Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites (Japan)

Tomioka  Silk Mill and Related Sites (Japan). This historic sericulture and silk mill complex   is  located in the Gunma Prefecture  north west of Tokyo and was established in 1872. Built by the Japanese Government with machinery imported from France, it consists of four sites that attest to the different stages  in the production of raw silk:  production of cocoons  in an experimental farm;  a  cold storage facility for silkworm eggs;  reeling of cocoons and spinning of raw silk in a mill; and a school for the dissemination of sericulture knowledge. It illustrates Japan’s desire to rapidly adopt the best mass production techniques, and became a decisive element in the renewal of sericulture and the Japanese silk industry in the last quarter of the 19th century. It marked Japan’s entry into the modern, industrialized era, and propelled it to become the world’s  leading exporter of raw silk, notably to France and Italy.