Heritage of Industrialization

Most people delighted with a news that United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization evaluated “The Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Industrial Heritage” as mostly perfect for World Cultural Heritage, even if they had only a little knowledge on it. Reports emphasized on the strategy of Japanese government to focus on high technology and good condition of reservation about the heritage. However, history over governmental policy of industrialization and women labor will need to be told, if it becomes cultural heritage.

The Tomioka Silk Mill was built in Gunma region in 1872, just five years after Meiji Restoration. Reflecting the policy of simultaneous development of military and industrial force in Meiji regime, the mill was built as a symbol of government-owned industries. Although it represented an industry of Japanese high quality silk for exporting to Europe, the factory did not make a good business in terms of productivity.

In history books for students, the mill was introduced as a machinated factory with Western style concentrated labor. In post war education relatively leaning on leftist side, Tomioka Mill was memorized as a place of hard labor on young women, questioning its condition of human rights. Lodged in small rooms in the site, they worked early in the morning to late at night.

It is recently acknowledged that those factory workers were mostly the daughters of well-to-do. Some realize them as early elites of women workers, comparing with women workers in Nagano area, where environment of mills was extremely deteriorated. With their efforts, anyway, Japan eventually emerged as one of the biggest textile makers, which would cause significant trade dispute with the United States in late twentieth century.

Helped by the efforts of the people in the region for conservation, Tomioka Mill remains its beautiful outlook, inviting a number of tourists. The reason why UNESCO realized the site as perfect must be the good condition of the site. The meaning of the mill in Japan’s modern history was ignored. If Japan wants to let the people in the world recognize modern development of Japan, it needs to cultivate its history and appeal its diligent effort for improvement.

The Japanese are always proud of being prized. Its government will pour a bunch of resource into something authorized by an international organization. People make big efforts only to get that authorization to improve the budget for operating cultural assets. In other words, the government does not finance cultural heritage without authorization of the world. They are not able to judge any value.