World Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage
Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape
Inscribed: 2007
Components
Main data
- Name of Property
- Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine and its Cultural Landscape
- Components
- Ginzan Sakunouchi、Daikansho Site、Yataki-jo Site、Yahazu-jo Site、Iwami-jo Site、Ômori-Ginzan、Miyanomae、House of the Kumagai Family、Rakan-ji Gohyakurakan、Iwami Ginzan Kaidô Tomogauradô、Iwami Ginzan Kaidô Yunotsu-Okidomaridô、Tomogaura、Okidomari、Yunotsu
- Place
- Ohda City, Shimane Prefecture
- Tentative List Submission
- Tentative List Submission: 2001
- Nommination
- Nommination: Jan/2006
- Inscribed
- Inscribed: Jul/2007
- Minor Boundary Modification
- Minor Boundary Modifications: 2010
- Criteria
- (ⅱ)(ⅲ)(ⅴ)
- Municipality
- World Heritage Office, Cultural Properties Division, Shimane Prefectural Board of Education
- Municipality Website
- https://ginzan.city.ohda.lg.jp/
(Iwami Ginzan World Heritage Center) - UNESCO Website
- https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1246
Related Resources
Explanation
The Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine in the south-west of Honshu Island is a cluster of mountains, rising to 600 m and interspersed by deep river valleys featuring the archaeological remains of large-scale mines, smelting and refining sites and mining settlements worked between the 16th and 20th centuries. The site also features routes used to transport silver ore to the coast, and port towns from where it was shipped to Korea and China. The mines contributed substantially to the overall economic development of Japan and south-east Asia in the 16th and 17th centuries, prompting the mass production of silver and gold in Japan. The mining area is now heavily wooded. Included in the site are fortresses, shrines, parts of Kaidô transport routes to the coast, and three port towns, Tomogaura, Okidomari and Yunotsu, from where the ore was shipped.