Tomogaura Port

Place that tells a lot of history from the past

Tomogaura Port served as a gateway for silver produced from the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine to be distributed via the sea via the Tomogaura Highway. Lately, my hobby has been watching history videos on YouTube, but up until the end of the Edo period, Japan produced gold and silver. When Japan opened its doors to the world at the end of the Edo period, the value of gold compared to silver was lower than that of other countries by the standards of the great powers at the time, so inferior foreign silver was imported and Japanese gold was exported. . It can be assumed that this was a huge loss under the gold standard system. Furthermore, as inferior foreign silver entered the country, it is assumed that the cost benefits of silver mine production were not calculated and the industry rapidly declined. It was a quiet port that reminded us of the current situation where Japan is becoming increasingly poor due to the import of overseas energy resources at cheap yen prices. When I was a student, I was taught the history of modern Japan, especially from the end of the Edo period, and I had no interest in it at all, but I wish they would teach me about more important things first.

Despite being the shortest distance from the Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine, I visited to find out why Onsentsu, which is much further away, gave up its dominance as a silver shipping port. What I felt was that the limits of its capacity and functionality as a port were probably too low. Tomokan is a satellite facility of Iwami Ginzan Ginzan, and although it is probably not a place that many people visit, the inside of the building is kept to a certain extent, and the people who manage and maintain it are very grateful. My head is down.

Along with Okidomari in Onsentsu, it was used as a silver shipping port. It can be seen that the infrastructure development of Iwami was carried out together with the development of the silver mine. It is connected to Kotogahama by the Tomo Tunnel, which is about 100m long. I wonder if they purposely built a tunnel for this purpose.

In one word, it's a wonderful place. It is one of the places where you should definitely experience living learning through hands-on history learning, along with Okidomari in Onsentsu, whether you are in the prefecture or outside of the prefecture. Seeing is believing, and I believe that visiting a place is more memorable than reading a textbook dozens or hundreds of times. Also, a man I happened to meet inside the Tomo Tunnel, who appeared to be a local, kindly and politely guided me around, which was a huge factor in making my own memories even more wonderful. I would also like to be able to cross to Ushima Itsukushima Shrine. I would like Ota to promote Tomogaura more. It is a place where you can enjoy the splendor of Kotogahama to your heart's content.