The Hashino Iron Mine, a World Heritage Site in Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture, is one of the constituent assets that symbolize Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution!

The Hashino Iron Mine and Hashino Blast Furnace Siteis a blast furnace site located in Hashino-cho, Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture. It was designated a national historic site in 1957 and is one of the constituent assets of the World Heritage Site "Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining."

The registered name is"Hashino Iron Mine".

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World Heritage Site "Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining"

The World Heritage Site "Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining"23 sites spread across 8 prefectures and 11 cities. While simplified, the following is a breakdown of the constituent sites nationwide by area.

• Area 1 - Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture
  • Hagi Reverberatory Furnace, Ebisugahana Shipyard Ruins, Oitayama Tatara Ironworks Ruins, Hagi Castle Town, Shokasonjuku
• Area 2 - Kagoshima Prefecture Area
  • Former Shuseikan Museum, Terayama charcoal kiln site, Sekiyoshi canal
• Area 3 - Shizuoka Prefecture Area
  • Nirayama Reverberatory Furnace
• Area 4 - Kamaishi area, Iwate Prefecture
  • Hashino Iron Mine
• Area 5 - Saga Prefecture Area
  • Mietsu Naval Dock Ruins
• Area 6 - Nagasaki Prefecture Area
  • Former Kosuge Ship Repair Dock, Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard No. 3 Dock, Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard Giant Cantilever Crane, Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard Former Wooden Pattern Shop, Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard Senshokaku, Takashima Coal Mine, Hashima Coal Mine, Former Glover House
• Area 7 - Fukuoka Prefecture, Omuta City, Kumamoto Prefecture, Arao City, Kumamoto Prefecture, Uki City area
  • Miike Coal Mine, Miike Port, Misumi West Port
• Area 8 - Kitakyushu City and Nakama City area, Fukuoka Prefecture
  • Government-run Yawata Steel Works, Onga River Source Pumping Station

Within the list above, the periods can be divided into two: the early development period and the industrial formation period

Component parts in the early development period

Iron and steel

Hagi (Hagi reverberatory furnace, Oitayama Tatara ironworks ruins, etc.), Kagoshima (Shuseikan), Nirayama (Nirayama reverberatory furnace), Kamaishi (Hashino iron mine and blast furnace ruins)

shipbuilding

Hagi (Ebisugahana Shipyard site, etc.), Saga (Mietsu Naval Dock site), Kagoshima (Shuseikan), Nagasaki (Kosuge Ship Repair Dock, etc.)

Coal Industry

Nagasaki (Takashima Coal Mine, Hashima Coal Mine, etc.), Miike (Misumi West (old) Port)

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of the Industrial Formation PeriodComponents

Iron and steel

Yawata (Yawata Steel Works)

shipbuilding

Nagasaki (Nagasaki Shipyard)

Coal Industry

Miike (Miike Coal Mine, Miike Port)

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Although it is rare worldwide, there is a reason why Japan's Industrial Revolution became a World Heritage Site. The following is a quote from the World Heritage Center's official website, but from the world's perspective, it was as follows

This book tells the story of how feudal Japan sought to transfer technology from Europe and the United States, and then improved the imported technologies to suit domestic needs and traditions, quickly becoming one of the world's leading industrial nations. The collection of technologies in the key industries of iron and steel, shipbuilding, and coal mining demonstrates Japan's remarkable achievement as the first non-Western nation to successfully become an industrial nation, a remarkable achievement in world history

© UNESCO World Heritage Center 1992-2024

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Above we have given a brief explanation of the constituent assets of the World Heritage Site "Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining." Among these assets, the Hashino Iron Mine, located in Hashino-cho, Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture, played an especially important role in Japan's industrial revolution

This is possible because of the nature of the Tohoku region, Iwate Prefecture, and Kamaishi City

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Kamaishi Mine, a mine discovered before the Hashino Iron Mine in Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture

Why Kamaishi City in Iwate Prefecture in the first place? It wasn't because the sea stretched out before it, nor was it simply because it happened to be in Iwate. It was because this area was home to the Kamaishi Mine, Japan's largest iron ore deposit .

TheKamaishi Mineis located on the coast of the Kitakami Mountains and is said to have a history of over 150 years, from its opening in the Meiji era to the present day. In 1727,a medicinal plant collector for the Edo shogunate("saiyakushiki" - someone who traveled around the country collecting and studying medicinal plants)Abe Shoo, discovered magnetite (a type of iron oxide mineral) at Sennin Pass. In addition to iron, which is the main mineral, gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc were also produced, and even after the mine closed, about 100 tons of material are still being extracted annually for research and other purposes.

Masao AbeSennin Passatmagnetite, in 1849,Seibei TakasuandDaisuke Nakanojointly constructed an old-style blast furnace at Ohashi.

Then, in 1857,Takato Oshimausingextractiona blast furnace at the Hashino Iron Mine. In 1862, two more blast furnaces were added, increasing pig iron production.

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The father of modern iron manufacturing, Nanbu feudal lord Oshima Takato

When discussing the transformation from Japan's largest iron mine to Japan's leading iron town, one person who cannot be forgotten and whose absence is essential to the history of ironmaking"the father of modern ironmaking, Takato Oshima.

