PEOPLE
A fellow of the Japan Federation of Engineering Societies
Kato So this is where Oshima Takato, known as the 'father of the iron industry', came in.
Inazumi Oshima Takato made a proposal to the Morioka clan and succeeded in producing iron from iron ore in the Ohashi area of Iwate Prefecture—where magnetite ore had been discovered—in a Western-style blast furnace. This marked the first step toward modernization for Japan.
Kato From there, it led to the activities of the Yawata Imperial Steel Works, such as the construction of iron cannons, and eventually railway construction and shipbuilding. However, ancient documents merely spell out the legend that the Japanese people were so talented that they made iron in Saga.
Inazumi It is certain that the legend tends to leave out the question of how and what kind of technology was used.
Kato As a practical matter, there were no blast furnaces in Saga to produce iron by smelting iron ore. There was only a reverberatory furnace.
Inazumi A reverberatory furnace is a furnace for melting iron, not a smelting furnace for changing the composition of iron. Due to the difference in iron-making methods, it was impossible to produce large quantities of iron suitable for manufacturing in Saga, where there were only reverberatory furnaces.
Kato How could they have done it if they only had reverberatory furnaces? This is a mystery, but the ancient documents are not very clear on the matter. For one thing, there seems to have been a background of denigrating the Meiji period and romanticizing Edo. As a result, even in textbooks, only the legend that the Japanese are amazing for having achieved perfect manufacturing with little information during the period of national isolation is suddenly and abruptly mentioned.
Inazumi Again, it was actually Oshima Takato who first attempted to make iron using a blast furnace. If he had succeeded in making flexible iron in a reverberatory furnace, there would have been no need for a Western-style blast furnace, so the old documents are contradictory in this regard. However, the Nabeshima Clan (also known as Saga Clan) did a great job of identifying in a short period of time that Western iron was necessary for making cannons that would not explode through their actual experience in cannon production. I also think that Oshima Takato was a great man, who learned of this, read it from a book he had imported from Europe, and linked it to the construction of the blast furnace in Kamaishi.
Kato In any case, it was clear from the difference in technology that the modern iron manufacturing technology that led to the Industrial Revolution in Japan was born in Kamaishi, not in Saga. However, while I was pleased to have been able to arrive at the truth with your help, I encountered a great deal of opposition due to the tendency of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology not easily overturning what was even written in the textbooks. As a result, I was struggling with the fact that I would not be allowed to write in my recommendation that 'the development of iron manufacturing, which was essential to the Industrial Revolution, originated in Kamaishi'. You saved me from that pinch. We were able to persuade them by having you participate in the committee of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, and by explaining the scientific and technological aspects of the project.
Inazumi No, no, it was the result of Ms. Kato's enthusiasm.
Kato I learned a lot from you, not only about the technical aspects of iron. I, on the one hand, have a tendency to act on intuition and am strong-willed, even though I am only at the level of a mere theory, but on the other hand, you are a soft-spoken person with a solid scientific and technical basis. It is important to be humble in order to persuade people, is it not?
Inazumi I simply told them what a specialist engineer would normally know. I am one who is grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to study the literature on the iron again, for example by leading me to read it again.
Senior Researcher, Industrial Heritage Information Centre
Honorary Advisor, Nippon Mining Co., Ltd.
The Ambassador of Supporting Kamaishi Hometown
Former Director of Nagasaki City World Heritage Office
Former General Manager, Nagasaki Shipyard and Machinery Works, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.
Chairman, Fujisankei Group
Executive Managing Advisor, Fuji Television Network, Inc.
Executive Managing Advisor, Fuji Media Holdings, Inc.
Advisor, Federation of Japan Port and Airport Construction Association
(Ex. Chairman of Specialists Center of Port and Airport Engineering)
Mayor of Nagasaki City
Former Director of the Sano Tsunetami Memorial Museum (currently known as Sano Tsunetami and the Mietsu Naval Dock History Museum)
Director of NPO Association for Thinking about Satoyama
Director of National Congress of the Industrial Heritage
Honorary Chief Priest Toshinari Ueda
Former Mayor of Omuta City
Archaeologist and Heritage Conservation Specialist
A fellow of the Japan Federation of Engineering Societies
Team Member of the Industrial Project Team Office for the Promotion of World Heritage Listing under Cabinet Secretariat
Governor of Kagoshima Prefecture
Mayor of Hagi City
Mayor of Uki City, Kumamoto Prefecture
The Former Employee of Nippon Steel Corporation
An Associate Professor of the Faculty of Science and Engineering in Iwate University
Chairman of the Tourist Guide Association of Misumi West Port
President of Kuraya Narusawa Co., Ltd.
Chairman of Izunokuni City Tourism Association
Director and General Manager of Gunkanjima Concierge
Producer of the Gunkanjima Digital Museum
Owner at Tōge Chaya
Chairman: Mr. Hidenori Date
President: Mr. Masahiro Date
Proprietor, Houraikan Inn
Representative Director of Egawa Bunko non-profit incorporated foundation
The 42nd head of the Egawa Family
Democratic Party for the People (DPP) Representative for Nagasaki Prefecture
President of the NPO, Way to World Heritage Gunkanjima
Representative Director
MI Consulting Group
President of Watanabe Production Group and Honorary Chair of Watanabe Productions Co., Ltd.
Member of the House of Councillors
Governor
Kagoshima Prefecture
World Heritage Consultant
Director and Dean, The Kyushu-Asia Institute of Leadership
Representative Director, SUMIDA, Inc.
Journalist, founder of the Shimomura Mitsuko Ikikata Juku School
Representative, Rally Nippon
Chairman, Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution World Heritage Route Promotion Council Director, National Congress of Industrial Heritage
Representative Director, General Incorporated Foundation National Congress of Industrial Heritage (Advisor, Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Capital Markets Research Institute）
Mayor of Nagasaki City
Policy Director at Heritage Montreal
World Heritage Consultant
Executive Director of Kogakuin University
Heritage Architect and International Consultant
Head of Data Acquisition at The Glasgow School of Art’s School of Simulation and Visualisation
Head of Industrial Heritage, Historic Environment Scotland, Edinburgh
Scottish Ten Project Manager, Historic Environment Scotland, Edinburgh
Mayor of Izunokuni City, Shizuoka Prefecture
Pro-Provost and Chairman of Council of the Royal College of Art. Heritage advisor of Canal & River Trust for England and Wales.
Dean of Tokyo Rissho Junior College
Professor emeritus of Keio University
Mayor of Kitakyushu City
At the 39th session of the World Heritage Committee convened in Bonn, Germany, from June 28 to July 8, 2015, the decision was approved to inscribe the Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution on the World Heritage list.
At a celebratory party held to mark the occasion, some of the primary promoters of the project spoke of their joy in achieving their goal and of the trials and tribulations to getting there.
Director and Managing Executive Officer, Hanshin Expressway Company Limited
Member, Board of Directors, National Congress of Industrial Heritage
Vice-Governor of Shizuoka Prefecture
Mayor of Hagi City
Chairman, Tokyo Metro Co., Ltd.
Mayor of Omuta City
Deputy Director-General, Lifelong Learning Policy Bureau, MEXT
Former Counsellor, Cabinet Secretariat
Mayor of Kamaishi City
Member, Board of Directors, National Congress of Industrial Heritage Counselor, Shimadzu Limited
Chairman of the Consortium for the World Heritage Inscription of Modern Industrial Heritage (Kyushu-Yamaguchi) and governor of Kagoshima Prefecture (as of 2015)