According to UNESCO's website, the site testifies the successful transfer of Western Industrialization to a non-Western nation. From the middle of the nineteenth century to the early twentieth century, Japan was in the rapid industrialization, supported by the key industrial sectors such as shipbuilding, iron and steel, and coal mining. If the specific sites can speak, it can tell us how Japan has achieved its technological superpower from its humble beginnings-- from trial and error experimentation aided by Western textbooks, followed by the importation of Western technology, until the full-blown industrialization where the Japanese were able to actively adapt the Western technology suited to their needs. The Sites of Industrial Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding, and Coal Mining, scattered in eight prefectures in Japan, was designated as UNESCO World Heitage Site on July 5, 2015.Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining (Kamaishi)
Photo by unknown. Licensed under Creative Commons. (Public Domain)
- Hashino Blast Furnace
- Iron and Steel Museum
- Ruins
It's approximately a 10-minute taxi ride from the JR Kaimishi Station.
The site is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.