Ani Mine (Kitaakita City, Akita Prefecture), which was said to be the best in Japan during the Edo period and supported the Kubota Domain

Ani Mine one of Japan's leading copper mines , located in Kitaakita City in the northern part of Akita Prefecture, bordering Iwate Prefecture, and was in operation until 1986 (Showa 61) .

The Ani Mine, along with the Innai Silver Mine, supported the finances of the Kubota Domain

In the Tohoku region, gold, silver, copper, and other materials mined from nearby mines have long been used, as exemplified by the Golden Hall of Chusonji Temple (Hiraizumi, Iwate Prefecture) and Nanbu ironware (Iwate Prefecture)

Many of the mines are located in the Ou Mountains, which form the watershed of the Tohoku region. Ani Mine is also located in the Ou Mountains, which form the border between Akita and Iwate prefectures, and nearby mines include Osarizawa Mine (Kazuno City), Innai Silver Mine (Yuzawa City), and Kosaka Mine (Kosaka Town)

Tohoku Rokken Trivia Media NEFT

The Innai Silver Mine supported the finances of the Akita Domain. The mining town was home to a population of 15,000 people. [Yuzawa City, Akita Prefecture]

https://jp.neft.asia/archives/27852

The Akita Domain (Kubota Domain), a domain under the control of the Satake clan that encompassed almost all of Akita Prefecture, initially had a kokudaka of approximately 200,000 koku, but later increased to approximately 390,000 koku. This contrasts with the Yamagata Domain, also in Dewa Province (Yamagata Prefecture), which initially had a kokudaka of approximately 600,000 koku, but after the downfall of its first lord, the Mogami clan, the domain was divided and reduced to 200,000 koku by the end of the Edo period. Being in the frigid Tohoku region meant that agricultural harvests varied from year to year, and there were times when the domain struggled financially, but its foundation was supported by silver and copper mines. Domains with significant influence in the Tohoku region focused on mining development, and the small Nanbu Domain (Iwate Prefecture)...

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Ani Mine is the general name for several mines spread across the Ani region

Ani Mine is the collective name for several mines that existed on both sides of the Ani River in the former town of Ani, and "Ani Mine ." Gold was first discovered in Ani during the Heian period, and is said to have been discovered by Jikaku Daishi Ennin the Itakizawa Gold Mine (later known as the Makizawa Copper Mine) was opened in the 13th century, but these are merely legends and nothing is known for certain.

The existence of mines in the Ani area first appears in ancient documents from the Muromachi period. According to these documents, there were two mines, Itakizawa Gold Mine and Mukaiyama Silver Mine, on either side of the Ani River, and a large mining town had formed around them. These two mines were run by the powerful clans that ruled the area from the Muromachi period through the Sengoku period (Itakizawa Gold Mine = Takada clan, Mukaiyama Silver Mine = Matsuhashi clan). In the Edo period, after the Satake clan entered Akita in 1602, the mines came under direct management of the Kubota Domain (Akita Domain) from 1702 onwards

During the Edo period, the population of the Ani Mine area exceeded 10,000 people

The Ani Mine, directly managed by the Kubota Domain, the "Ani Six Mountains" - Ozawa Copper Mine, Sanmai Copper Mine, Kayakusa Copper Mine, Ichinomata Copper Mine, Ninomata Copper Mine, and Makizawa Copper Mine - and in 1716 the Ani Mine had the highest copper production in Japan. At its peak, the population around the mines was said to have exceeded 10,000 people, and the Ani Mine, along with the Innai Silver Mine, supported the finances of the Kubota Domain.

The copper mined at the Ani Mine was considered important by the Edo Shogunate as a raw material for currency and as an export item to overseas markets. At its peak, it is said that almost half of the copper procured by the Shogunate came from the Ani Mine, making the Kubota Domain very wealthy

Hiraga Gennai works hard to improve mining technology

However, this prosperity did not last long. Around the 1750s, copper production at the Ani Mine began to decline, and the Kubota Domain, driven into financial difficulty, was forced to take measures such as frugality. Around 1770, they invited Hiraga Gennai (1728-1780) , to work on improving mining technology. As a result, they perfected a smelting method for separating silver from the copper produced at the Ani Mine. At the same time, they succeeded in reviving the Ani Copper Mine by entrusting its management to Osakaya, a private company with expertise in mine development and management.

