Industrial Heritage

Higashida No.1 Blast Furnace

Blast Furnace is a Steel plant for making the pig iron from iron ore 

and coke. Higashida No.1 Blast Furnace is only the Blast Furnace 

in the world which preserved as it was.  The birth place where 

Japan’s steel industry began in 1901. 

First Head Office of the Steel Works

The the building for the Head office of the Imperial Steel Works was

constructed in 1899, two years before commencement of Japan’s

Steel Industry. The design of the building is a harmony of Europea

and Japanese architectural styles.

Kawachi Reservoir

The first-class civil construction heritage completed in 1927,

The Kawachi Reservoir was constructed for the industrial water

supply to Yawata Steel Works. The dam was constructed at the 

Okura River and upper stream of the dam was expanded and 

making the 7milion cubic metre reservoir

Minami Kawachi-bashi bridge

Onga River Pump Station / UNESCO World Heritage

Built in 1910 on the east bank of the Onga River. It served, and still

serves, to deliver industrial water to Yawata via an 11.4 km pipeline.

 The site has been registered on the UNESCO World Heritage,

 Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution 

Kurogane Railway

Dedicated Railway for Yawata Steel Works. The railway connected

between Yawata and Tobata, completed in 1930. The most difficult

and hard work was making Miyatayama tunnel with a total  length 

of 1180 m due to suffering from floods. The gates of the Miyatayama

 tunnel are decorated with stately designs.

Gunkan-jima island

Hashima is a ruins called “Gunkanjima”, so called after its resemblance

to the silhouette.  Hashima Island is located 3 km southwest of 

Takashima, and it was the success of Takashima that led Mitsubishi to

purchase this island, both islands giving access to the same undersea 

coal deposit.