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[Please click on the area you wish to see.] Ginzan Zone Omori Zone Surrounding Area  The area of the Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine Ruins can be largely divided into three parts, i.e., the Omori Zone, the Ginzan Zone and the Surrounding Area.  The Omori Zone includes the area from the Magistrate's Office to Rakanji Temple, and the Ginzan Zone includes the area from the Zosenjiguchi Guard Station to the Ryugenji Mabu.  In the Surrounding Area are ports and roads used for the transport of silver and supplies.  An old record says that the Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine was discovered by Ouchi Hiroyuki in 1309, in the late Kamakura Period. However, the full-scale development of the Mine started by Kamiya Jutei in 1526, and it was in the prime between the middle of the 16th century and the 17th century.  After the production of Iwami-Ginzan Silver Mine dropped, the mine was operated as copper mine in modern times, only to close again in 1923. Because large scale mining and development have not taken place since then, numerous ruins from the 16th century to the beginning of the 20th century have been preserved in extremely sound condition. In 1969, a portion of the ruin was designated as a National Historic Site for its significance as one of Japan's representing mine sites.  Even today, throughout the mine area called "Sakunouchi" are temples, shrines and houses, showing us traces of the area's prosperous past. The buildings remain much unchanged, giving us a glimpse of what the area must have looked like at the end of the Edo Period. In 1987, these buildings were designated as historically significant structures and the area was selected as a preservation district. From the Kamakura Era to the Warring States Period Discovery and development of the Mine and scramble for the Mine During the Edo Period Direct control of the Shogunate government In modern times Redevelopment, a war boom and shutdown Go to the Abbreviated Chronological Table of the History

Ginzan Zone | Omori Zone | Surrounding Area | Classification by period | Chronological Table of the History