A Guide to the World Heritage Tomioka Silk Mill
Guideto Japan
Travel- English
- 日本語
- 简体字
- 繁體字
- Français
- Español
- العربية
- Русский
The Tomioka Silk Mill, in Tomioka in the southwestern corner of Gunma Prefecture, began operating as Japan’s first large-scale, Western-style silk-reeling factory in 1872. In the years after Japan opened to trade with the world in the late nineteenth century, its main export product was raw silk. Facing the urgent need to earn foreign currency, the Meiji government decided to build a government-owned factory to improve quality and introduce Western-style technology to its silk-reeling industry.
The mill, sold to private interests in 1893, continued to operate until 1987. The original buildings have been preserved intact, witness to over 100 years of Japan’s silk-reeling industry. The complex is now a popular tourist attraction that was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2014.
Related article › The World Heritage Tomioka Silk Mill: A Modern Factory with Japanese Flavor
Sightseeing by Bus and Guided Tour
A popular way of getting from Jōshin Dentetsu railway’s Jōshū Tomioka station, the closest rail access point, to the mill is the Machinaka excursion sightseeing bus, which leaves from the parking lot northeast of the station. For those who prefer to walk, the site is about 15 minutes away on foot. Aboard the bus, volunteer guides describe the passing scenery and points of interest in the town, so visitors can plan the spots they’d like to visit on the way back. A ¥100 all-day ticket for the sightseeing bus bought upon boarding allows unlimited trips during the day. The bus will stop along its route to pick you up if you raise your hand, even when you aren’t at a bus stop.
Past the main entrance, the first building that comes into view is the East Cocoon Warehouse, which was used to store cocoons awaiting processing. This elegant building is an imposing structure with a frontage of 100 meters.
At the rear of the site, the West Cocoon Warehouse stands parallel to the East Cocoon Warehouse. To the left, the silk reeling mill, a 140-meter-long structure, stands between the two warehouses, joining the three buildings in a squared-off U shape. These original structures date from the mill’s founding and form the heart of this heritage site designated a national treasure. Surrounding them are various Western-style structures that housed the foreign experts recruited from France to supervise the project in the initial stages and dormitories for the mill’s female workers.
Many visitors take advantage of the guided tour of the site. This 40-minute tour, given in Japanese, describes the mill’s history, silk-reeling technology, and the purpose of the buildings on the site and their various features of interest. After the tour, visitors are free to look around at their leisure and take in the various exhibition halls and galleries on the grounds, which can help them learn more about this pioneering site. Tours start every 30 minutes, and the fee is ¥200. If you can’t join a tour, rental audio guides are available in several languages.
Guided Tours and Audio Guides
- Tour hours: At 30-minute intervals from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm and 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm. Note: The 4:00 pm tour is offered between April and October only.
- Guided tour fees: Adults, ¥200; junior high and below, ¥100. Tickets go on sale 30 minutes before the start of each tour. Available only in Japanese.
- Audio guide rental fee: ¥200. Available in Japanese, English, French, Chinese, and Korean.
All About Silk Reeling
At the larval stage, silkworms produce silk thread for two days, which they form into cocoons. Boiling the cocoons loosens the substance holding the thread together, and an implement made from dried rice stalks is used to detach the thread and unravel the cocoon. The thread is reeled onto spools; after it is dried, the material recovers its initial resilience. Visitors to the mill can see the actual reeling process, with a cocoon about 3 centimeters long producing over 1,000 meters of thread.
The cocoons are heated before the larvae inside hatch and are dried to be set aside for later use. Today, adjusting the temperature for raising the silkworms and controlling cocoon quality makes it possible to extend the harvest period, but in the past, cocoons were all harvested at the same time. Thus, to secure enough cocoons for a year’s production, large quantities were needed, which were stored in the huge warehouses on the mill site.
The East Cocoon Warehouse combines Japanese and Western architectural elements. The walls are constructed from bricks made by Japanese tile craftsmen, while the roof is topped with traditional tiles. To prevent mold from forming on the cocoons stored inside, the building features many large windows to ensure good ventilation. The first floor of the building includes a display area, a silk gallery, and a gift shop.
The mill where female workers worked had large windows, which made it airy and bright. Since Japan did not have electric lights when the mill was built, plentiful natural light was needed for the workers to reel the thin silk fibers. The large glass windowpanes and steel window frames were imported from France.
Initially, the French reeling machines were steam-powered and the openings provided by the small windows in the monitor roof atop the building allowed the steam to escape. The automatic silk-reeling machines in the mill today were made by automobile manufacturer Nissan and were installed in the late 1960s.
Dormitories and Company Houses
Of the many Western-style buildings and dormitories on the mill grounds, the most impressive structure is the Brunat House, the home of Paul Brunat, a Frenchman hired by the Meiji government to serve as the mill’s technical director. Brunat lived there from 1872 to 1876, after which the large building, with a floor area of more than 900 square meters, was used as a residence for the mill’s women workers and as a training facility.
The Brunat House, along with the residences of the French female instructors and male technicians, have been designated important cultural properties. But the French experts only lived there for two years before returning home, so the buildings were only used for their original purpose for a short time.
The mill also features many displays and buildings related to the lives of the women who worked there. During the years when it was government-owned, the mill served as a facility for training young Japanese women in the latest Western silk-reeling technology, after which they returned to their hometowns to help improve local silk-reeling businesses. The work environment was also very progressive for the era. Workers were provided with accommodation, bedding, and meals, and could receive free care from a medical clinic on the grounds.
Dormitories and company houses erected during the Taishō (1912–26) and early Shōwa (1926–89) eras still stand today, testimony to the lives of the people who lived and worked at the mill over the years.
Tomioka Silk Mill
- Address: 1-1 Tomioka, Tomioka, Gunma Prefecture
- Hours: 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (last entry: 4:30 pm)
- Closed: December 29–31
- Fees: Adults, ¥1,000; high school and university students, ¥250; elementary and junior high students, ¥150
- Guided tour fees: Adults, ¥200; junior high and below, ¥100. No reservation required.
- Audio guide rental fee: ¥200. Available in Japanese, English, French, Chinese, and Korean.
(Originally published in Japanese. Information courtesy of Tomioka City and Tomioka Silk Mill. Banner photo: The main entrance to the Tomioka Silk Mill. All photos © Nippon.com.)
tourism World Heritage industry Meiji Restoration Tomioka Silk Mill Tomioka