History

The silver deposits at Iwami were reportedly first identified and worked in the late 15th century CE, though organised large-scale mining began in earnest around 1526 CE under the patronage of the powerful Ouchi clan, who controlled the region from their base at Yamaguchi. Control of the mine quickly became a strategic priority: the Amago clan contested ownership, and the two powers fought recurrently for dominance over the silver revenue. The Mori clan — who ultimately prevailed — recognised Iwami Ginzan as the economic foundation of their regional power.

The critical transformation came after the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600 CE, when Tokugawa Ieyasu emerged as Japan’s paramount military ruler. He immediately secured Iwami Ginzan under direct shogunal administration, recognising that its silver output was essential to funding the emerging Tokugawa state. The shogunate managed the mine for over two centuries, using the silver to pay for domestic construction projects and to conduct overseas trade — primarily with China via the Dutch East India Company at Nagasaki.

Iwami silver’s global impact was disproportionate to the mine’s remote location. The silver was exported to China in exchange for silk and ceramics, and this flow contributed directly to the global silver glut of the 17th century — a monetary phenomenon that destabilised prices across Europe as silver from both Japan and the Americas flooded markets simultaneously. Spanish and Portuguese merchants carried awareness of Iwami Ginzan’s productivity back to Europe, and the mine appears in 16th-century European geographical texts.

Production declined through the 18th and 19th centuries as the richest veins were exhausted. The Meiji-era reopening of Japan brought new investment and some resumption of activity, but the mine finally closed in 1923, leaving behind a landscape that had never been industrialised in the modern sense — the mountain forest had regrown over the shafts and ruins, preserving them in a state of gradual natural reclamation.