The Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine is in Ōda, Shimane Prefecture, in western Honshu, and was one of the largest silver mines in the world in the 16th and 17th centuries. Large-scale production began after the merchant Kamiya Jutei brought in a refining technique from Korea, and the mine supplied a significant share of the silver that circulated in East Asia and was exported to Europe, where it appeared on Portuguese maps as the Silver Mines. It came under the control of the Tokugawa shogunate. Mining continued on a smaller scale until it ended in 1923. UNESCO inscribed the mine and its cultural landscape in 2007, noting how small-scale, sustainable operations preserved the surrounding forests.
Before and after
- from 1526 to 1568Habsburg–Ottoman wars in Hungary
- from 1526 to 1791Ottoman–Habsburg Wars
- from 29 August 1526 to 12 November 1918Habsburg monarchy
- from 11 November 1526 to 16 August 1570Eastern Hungarian Kingdom
- 1527Origins of Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine
- 21 May 1527Birth of Philip II of Spain
- 21 June 1527Death of Niccolò Machiavelli
- 22 June 1527Founding of Jakarta
- 6 April 1528Death of Albrecht Dürer
More in Civilizations & archaeology
- 6 August 1538Founding of Bogotá
- 1541Founding of Santiago
- from 1547 to 1721Tsardom of Russia
- from c. 1583 to 1997British Empire
- 1623Founding of Barbados
- 29 March 1693Founding of Curitiba
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 16th century.