Tomioka Silk Mill | Japan

Postcard
Established in 1872, the Tomioka Silk Mill is Japan's first, modern silk factory for processing silkworm cocoons into raw silk. The mill was built as a model factory by the Japanese government with the help of French specialists to improve the quality of silk produced in Japan through the use of modern machines and advanced working conditions for its workers. It was part of far-reaching efforts by the government of the Meiji Period to modernize Japan and catch up to the West.

Tomioka Silk Mill is part of the Unesco World Heritage site inscribed  under the name ‘Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining’.