Tomioka Silk Mill and Related Sites

Japan's leap into the industrial age began with silk. At Tomioka in Gunma Prefecture, a state-of-the-art reeling mill opened in 1872 with French machinery and expertise, training a largely female workforce and helping drive Japan to become the world's top raw-silk exporter. The World Heritage listing joins the mill with three related sites — a cocoon farm, a sericulture school and an egg cold-store — and UNESCO inscribed the group in 2014 as the cradle of Japan's modern industry.