Mining in the Edo period
Japan was a prolific producer. Plentiful resources and advanced technology were the bedrock of the Edo period.
Mining in the Edo period
Call the "Land of Gold" by Marco Polo, Japan was blessed with mineral resources, such as gold and silver, and forest resources that were converted to fuel, and was considered to be one of the world's leading mining countries since before the Edo Period. The Edo government actively promoted the mining industry, establishing mines throughout the country. Copper production was the highest in the world, and products were distributed internationally via Nagasaki.
Complete Map of Gold and Silver Mining in Sashuu
This manuscript scroll depicts what it was like inside the mine starting with the entrance of the mine, the mininng process, measuring prospecting volume, and unloading the findings. There are detailed illustrations of ore dressing, transportation, and the process of scouring to minting of kobans (old Japanese gold coins) inside the magistrate's office. Such reference materials exist for other mines, but none are as elaborate as elaborate as that of the Sado Gold Mine. This give evidence that the Sado Gold Mine has continued to operate as one of the world's largest gold and silver mines since the beginning of mining history in Heian Period to the present.
Complete Map of Gold and Silver Mining in SashuuNational Museum of Nature and Science
Complete Map of Gold and Silver Mining in SashuuNational Museum of Nature and Science
Complete Map of Gold and Silver Mining in SashuuNational Museum of Nature and Science
Complete Map of Gold and Silver Mining in SashuuNational Museum of Nature and Science
Shinzan Mitate Hidensho (The secret of finding new mines)National Museum of Nature and Science
Shinzan Mitate Hidensho (The secret of finding new mines)
For a mining speculator or engineer, the most important responsibility is the exploration and discovery of mines. Mining engineers were allowed to freely travel throughout the country in and out of checkpoints. In the Edo period, many mining engineer groups were ordered by the goveenment and feudal domains to search for and excavate mines throughout Japan. This bool summarizes the know how and technology of mining ecploration during this period and explains the difference in surface mountain color among gold, silver and coppoer mines as well as the different types and distinctions between mountain conditions (geography, wether, landscape), minerals and ores.
Kingindonamari Kensa Hidensho (Secrets of Examining Gold, Silver, Copper and Lead)
One of the essential knowledge and skills required of a mining engineer is examining and determining whether the mined minerals have worthy and profitable metal contents such as gold, silver and copper. Lead was an indispensable metal for amalgam or the refining process of gald, lead and copper from mineral. The production of lead was relatively large in Japan to other metals, and thus the mercury amalgam method was not used in Japan as it was in the gold, silver and copper mines in Western Europe and South America. The book also explains how to make the lead amalgam furnace and other hurnaces, summarizing the refinery technology used during this time.
Koban Iroage Technique (Redying Techniques of Koban)
This is acolor development technique which draws out the gold color in gold and silver dlloy and has proven to be moredurable than planting. During the Edo period, the ratio of gold to silver in the koban varied from year to year, leading to the possibillity of some obans and kobans haveing a stronger silver appearance than other. This redying technique was performed to alleciate this situation. It is said that the use of this method is cofirmed in ancient Inca artwork. According to Japanese tradition, however, this method is believed ti have been passed down as the secert medhod employed by the methalsmith "Goto Shirobei-Ke" and was used in Obanza and Kinza (oban and gold mint). Literatures use the, irotsuke (dying), and later iroage (redying). With this method, the koban is coated with a dye and heated, the silver portion is extracted from the gold and silver surface, and the remaining gold is recrystallized to form a gold-enriched layer.
This exhibition is based on Global Gallery 2F : Progress in Science and Technology
Photo : NAKAJIMA Yusuke