Born into a doctor's family in Morioka, he studied Dutch studies

Takato Oshima was born on May 11, 1826, in Nio-koji, Morioka, as the eldest son of Shui Oshima, a physician serving the Morioka domain. In 1842, at the age of 17, he went to Edo to study Western learning (medicine)Genpo Mitsukuri and Shindo Tsuboiwhere he learned Western learning from

He became interested in modern weapons in Nagasaki and translated a Dutch book on iron reverberatory furnaces

Afterward, he studied in Nagasaki, where he developed an interest in Western military science, artillery, mining, and refining.Ritsuzo Tezuka, a samurai of the Choshuwas considered the bible for the construction of reverberatory furnaces"Casting Methods at the Royal Iron Foundry of Loik," written by Major General Hugenin, whichhe translated

Invited by the Mito domain, he succeeded in building an iron reverberatory furnace

Later, he was invited by the Mito domain and succeeded in constructing a reverberatory furnace in Nakaminato, and succeeded in casting cannons, but the performance was not high because the raw material was iron sand. From then on, in order to produce high-quality iron, in 1857 he constructed a Western-style blast furnace in Ohashi,Kashimura (present-day Ohashi, Kashicho, Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture)was produced, and as mentioned above, in 1857 he succeeded in the first pigsmelting operation in Japan by refining iron ore.

Why is Takato Oshimathe "father of modern ironmaking"? Because he was highly regarded as an engineer by the later Meiji government and played a leading role in the mining industry.

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World Heritage Site Hashino Iron Mine (Hashino Blast Furnace Ruins)

The World Heritage Site "Hashino Iron Mine (Hashino Blast Furnace Ruins)" is located in Hashino-cho, Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture

It was designated a national historic site in 1957, received the Historic Heritage Award (HL Award) from the American Institute for Metals in 1984, and was included in the World Heritage Site "Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining" in 2015. The registered name of the World Heritage site is "Hashino Iron Mine," which collectively refers to the remains of the iron ore mine, transportation route, and blast furnace

At the very back of the Hashino blast furnace ruins there is a gate to the iron mine, and although the road continues as a forked forest road, it is off-limits as it is national forest beyond that point

Hashino Blast Furnace Ruins

The Hashino Blast Furnace Site is the oldest surviving blast furnace site in Japan. On December 1, 1858, Oshima Takato constructed a Western-style blast furnace in Ohashi (near the current site of the former mine office) using Dutch books as reference, and succeeded in continuously producing iron. The following year, in 1858, operations began with a temporary blast furnace (now the No. 3 blast furnace), marking the beginning of the Hashino Iron Mine

The reason why blast furnaces were built deep in the mountains of Hashino-cho, Kamaishi City, was not simply because high-quality magnetite could be extracted there

In addition to iron, the mountain was also able to mass-produce high-quality charcoal, which is essential for steel production, and the small streams that flowed through it allowed waterways to be built, and hydroelectric bellows (devices that send air to burn fuels such as charcoal at high temperatures) were able to send enough air to the blast furnaces to produce iron, which was a major factor

As you stroll around the grounds,the slag shown in the photo above, which are called mine tailings. They come in all sizes, from small pebbles to large ones that are probably over 60cm in diameter.

This is a dissolved substance other than the target components that is generated when refining minerals such as iron, nickel, and chromium, and is considered a type of industrial waste. In other words, this slag is proof that the Hashino blast furnace was in operation at the time. As an aside, I personally found this slag more romantic than the remains of the blast furnace

When Hashino Blast Furnace was in operation, it employed around 1,000 workers, and in addition to the three huge blast furnaces, there were also tenement houses where the employees slept, a blacksmith's house, a watermill, a place where salaries were paid, and a shrine

At the current Hashino Blast Furnace site, you can see the stone walls of the three blast furnaces. Castle-style stone wall construction was used to build the blast furnaces' stonework, and Japanese wooden structures were used to cover the furnaces. Documents show that they were about 10 meters high. They were built by Oshima Takato using Japanese technology in order to produce steel that could compete with the world

By the way, there are three blast furnaces at Hashino, numbered one through three, with the first to be built being the third blast furnace, and these numbers are counted from upstream

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Hashino Iron Mine Information Center

The Hashino Iron Mine is home to the Hashino Iron Mine Information Center, which was built in 2014. We recommend that you gain some prior knowledge at this information center before entering the Hashino Blast Furnace Ruins

The guides are also friendly locals who will welcome you with kindness and care

Hashino Iron Mine <Information>

• Name: Hashino Iron Mine Information Center
• Address: 2-6 Hashinocho, Kamaishi City, Iwate Prefecture, 026-0411
• Opening hours: 9:30am - 4:30pm
• Closed: December 9th to March 31st
• Usage fee: Free
• access
  • Approximately 50 minutes by car from JR Kamaishi Station (taxis and rental car shops available near Kamaishi Station)
  • Approximately 35 minutes by car from JR Tono Station (taxis available near Tono Station)
  • Large buses cannot pass through the Kamaishi-Tono Prefectural Road
  • The nearest bus stop is Nakamura, but it is difficult to take a taxi from there. In that case, please note that you will have to walk about 10km one way along prefectural and city roads

Google Map (Kamaishi Station - Hashino Iron Mine Information Center)

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