14
YOUR GLOBAL CRAFTSMAN STUDIO
additionofthesefacilities,thegovernment
aimed to acquire foreign currency with
an eye toward modernization and also to
acquire monetary benefits. Furthermore
in 1885, the new Meiji government
attempted to increase production at the
Sado mine in preparation for shifting to
a modern monetary system based on
a gold standard. Oshima Takato, upon
being appointed director of the Sado
mine, subsequently opened several
new facilities including the Takato shaft,
the Kitazawa flotation mill using new
German technology and also developed
the Oma Harbor. In 1890, a mining school
was also opened to promote the domestic
production of mining technology and
important policies were implemented
in regard to mining education in Japan.
Thereafter in 1896 the Sado mine
was sold to Mitsubishi Goshi Kaisha
(predecessorofMitsubishi)andalongwith
the Ikuno mine achieved rapid growth.
By promoting mechanization such as
throughtheautomationofpowersystems,
Mitsubishi succeeded in returning the
mine’s momentum back to the level of
production it achieved at its peak during
the Edo Period. New production levels
helped it to achieve far more than the
400kg of gold it produced annually during
the latter half of the Meiji Period. During
its 93 years of operation, Mitsubishi
produced approximately 33000kg of
gold, and it was Mitsubishi’s modern
mining and ore processing technologies
that made a significant contribution
to the increase in gold production.
Long-lasting History of Sado Gold Mine
Sado Gold Mine’s history as Japan’s
largest goldmine endedwhen operations
were closed down in 1989, after
producing a total of 78000kg of gold
and 2,300 tons of silver. Today, the site
is open to the public as the Historical
Site of Sado GoldMine (operated by
Golden Sado Inc.) and is striving to
be inscribed on theWorld Heritage
List. Though now dormant, to this
day, the Sado mine still continues
to convey its long 400-year history
of mining technologies
and production systems.
HISTORY OF MITSUBISHI
The former Ohdate shaft hoisting house, built usingWestern technologies in the
early Meiji Period and the Ohdatemill, built in the latter Meiji Period (front)
The Kitazawa flotationmill, the largest flotationmill
built in the Showa Period in Asia
“Dohyu-no-wareto” (split mine of Dohyu) the symbol of Sado GoldMine. It is said
that themountain split in two as a result of many people vying to dig for ore.
Shotoku Sado Koban coin
Mitsubishi Material gold bar
Ohdate shaft
Dohyu-no-wareto (site of gold
oremining by hand)
Mining inside the Sohdayu
shaft during the Edo Period
(reproduction
The Sado Koban coin foundry in
the Edo Period (reproduction)
SADO
