrefined copper, which naturally had other impurities such as arsenic and gold, and could be patinated to a dark brown color. Craddock and Giumlia-Mair suggest an alternative origin, describing alloys similar to shakudo in Egypt and Greece dating from the mid-second millennium BC, and the possible transfer of these alloys to Japan through India and China.1 The name shakudo first appeared in Japanese archives in the Nara period (710-784)2 while the oldest existing shakudo piece in Japan, dating from 1164
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