"Hired foreigners" from Europe and the United States promote the modernization of mining technology

The Meiji government embarked on a reform of mining technology, which had previously relied solely on inefficient Japanese techniques. To this end, in 1880 (Meiji 13) , five Western mining engineers, known as "hired foreigners," were appointed to work at the Ani Mine, including the German Adolf Meckel (Metzger)

Meckel planned to consolidate the ore produced at each of the Ani mines. He planned to transport ore from Sanmai Copper Mine, Makizawa Copper Mine, and other mines to Ozawa Copper Mine and centralize ore dressing and smelting to increase efficiency. He also laid railways from each mine to Ozawa Copper Mine and the smelter, and Meckel's plan was completed in 1884 (Meiji 17). As a result, the production volume of the Ani mine increased to approximately three times what it was at the end of the Edo period

The former residence hall for foreign engineers is a national important cultural property

Two residences were constructed in 1881 (Meiji 14) for Meckel and the other foreign engineers. The brick buildings were rare at the time, but Meckel's term of office ended in 1882 (Meiji 15) and he left the Ani Mine. All of the other foreign engineers had also left by the following year, so the buildings were only used as residences for four or five years. They were later converted into mine offices, a guest house, and accommodation facilities, but one of the two buildings burned down in 1954 (Showa 29). The remaining building still exists and was designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan in 1990 (Heisei 2). It is currently owned by Kitaakita City and is open to the public as the "Ani Ijinkan."

Ani Mine, the foundation of the Furukawa zaibatsu

Furukawa Ichibei (1832-1903 ) in 1885 (Meiji 18) . In 1875 (Meiji 8), Ichibei began managing the Kusakura Copper Mine (Kanose Town, Niigata Prefecture, closed in 1914) with the assistance of Shibusawa Eiichi (1840-1931), and in 1877 (Meiji 10), he acquired the Ashio Copper Mine (Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture), further growing his business. He subsequently became involved in the management of many other mines, including the Ashio Copper Mine (Tochigi Prefecture) and the Ani Mine, and became a mining magnate who formed the Furukawa zaibatsu, centered around Furukawa Mining (now Furukawa Metal Machinery Co., Ltd.).

At the end of the Showa era, the mine was forced to close due to resource depletion

Even after management of the Ani Mine was transferred to Furukawa Mining, things did not go smoothly due to factors such as the depletion of ore veins and a drop in the global price of copper. From the latter half of the Meiji period to the early Showa period, most of the Ani Rokkayama mines were forced to close or be shut down

Nevertheless, in 1936 (Showa 11), the Aniai Line (now the Akita Inland Longitudinal Railway) was opened from Takanosu Station on the Ou Main Line (Kitaakita City) to Aniai Station, the nearest station to the Ani Mine. Furthermore, in 1938 (Showa 13), a new Ozawa Ore Dressing Plant was constructed, and the copper mine continued to operate. The remains of the Ozawa Ore Dressing Plant are one of the few remaining remnants of the Ani Mine that remain today

However, in July 1970 (Showa 45), Furukawa Mining ceased production at the Ani Mine due to the depletion of mineral resources. However, even after production ceased, exploration work continued as the Ani Exploration Office, and as a result several mineral veins were discovered, Ani Mining Co., Ltd. was established and mining resumed. However, the business did not become profitable, and the mine was closed in September 1986 (Showa 61), and has remained suspended for a long time. Since the closure, the mine has been managed and safety measures taken by the Ani Mine of Ashio Refining Co., Ltd., a Furukawa Group company. *This section was supported by the Public Relations and IR Section of the Corporate Planning Department of Furukawa Metal Machinery Co., Ltd.

The former Ani Mine foreign official residence (Ani Ijinkan), built in the early Meiji period

Ani Ijinkan is the oldest Western-style building in Akita Prefecture, built in 1881 (Meiji 14). The building is said to have been designed by Meckel, who was posted as chief engineer at the time, and its construction, including verandas, staircases with decorative handrails, and semicircular windows, was a constant source of surprise for Japanese people who had only ever seen Japanese-style architecture. It is said that he also ordered the bricks used in the exterior walls to be fired locally.

Ani Denshokan exhibits documents and mining tools from the Ani Mine

The Ani Denshokan is the Ani Ijinkan , and it collects and displays mineral specimens, including chalcopyrite (the raw material for copper) mined at the Ani Mine, as well as pyrite, quartz, and other minerals, as well as tools and Edo-period drawings. It also displays folk cultural assets, Nekobangaku (a nationally designated Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property) that been passed down in the Ani region. The museum is connected to the Ani Ijinkan by an underground passage.

INFORMATION

• Facility name: Kitaakita City Ani Ijinkan, Kitaakita City Local Culture Preservation Museum
• Address: 41-22 Shimoshinmachi, Ani Ginzan, Kitaakita City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 0186-82-3658
• Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 (last entry 16:30)
• Admission fee: Adults 400 yen, high school, university and vocational school students 300 yen, elementary and junior high school students 200 yen (free for elementary and junior high school students in Kitaakita City)
• Closed: Mondays (or the following day if Monday is a public holiday), December 29th to January
• URL: Ani Ijinkan and Ani Denshokan
• access:
  • Train: Approximately 5 minutes on foot from Aniai Station on the Akita Nairiku Jukan Railway
  • By car: Approximately 2 hours and 10 minutes from Morioka IC on the Tohoku Expressway

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NORIJUN

My love of travel led me to work for a travel magazine some time ago, and now I work as a travel writer for an online publication. I have visited all 47 prefectures in Japan, focusing on the Tohoku region, and I enjoy soaking in hot springs and experiencing traditional Japanese culture, including old townscapes, lifestyles, and performing arts and crafts