The oldest gold diggings in Japan

Abstract

In the middle of the 8th century, a prospecting party under the Provincial Government of Michinoku discovered a gold placer at Nonodake Hill, the Province of Michinoku, Northeast Japan. The placer was worked by corvee labor. It was the earliest gold mining in Japan. K. Kudaranokonikishi, Governor of Michinoku, offered 33.75 kg of gold to the Emperor Shomu in 749. The people of the northern parts of Michinoku were saddled with 9.4 g of gold in poll tax from 752. The gold was used for gilding of the great bronze statue of Buddha at Nara, which was under construction. The statue, 15.8 m in height, was completed in 757. A total of 150 kg or more of gold was gilded the statue and others. In 760, the Japanese Government minted the first gold coin in Japan, which was named Kaikishoho. The working was interrupted because of a rebellion by the natives against the Government in 774, and was reopened after 38 years’ disturbances of war. The gold diggings decreased in production from the early part of the 9th century. The placer gold had been almost exhausted in the 15th century. A very small quantity of gold is still obtained from the remains of the diggings.