The Hashino Iron Mining and Smelting Site, just
a 30-minute drive from my home, is one of the component assets of the ‘Sites of
Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal
Mining’ , a UNESCO World Heritage Site. As dogs are allowed on the site, I went
there with Sachiki-san.
Although it was inscribed on the World Heritage
List in 2015, it had already been designated a National Historic Site in 1957
as the site of Japan’s oldest surviving Western-style blast furnace. As I was
born in 1961, I have been familiar with the name ‘Hashino Blast Furnace Ruins’
since childhood, but I didn’t visit for the first time until after it had been
inscribed as a World Heritage Site.
Starting from the car park in front of the
Information Centre, it took about an hour to walk from the furthest blast
furnace—Blast Furnace No. 1—to Blast Furnace No. 2 and then Blast Furnace No.
3, before returning to the car park. It’s just the right length of time for a
walk.
We followed the signposted route whilst reading
the information boards.
The grass has been neatly mown, so it’s easy to
walk on.
As it’s at a high altitude and there’s plenty
of shade from the trees, it was a pleasant, cool walk.
