1-Glover House
Japan's oldest existing Western-style wooden building The Glover House was constructed by Scottish merchant Glover after the Japanese isolation policy ended and three ports, Nagasaki, Yokohama, and
Hakodate were opened to the world.
After Glover stayed various places he decided to a make a place for himself at 3 Minamiyamate. Glover house took its current form in the mid-Meiji period and the house is built in 1863.
Glover had achievements in various fields such as shipbuilding, coal mining, railroad, fishery, minting, and beer industries.
2-Kosuge Slip Dock
The western style ships which were bought during the Edo Period has a variety of mechanical problems. They were second hand. And there was no Dock to repair them. So in 1866 In Kosuge Thomas Blake Glover and Satsuma Domain Retainers made a place close to Nagasaki Port which was very reasonable to transport Ships.
Britain engineers were invited and constructions started. They laid out 174 meter long rails from land into the sea. This Western-style dock completed in 1869. The building it has is the oldest bricks building in Japan. It was constructed with bricks thinner than ordinary bricks, called“ Konnyaku” bricks.
3 – Takashima Coal Mine
The Takashima Coal Mine and Hokkei Pit were the first coal pits in Japan. They are constructed with the aid of foreign capital and technology.
Coal mining started in the 18th century in Takashima which is located in the west of the Nagasaki Peninsula. After Japan opened its ports, Nagasaki started supplying coal for steamships from Western countries. With an increasing demand for coal, the Saga Domain and Glover & Co. started a joint in Coal Mining in 1868.
They built a vertical pit utilizing Japan's first steam engine in Takashima with British engineer named Morris.
The Hokkei Pit was the first modern coal pit where the latest Western technology and machinery is used. Coal Mine they get reached 300 tons a day, but in 1876, it was abandoned because of sea water flooding.
It becomes popular in the 1960s and 1970s with its natural beauty such as Iso Fishing Park, the seawater warm bathing facility called “Iyashi-no-yu”, and Takashima Beach.
4-Hashima Coal Mine
Hashima Coal Mine is developed by Mitsubishi as a fully-operational modern coal mine.
Because of its architecture, it is a symbol of Japan's modernization.
Hashima Island which is located about 18km southwest of Nagasaki
Port, Until the end of the Edo Period, fishermen dug out the coal
appearing on the rock surface and called it "sea mining." as a side-job to make extra money.
The coal mining became fully functional in 1875 by the warriors of the old Fukahori family but in 1890, mine operation was handed over to Mitsubishi.
Since Hashima-mined coal was high in quality, it was mainly supplied to the Imperial Steel Works as raw material for producing steel.
In 1916, Japan's first high-rise reinforced concrete apartment building was completed and population in the island become more than 5000. Half of the island was used for mining and other half of the island used for residential buildings, schools, and a hospital for workers. There was even cinema and pachinko parlor. Because people were living very closely they were like a big family. But after the mine closed down in 1974, the island became a big ghost town. Since 2009 April there are tours for tourists.
5- Former Pattern Shop (Mitsubishi Nagasaki Shipyard)
Mitsubishi which is created by Yataro Iwasaki had great contributions to Japan's modernization.
After spending a tough teenage period Yataro Iwasaki started working for Tosa clan as head of its commercial organization as well as the caretaker of Nagasaki. He launched a new company named the Tsukumo Trading Company and started a shipping business. Later the company changed its name to Mitsubishi.
While running his shipping business, Yataro invested hugely in shipbuilding.
İn this period he introduced to Western technology and manufactured various large machines, such as main engines, reciprocating steam engines, steam turbines, and boilers for ships.
The Former Pattern Shop was the place for making wooden molds that served as models of iron casts used for casting production.
Iron cast production was a merger between Western technology and Japan's traditional woodcraft technique.
Today Former Pattern Shop is used as a museum and there are 900 product tells the story of Nagasaki Shipyard.
Info from: Sites of Japan Meiji Industrial Revolution and Nagasaki’s Industrial Heritage Guide
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