Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining

This site encompasses a series 23 historic parts that played an important part in the industrialization of Japan in the Bakumatsu and Meiji periods

Former Kagoshima Spinning Engineers Residence

This postcard was sent by Phoebe

The Kyu-Kagoshima Bosekisho Gishikan (Old Kagoshima Spinning Engineers House) in Kagoshima is, like its many counterparts in other Japanese towns such as the foreigners' houses in Kobe, simply known as Ijinkan, Foreigners Residence.

The Ijinkan was constructed at the end of the Edo Period in 1866 to house seven British engineers.

Following the military engagement between the Royal Navy and the Satsuma shore batteries in 1863, known rather grandiosely as the Anglo Satsuma War, Satsuma (present-day Kagoshima Prefecture) and Britain enjoyed a close relationship. As part of their drive to modernize their domain, a group of students were sent to study in England, even though this was still illegal according to shogunate law. - in: http://www.japanvisitor.com/japan-museums-art-galleries/foreigners-mansion-ijinkan-kagoshima

Hashima Island

This postcard was sent by Akiko

Hashima Island, commonly called Gunkanjima (meaning Battleship Island), is an abandoned island lying about 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the city of Nagasaki, in southern Japan. It is one of 505 uninhabited islands in Nagasaki Prefecture. The island's most notable features are its abandoned concrete buildings, undisturbed except by nature, and the surrounding sea wall. While the island is a symbol of the rapid industrialization of Japan, it is also a reminder of its history as a site of forced labor prior to and during the Second World War.

The 6.3-hectare (16-acre) island was known for its undersea coal mines, established in 1887, which operated during the industrialization of Japan. The island reached a peak population of 5,259 in 1959. In 1974, with the coal reserves nearing depletion, the mine was closed and all of the residents departed soon after, leaving the island effectively abandoned for the following three decades. - in: wikipedia