Ashio Mine

29 May '16

Our first and only full day in Nikko!  The previous night we went to one of the only restaurants in the town that would fit all 20 of us.  We dubbed it as the Japanese version of Denny's but it was still good!  It was nice to get some french fries & ketchup after 24/7 Japan.  I needed a little America.  After dinner we went to the onsen in the hotel.  It was very relaxing after all the walking during the day.

We went to the Ashio Copper Mine to see the source of polluting of the Watarase River.  Production at the mine dropped at the end of the Edo Period (1603-1868) but even at its previous height, it was producing at relatively small ammounts and was not noticeably polluting the environment.  In 1877, Ichibee Furukawa took over management of the mine.  During his management, four new veins of copper were discovered and with technological advancements, as well as a rapidly growing demand for copper all over the world, greatly increased its production... and its pollution.  After many years of polluted agricultural fields and protests, the nearby villagers were rellocated not to save them from the polluted fields and river, but so the mining company could build a hydroelectric power dam.

We took a little train into the mine and then got to look around.  It was very touristy, with mechanized figures placed in the mine to look as if they were working.  It wasn't as neat going into it having all this information of how much harm this place did to the environment.  At least the mine was cold, a nice break from the heat.

Daniel (making a silly face) and Seika in the mine!  Daniel is a fellow Willamette student and a good friend, and Seika is one of our PAs (Program Aid) who get to come along with us on excursions and hang out as well as show us around the places they are familiar with.

We came across yet another shrine and cemetery.  Loftus Sensei has been working on a manuscript, for most of his career, about a Japanese activist who was buried in this cemetary in Nikko.  We went to the burial site and got to hear him talk a bit about his work.

The second oldest hydroelectric power plant in Japan.  A quick excursion off the path back to the hotel!

Still a child at heart.  We found a playground on the way back from the power plant and took a break there.

We found another shrine along a river!

Plants can grow in some of the most unnexpected places.

One last shot of the mountains surrounding Nikko for today.

For now,

 アナ