[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":227},["ShallowReactive",2],{"site-tomioka-silk-mill":3,"site-stories-tomioka-silk-mill":200,"site-siblings-tomioka-silk-mill":213},{"id":4,"title":5,"access":6,"alerts":10,"bestSeasons":22,"body":26,"coordinates":133,"description":118,"extension":136,"factsCheckedAt":137,"food":138,"heroImage":154,"highlights":155,"meta":162,"nameCommon":5,"nameEn":163,"nameJa":164,"navigation":165,"nearestHub":166,"officialLinks":167,"path":171,"prefectures":172,"region":174,"seo":175,"siteType":176,"sources":177,"stay":182,"stem":195,"summary":196,"unescoRef":197,"year":198,"__hash__":199},"sites\u002Fsites\u002Ftomioka-silk-mill.md","Tomioka Silk Mill",{"outline":7,"duration":8,"costHint":9},"Joetsu or Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tokyo Station to Takasaki (about 50 minutes), then the local Joshin Dentetsu line to Joshu-Tomioka Station (about 40 minutes, ~2 trains\u002Fhour), followed by a 10-15 minute walk to the mill.","about 2 hours door-to-door","Joshin Dentetsu Takasaki-Joshu-Tomioka ¥810 one way; a ¥2,200 round-trip ticket including mill admission is available",[11,14,17,20],{"message":12,"validThrough":13},"The mill's landmark 1939 chimney is wrapped in scaffolding for preservation repair with the contract running to March 25, 2027, so expect it covered in your photos; the mill itself remains open.","2027-03-25",{"message":15,"validThrough":16},"A reservation-only special tour opens the normally closed second floor of the National Treasure West Cocoon Storage from July 25 to November 29, 2026 (about one hour, ¥4,000 per group of up to 20, booked in advance through the mill's reservation center; not suitable for preschoolers or visitors with mobility limitations).","2026-11-29",{"message":18,"validThrough":19},"Arafune Cold Storage, one of the four inscribed component sites, is closed every winter from December 1 to March 31, so plan any four-site itinerary for April through November.","2027-03-31",{"message":21},"Bear sightings have closed Arafune Cold Storage on weekdays since July 16, 2026: Gunma Prefecture says it will open on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays only until countermeasures are in place, with no end date announced, so call the Shimonita Town History Museum on 0274-82-5354 before committing to the 30-minute taxi from Shimonita Station.",[23,24,25],"Year-round (indoor-focused site)","Spring (March-May) for mild weather and cherry blossoms in Tomioka","Autumn (October-November) for comfortable touring weather",{"type":27,"value":28,"toc":117},"minimark",[29,34,38,41,45,50,58,62,65,69,72,76,79,83,86,90,97,101,104,108,111,114],[30,31,33],"h2",{"id":32},"why-its-inscribed","Why it's inscribed",[35,36,37],"p",{},"Japan's first export boom nearly wrecked its silk trade. Late-Edo demand flooded foreign markets with poor-grade raw silk, and the new Meiji government decided the fix was a model factory: build the best reeling plant anywhere, train Japanese workers in it, then send them home to spread the technology. Tomioka Silk Mill opened in 1872 under French engineer Paul Brunat, running 300 French reeling machines in what was then the largest mechanized silk-reeling plant in the world. The gamble worked. Japan became the world's largest producer of raw silk and held the position for more than half of the twentieth century.",[35,39,40],{},"The World Heritage listing covers the whole production chain, not just the factory. Arafune Cold Storage kept silkworm eggs dormant in naturally refrigerated rock chambers, breaking the one-hatch-a-year limit. Tajima Yahei's 1863 farmhouse pioneered ventilated silkworm rearing. Takayama-sha turned rearing technique into a national curriculum, and Tomioka reeled the results into thread. What makes the mill itself remarkable is survival: Katakura Silk ran it until 1987, then maintained the empty buildings rather than demolish them. Three of those