A Comprehensive Study of the Mining Industry in the Western Chugoku District from the Nara Period till the Edo Period

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1. We have investigated the Naganobori Copper-Nine site, employing a text-based approach, as the site has yielded relics of Japan's oldest artefacts and records and a number of wooden tablets (mokkan) have been excavated. We have surveyed the remains of the working mines and refineries in the Naganobori Copper-Mine site, which date back to the Nara and Heian Periods. We have deciphered what was written on the excavated wooden tablets. We have collected pertinent historical documents and reproduced them for research. The sites of the old copper-consuming cities and the wooden tablets excavated there were likewise investigated.2. We have researched the political situations of the provincial constables (Kokujin-Ryoshu) in the province of Iwami during the Sengoku Period (1467-1568), the understanding of which is essential to discuss the problem of monopoly of the Iwami Silver-Mine at that time, for the Ouchi, the Amago and the Mori families were locked in battle for the possession of the I … More wami Silver-Mine. We have surveyed the Iwami Silver-Mine site and collected historical materials concerned.3. We have carried out a careful survey of the Iwami Silver-Mine, and collected and reproduced historical documents concerning this silver-mine in the Edo Period. Our focus of interest was on the problem of the possession of the Iwami Silver-Mine by the Hagi-han (the Domain of Hagi) towards the end of the Edo Period and in the time of the Meiji Restoration.4. The relationship between the mining industry and the financial operation by the Hagi-han in the first half of the Edo Period has also been studied. Various historical records have been collected and reproduced. While our main concern was the rise and fall of Hagi's three largest mines of the time, the Naganobori Copper-Mine, the Zomeki Lead-Mine and the Negasa Tin-Mine, historical materials about other mines such as the Ichinosaka Silver-Mine have also been collected for comparative studies. In addition, we have collected documents about the minting of the Kan'ei-Tsuho coin. These documents were reproduced and then studied.5. We have studied the financial operation and the industrial policy of the Hagi-han in the latter half of the Edo Period, focusing especially on the mining industry. Various historical materials have been collected and fully investigated accordingly. Less