World Heritage Identification Number: 1449
World Heritage since: 2014
Category: Cultural Heritage
Transboundary Heritage: No
Endangered Heritage: No
Country: 🇯🇵 Japan
Continent: Asia
UNESCO World Region: Asia and the Pacific
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Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites: A Testament to Japan's Industrial Revolution
The Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites, inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014, offer a unique insight into Japan's industrial revolution during the Meiji period (1868-1912). This significant complex, located in the Gunma prefecture north-west of Tokyo, showcases the country's ambition to embrace cutting-edge manufacturing technologies and become a global leader in the silk industry.
More to come…UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site
This property is a historic sericulture and silk mill complex established in the late 19th and early 20th century in the Gunma prefecture, north-west of Tokyo. It consists of four sites that correspond to the different stages in the production of raw silk: a large raw silk reeling plant whose machinery and industrial expertise were imported from France; an experimental farm for production of cocoons; a school for the dissemination of sericulture knowledge; and a cold-storage facility for silkworm eggs. The site illustrates Japan’s desire to rapidly access the best mass production techniques, and became a decisive element in the renewal of sericulture and the Japanese silk industry in the last quarter of the 19th century. Tomioka Silk Mill and its related sites became the centre of innovation for the production of raw silk and marked Japan’s entry into the modern, industrialized era, making it the world’s leading exporter of raw silk, notably to Europe and the United States.
Encyclopedia Record: The Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Industrial Heritage
The Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Industrial Heritage is a grouping of sites that relate to the industrialization of Japan in the Meiji period, part of the industrial heritage of Japan. The Tomioka silk mill was constructed in 1872 in Gunma Prefecture, which became a leading centre for sericulture, the rearing of silkworms and production of raw silk. In 2007 the monuments were submitted jointly for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List under criteria ii, iv, and v. Ten component sites have been proposed. Four sites were retained in Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites in 2014:Tomioka Silk Mill Tajima Yahei Sericulture Farm Takayama-sha Sericulture School Arafune Cold StorageAdditional Site Details
Area: 7.2 hectares
(iv) — Outstanding example of a type of building or landscape
Coordinates: 36.2552777778 , 138.8877777778
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© yellow bird woodstock from JAPAN, CC BY-SA 2.0 Resized from original. (This derivative is under the same CC BY-SA license.)
