ABOUTIWAMIGINZAN

TheIwamiGinzanSilverMineSite,officialname“IwamiGinzanSilverMineanditsCulturalLandscape,”wasinscribedontheWorldHeritageListin2007.Itisthe14thWorldHeritageSiteinJapanandthefirstminingsitetobeinscribedinAsia.

ThevalueoftheIwamiGinzanSilverMineasaWorldHeritageSite

1.Itgavebirthtoaneconomicandculturalexchangeofglobalimportance.

AsEuropeansexpandedtheiractivitiesacrosstheglobeintheirefforttoseekoutmoresourcesofgold,silver,andspices,IwamiGinzanwasthechanceforthemtoenterintoAsiancommercethankstothemine’slargeproductionofhighqualitysilver.Ontopofthat,thesilverproductiontechniquesusedatGinzanspreadthroughJapanandwereintegralintheriseofdomesticsilverproduction.

2.Thesilverproductionmethodbasedontraditionaltechniquesiswellpreservedinmanyremainingareas.

AtIwamiGinzantheentireprocess,fromdiggingtorefining,wascarriedoutmanually.Thisisclearlyshownbyover600remainingareasofoutcroppingsandmineshaftsinthemountains,alongwithover1,000smallflattractsoflandinthevicinitywhererefineriesanddwellingswerebuilt.

3.Thecompleteindustrialsystem,isondisplayinitsentirety.

AtIwamiGinzan,it’snotjusttheremnantsofsilver-productingmines,butalsothefortresses,magistratebuildings,merchantandsamurairesidencesthatmakeuptheminingtownsaswellasthetraderoutesusedtotransportsilver,theportsandporttowns;inotherwordstheentireindustrialsystemthatholdspeoples’sinterest.eventoday,peoplearelivingandworkingintheseareasinvariouscapacities.

CopyrightIWAMIGINZAN.Allrightsreserved.