buildings are now National Treasures.",[30,42,44],{"id":43},"what-youll-actually-see","What you'll actually see",[46,47,49],"h3",{"id":48},"east-cocoon-storage-higashi-okimayu-sho","East Cocoon Storage (Higashi-okimayu-sho)",[35,51,52,53,57],{},"Your ticket, the shop, and the Silk Gallery are all here, so the circuit starts and ends in this building whether you plan it or not. It is a 104-meter wall of ",[54,55,56],"em",{},"kiwari-renga"," construction, brick laid into a timber frame. Look up at the central arch: the keystone reads \"Meiji 5,\" the year 1872, and it is the photograph everyone takes. Dried cocoons were stored on the second floor; the ground floor held offices and workspace.",[46,59,61],{"id":60},"silk-reeling-workshop-soshi-sho","Silk-Reeling Workshop (Soshi-sho)",[35,63,64],{},"The 140-meter reeling hall is the reason the mill exists, and its truss roof is the reason the hall could exist: no interior columns, which in 1872 meant room for 300 reeling machines under one span. Know before you walk in that the machinery lining the hall today is not Brunat's. These are Nissan automatic reeling machines from the 1980s, left where they stood when Katakura shut the line in 1987. Some visitors find that a letdown; others like that one room bookends the entire industrial story.",[46,66,68],{"id":67},"west-cocoon-storage-nishi-okimayu-sho","West Cocoon Storage (Nishi-okimayu-sho)",[35,70,71],{},"The East building's twin, and the one that shows what serious conservation looks like. A six-year preservation project ended with its reopening on October 3, 2020, and rather than fake a period interior, the restorers inserted a freestanding glass room inside the historic shell for exhibitions. From July 25 through November 29, 2026, a special tour opens the normally closed north half of the second floor, where the cocoons were actually stored, plus the veranda view (¥4,000 per group of up to 20, 2026; book ahead through the mill's reservation center).",[46,73,75],{"id":74},"brunat-house-and-the-rest-of-the-grounds","Brunat House and the rest of the grounds",[35,77,78],{},"More than 100 structures survive on site, and most are exterior-viewing only. Walk past the Brunat House, the residence built for the French director, then the separate dormitories for French and Japanese staff, and the infirmary. The 1939 reinforced-concrete chimney, the mill's silhouette from anywhere in town, is wrapped in scaffolding for preservation repair through fiscal 2026 — frame your photos accordingly.",[46,80,82],{"id":81},"tajima-yahei-sericulture-farm","Tajima Yahei Sericulture Farm",[35,84,85],{},"An excursion to Isesaki, and where modern sericulture architecture begins. In this 1863 farmhouse Tajima Yahei worked out cool-air rearing and topped his roof with a ventilation cupola, the first on any sericulture house; after he published his methods, the design spread across rural Japan. You cannot go inside the house itself. The visit is the garden, the ground floor of the kuwaba where mulberry leaves were stored and handled, and that roofline, and it is free. Reach it by taxi from JR Honjo Station.",[46,87,89],{"id":88},"takayama-sha-sericulture-school","Takayama-sha Sericulture School",[35,91,92,93,96],{},"In Fujioka, Takayama Chogoro founded a school in 1884 to teach ",[54,94,95],{},"seion-iku",", his method balancing ventilation against temperature control, and it became the national standard for silkworm rearing. The surviving building, an 1891 residence that doubles as a silkworm house, was purpose-built for the technique, so the architecture itself is the lesson. Admission is ¥500 (2026) with free guided tours. A local bus from JR Gunma-Fujioka Station takes about 35 minutes.",[46,98,100],{"id":99},"arafune-cold-storage","Arafune Cold Storage",[35,102,103],{},"The strangest of the four: three stone-walled chambers in the mountains of Shimonita, built 1905–1914 over rock fissures that exhale cold