Hi, I’m Mina!
Today, I would like to share some little-known connections between Japan and Netherlands that I discovered through this trip.

In Izunokuni City, Shizuoka Prefecture, there are two important historical sites: the Nirayama Reverberatory Furnaces, a UNESCO World Cultural Heritages, and the Egawa Residence, the former residence of the Nirayama area’s local administrator during the late Edo period.
When I visited these two places, I learned that, in the late Edo Period, Japan studied Western technology and knowledge from the Netherlands and adapted them to suit Japan’s own environment and culture.
One of the most important people in this process was Hidetatsu Egawa, who served as a Nirayama Daikan, a local administrator in Nirayama Area.

Nirayama Reverberatory Furnaces

Discovery 1: “Dutch technology” and “Japanese Ingenuity” at the Nirayama Reverberatory Furnaces

The Nirayama Reverberatory Furnaces are one of the component sites of the UNESCO World Cultural Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution.
They are also the only remaining reverberatory furnaces in the world industrially used for melting iron.

The story that impressed me the most was about Hidetatsu Egawa, who designed the furnaces by interpreting and studying Dutch technical books.
Although he learned the construction methods from the Netherlands, he couldn’t simply copy the Dutch design because Japan has many earthquakes while the Netherlands has few.
To solve this problem, he reduced the height of the furnaces to about 15.7 meters, which was considered the maximum safe size at that time, and hammered many large wooden piles into the ground to make the foundation more stable.
I was amazed that they didn’t limit themselves to copy advanced foreign technology but adapted it to suit Japanese natural environment!

I also heard an interesting story about cannons cast there.
During their few years of operation, it is said that only seventeen cannons were completed, and only four of them were successfully test fired.
These four cannons were placed at ports not to be fired at foreign ships in real but to discourage them from attacking Japan.
After Japan opened its doors to the world, the furnaces were no longer needed for coastal defense and were eventually closed.

Soon after the closure, the preservation began.
The furnace has been preserved to the present day, by trying various conservation methods, repairing the walls with lime plaster to prevent decay, and reinforcing the structures with iron to improve its earthquakes resistance.

History of the Preservation: From the Meiji Era (left) to the Present Day (right)

Discovery 2: Hidetatsu Egawa’s Vision Discovered at the Egawa Residence

Egawa Residence is an Important Cultural Porperty in Japan and it is located in the Nirayama Government Office Ruins.
What surprised me the most there was the main house, which was built in the early 17th century.
Looking up to the ceiling, I could see the wooden framework called “Koyagumi-zukuri”.
Look at these photos — it’s very beautiful, isn’t it?

At that time, there was no nails like the ones we use today, so craftsmen carefully cut and combined wooden pieces together carefully to construct the building.
This traditional framework is designed to absorb the tremors caused by earthquakes.

Moreover, my attention was drawn not only by structure but also by the protective charm inside.
When I looked more closely the ceiling, I noticed an old wooden box left there.
According to the guide, the box contains a fire-protective amulet given by Nichiren, the founder of the Nichiren school of Buddhism.
It is said that the amulet helped protect the house from large fires.
True to those words, the Egawa Residence hasn’t experienced any large accidents and shelters many historical records, such as some documents and weapons and armor.

Another story about Hidetatsu was that he was the first person to bake bread in Japan.
At that time, the main meal of soldiers was rice. Since smoke is produced when cooking rice and that rice quickly goes bad, it was risky to cook and eat rice in warfield.
So Hidetatsu tried to introduce bread as a main meal of soldiers since it is portable and can be stored for a long time.

On the other hand, the bread was too hard and not delicious at all, so her mother arranged the recipe adding sugar and eggs in order to make it delicious, and was offered around to neighbors.
I couldn’t help smiling as I imagined the quarrels between Hidetatsu, who wanted to introduce bread for military use, and his mother, who believed that good bread should also taste good.

My trip to Izunokuni was full of surprises, and I left with a much deeper appreciation of Japan’s history.
If you’re looking for a place where you can experience Japan’s history from a different perspective, Izunokuni is worth the visit.
I hope you’ll stop by and discover your own favorite stories there!