Visiting the Hashino Blast Furnace

A steam train used in Japan in the 1800s

The Historical Museum of Iron displays historical iron, including exhibits on iron-making and how it was developed by Oshima Takato. The actual blast furnace relics are located in the Hashino mountains which can also be visited. This museum has received an award plate from the American Soceity for Metals designating the Hashino Blast Furnace Relics as a historical landmark. These first Western-style blast furnaces in Japan succeeded in producing pig iron from iron ore in 1857, and is thus the birthplace of modern Japanese steel industry.  The first piece of history that I encountered was a huge steam train engine from the eighteen hundreds. When entering the museum, you have the opportunity to watch a ten minute movie and re-enactment of how iron was first produced in Japan. For those like me who do not know much about the technicality of iron production, this demonstration was a great introduction to the museum. As all of the descriptions for the displays are in Japanese, for those who are not fluent, I strongly suggest watching this video and re-enactment before viewing the displays. When viewing the historic displays, many different types of iron are displayed and some of these displays are interactive with the use of magnets. What I found most interesting was the history of Oshima Takato, Japan's father of modern iron production. Letters, books, maps, contracts, and collected clocks and products produced by the iron are a few examples of things on displayed for those who would like to focus on the history behind the production of iron in Japan. 

Lights are used in the re-enactment of iron production in Japan during the introduction film

A miniature reproduction of the Hashino Blast Furnace

A display of the tools used for collecting iron from the mines