air year-round. Refrigerated eggs could be hatched on demand, which multiplied rearing cycles and drew customers from 42 prefectures and the Korean Peninsula. It closes entirely from December 1 to March 31, and since July 2026 bear activity has shut it on weekdays too, leaving Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays until the town has countermeasures in place. Even in season it sits a 30-minute taxi ride from Shimonita Station, so call the Shimonita Town History Museum on 0274-82-5354 before you set out. Admission ¥500 (2026), 9:30 to 16:00 with last entry at 15:30.",[30,105,107],{"id":106},"worth-knowing","Worth knowing",[35,109,110],{},"The paid guided tour is delivered in Japanese, so for most readers of this site the real interpretation is the free official audio app, available in five languages including English. Download it on hotel Wi-Fi, since it runs on your own data. Tours depart on fixed times from the East Cocoon Storage desk; arrive before your slot, not at it.",[35,112,113],{},"Last entry is 16:30, a half hour before the posted closing. The only fixed closure is December 29–31, but unannounced maintenance days happen, so check the official news page before a long trip.",[35,115,116],{},"Personal photography is unrestricted, no permit needed, which is unusual for a National Treasure. The tradeoff is that rope lines are firm, because the brickwork is under active conservation. Summer is honest work here: the circuit runs outdoors between long brick buildings with little shade, and staff hand out paper fans from late June. Autumn is the sweet spot, with maple color at Momiji-daira Park in town. And arrive with the right expectation. The mill stopped working in 1987; this is architecture and history, not a live silk demonstration.",{"title":118,"searchDepth":119,"depth":119,"links":120},"",2,[121,122,132],{"id":32,"depth":119,"text":33},{"id":43,"depth":119,"text":44,"children":123},[124,126,127,128,129,130,131],{"id":48,"depth":125,"text":49},3,{"id":60,"depth":125,"text":61},{"id":67,"depth":125,"text":68},{"id":74,"depth":125,"text":75},{"id":81,"depth":125,"text":82},{"id":88,"depth":125,"text":89},{"id":99,"depth":125,"text":100},{"id":106,"depth":119,"text":107},{"lat":134,"lng":135},36.2553,138.8878,"md","2026-08-04",[139,142,145,148,151],{"name":140,"note":141},"Horumon-age","Tomioka's own fried snack: chikuwa fish cake split lengthwise, panko-crumbed, fried to order on a stick and sauced. Buy it scalding from prepared-food counters like Okaketsu Meat Shop near the mill; it lives in butcher shops and supermarkets, not restaurants.",{"name":143,"note":144},"Kojo curry at Takada Shokudo","An old-school diner whose curry rice is billed as the one the kojo, the mill's female workers, loved. The silk-worker food connection is a genuine local story, not recent marketing.",{"name":146,"note":147},"Okkirikomi","Gunma's wide, unsalted flat noodles stewed with root vegetables in miso or soy broth until their own starch thickens it. Tomioka sells a silk-themed local version.",{"name":149,"note":150},"Yakimanju","Gunma's defining street snack: plain steamed buns skewered, grilled over charcoal, and glazed with sweet-salty miso, best while the edges are still crisp from the grill.",{"name":152,"note":153},"Konnyaku at Konnyaku Park","Gunma grows more konjac than any other prefecture, and this factory attraction in neighboring Kanra Town runs a free production-line tour and a free konnyaku buffet, a short taxi ride from Joshu-Fukushima Station on the same Joshin line.","\u002Fimages\u002Fsites\u002Ftomioka-silk-mill-hero.webp",[156,157,158,159,160,161],"The vast 1872 silk-reeling plant, one of the world's largest of its era, with French machinery","Distinctive timber-framed brick East and West Cocoon Warehouses","Brunat House, colonial-style residence of French supervisor Paul Brunat","Tajima Yahei Sericulture Farm — the experimental cocoon-raising farmhouse (Isesaki)","Takayama-sha Sericulture School site, which spread modern silkworm-raising methods (Fujioka)","Arafune Cold Storage, natural cold-air storehouse for silkworm eggs (Shimonita)",{},"Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites","富岡製糸場と絹産業遺産群",true,"Takasaki Station (Joetsu\u002FHokuriku Shinkansen)",[168,169,170],"https:\u002F\u002Fwhc.unesco.org\u002Fen\u002Flist\u002F1449\u002F","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.tomioka-silk.jp\u002F","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.japan.travel\u002Fen\u002Fworld-heritage\u002Ftomioka-silk-mill\u002F","\u002Fsites\u002Ftomioka-silk-mill",[173],"Gunma","Kanto",{"description":118},"cultural",[168,170,178,179,180,181],"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.visit-gunma.jp\u002Fen\u002Fplan-your-trip\u002Faccess-guide\u002Fhow-to-get-to-tomioka-silk-mill\u002F","https:\u002F\u002Fwww.japan-guide.com\u002Fe\u002Fe7417.html","https:\u002F\u002Fen.wikipedia.org\u002Fwiki\u002FTomioka_Silk_Mill","https:\u002F\u002Fworldheritage.pref.gunma.jp\u002Fwhc\u002F26712\u002F",[183,186,189,192],{"area":184,"note":185},"Takasaki","The Shinkansen hub where you transfer to the Joshin line, with hotels steps from the station; the tradeoff is sleeping in a workaday regional city rather than anywhere with atmosphere.",{"area":187,"note":188},"Tomioka town","Sleep a short walk from the gate and be there for the 9:00 opening, accepting a handful of small properties (Hotel Amuse Tomioka, guesthouse Mabushi-ya, farmstay Hinata), limited English, and a town that goes quiet after dark.",{"area":190,"note":191},"Myogi","Pairs the mill with Mt. Myogi's serrated ridgeline and a hot-spring soak at Myogi Green Hotel & Terrace or Hishiya Ryokan beside the shrine torii, but it really only works with a car.",{"area":193,"note":194},"Shimonita \u002F western Gunma","The right base only if Arafune Cold Storage is on your itinerary, which as of mid-2026 means a Saturday, Sunday or holiday between April and November; the end-of-the-line ryokan and mineral spas have character, but Arafune is still a 30-minute taxi away.","sites\u002Ftomioka-silk-mill","The 1872 reeling mill, built with French machinery, that made Japan the world's leading raw-silk exporter. Timber-framed brick warehouses, two hours from Tokyo.","1449",2014,"VCvgRgnP2tDTIEKUMFIFTjwo1oi4BvXSC9n-UQYx43o",[201,207],{"path":202,"title":203,"topic":204,"summary":205,"heroImage":206},"\u002Fstories\u002Ftomioka-silk-mill-half-day-from-tokyo","Ninety-Five Minutes from Tokyo: A Half-Day at Japan's First Silk Factory","access","Japan's first mechanized silk factory sits about 95 minutes from Tokyo Station, and the only real obstacle is a ticket gate that refuses Suica. The half-day playbook, from the 2,200-yen combo ticket to the fried chikuwa for the walk back.","\u002Fimages\u002Fstories\u002Ftomioka-silk-mill-half-day-from-tokyo.webp",{"path":208,"title":209,"topic":210,"summary":211,"heroImage":212},"\u002Fstories\u002Ftomioka-silk-mill-reading-the-four-sites","Cocoons, Cold Air and a Column-Free Hall: Reading the Four Sites That Built Japan's Silk Empire","history","Tomioka isn't inscribed as a lone factory but as a four-site production line: eggs refrigerated by a mountainside, silkworms raised on moving air, a school that standardized the craft, and a reeling hall with no columns. How to read each one.","\u002Fimages\u002Fstories\u002Ftomioka-silk-mill-reading-the-four-sites.webp",[214,218,222,226],{"path":215,"nameCommon":216,"region":174,"year":217},"\u002Fsites\u002Fnational-museum-western-art","National Museum of Western Art (Le Corbusier)",2016,{"path":219,"nameCommon":220,"region":174,"year":221},"\u002Fsites\u002Fnikko","Nikko (Toshogu Shrine)",1999,{"path":223,"nameCommon":224,"region":174,"year":225},"\u002Fsites\u002Fogasawara","Ogasawara Islands (Bonin Islands)",2011,{"path":171,"nameCommon":5,"region":174,"year":198},1785853967997]