Tomioka Silk Mill was inscribed on the World Heritage
List in 2014 as a center of innovation regarding the silk
industry, mass production, and the successful integration
of French industrial expertise. Tomioka was chosen by
the government as a silk reeling factory for its
accessibility to all the components to creating raw silk,
including nearby water supply, the proximity of coal,
availability of land, cold storage, etc. Even though the
facility closed its doors in 1987, the Tomioka Silk Mill is
one of the only government-operated facilities
constructed by the Meiji regime and maintains a near
perfect condition.
At the end of the Edo Period and beginning of the Meiji
Restoration, Japan was ending its isolation period and
began trading with Western countries in 1859. One of the
most important exports of the time was raw silk. The
production of raw silk was all done by hand and could not
meet the growing demand of the West except by
sacrificing quality for quantity. The result was a drop in
value in the global market. To counter this growing
concern, the government worked with Paul Brunat, a man
who worked with a French trading company in Yokohama
in 1870. Paul found Tomioka suitable for the construction
of the silk mill and began building in 1871. In 1872,
Tomioka Silk Mill started production with the most
modern machinery and expertise from France.
The Tomioka Silk Mill allowed 300 people to work at the
same time, which made it one of the largest silk reeling
mills in its day. Its technological transfer of French
industrial sericulture methods illustrates the successful
international trade commodity and entryway to the
modern industrialized world. In addition, the Tomiko Silk
Mill helped establish the textile industry as one of Japan’s
most important industries into the 20th century.
