Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution by Wojciech Fedoruk
Since most of the components have already been described in details by others, I will focus on probably the most inaccessible of them, Hashino Iron Mining and Smelting Site. I visited Hashino on the way from Hiraizumi to Shirakami-Sanchi, and the place is located only 1.5 hours from the former. The end of the road to Hashimo is around 20 km on serpentines on a completely empty but even road. I was afraid that we would arrive and see nothing, but unnecessarily - there is a decent visitor center here, with a film and brochures in English. Everything is free of charge, open daily from 9:30 to 16:30, closed from December 8 to April 1.
Hashino is associated with Takato Oshima, the father of the Japanese iron industry (also involved in the development of gold mines on Sado Island), who initiated the construction of blast furnaces in Hashino in 1858, at the end of the Edo period. The location was not accidental; ore was mined in the surrounding mountains and transported only a few kilometers to Hashino. Iron smelting did not last long; the site was closed after 36 years, already in the 19th century, although ore extraction continued for many more years. There are few permanent remains here - stone ruins of several furnaces, warehouses, workers' housing and the remains of a quarry. All of this is covered by a short educational trail, which takes about 30 minutes to complete. You can learn more about the site in Kamaishi, where the Iron and Steel History Museum and Kamaishi Historical Materials Display, which I did not visit, are located.