Intangible culture with Related Tags
Heritage with Related Tags
Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama
Located in isolated mountainous areas, these villages have Gassho-style houses and rely mainly on mulberry cultivation and silkworm rearing. These large houses have steep thatched roofs, which are unique in Japan. Despite economic turmoil, Ogimachi, Ainokura and Suganuma remain outstanding examples of traditional lifestyles that are in perfect harmony with the environment and the social and economic conditions of the people.
Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites
The property is a historic sericulture and silk mill complex built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Gunma Prefecture, northwest of Tokyo. It consists of four sites corresponding to different stages of raw silk production: a large raw silk reeling mill with machinery and industrial expertise imported from France; an experimental farm where silkworm cocoons were produced; a school where knowledge of sericulture was disseminated; and a silkworm seed cold storage facility. The site embodies Japan’s desire to rapidly acquire the best mass production technology and was a decisive factor in the renaissance of Japan’s sericulture and silk industry in the last quarter of the 19th century. The Tomioka Silk Mill and its associated sites became a center of innovation in raw silk production, marking Japan’s entry into the modern industrialized era, making it the world’s largest exporter of raw silk, especially to Europe and the United States.