<Articles>The Innai (院内) Silver Mines IV : The Output of Silver in the Innai Silver Mines : The Structure of the Silver Mine Town

Kobata Atsushi

doi:10.14989/shirin_38_367

Under the subject of "The Innai Silver Mines, " the author has already published three essays, the subtitles of which are "The Owner-ship of Silver Mines" (Shirin XXXIV, No. 4), "The Types and Systems of Silver Mining" (ditto, XXXVI, No. 1) and "The Output of Silver in the Innai Silver Mines" (ditto, XXXVII, No. 4). The present essay contanis an additional section to the third essay above, and an independent chapter, "The Structure of the Silver Mine Town." As the public ownership of Mines was a principle of the Edo Government, part of the products of the Innai mines was presented to the Government. However, the whole amount of this tribute (Unjoshoyak 運上諸役) was repaid later. The amount of the tribute was being gradually reduced for the thirty years following the opening of the Innai mines, and then still faster. Since early eighteenth century, the annual tribute came to be fixed as 1, 400 monme (匁). In parallel with this, the systen of enterprises were getting reformed and many of govermental mines were trusted to private capitalists. At the beginning of last century, the total amount of output even exceeded 5, 000 kg. The population of the silver mine town (銀山町) was as much as 10, 000 in 1660. It might have been twice as much when the town was the most prosperous. There were various groups of workers and technicians, coming from all over Japan, especially from Edo, Osaka, Kyoto, Ise, Omi etc. After the battle of Sekigahara (関ケ原の役), unemployed warriores gathered there, wishing to be an explorer or a law offricial. This kind of town, where people of all sorts of professions from all parts of the country suddenly poured in and moreover dependent on the unstable economical condition of mining industry--had certainly, features entirely different from that of other more common towns.

<Articles>The Innai (院内) Silver Mines IV : The Output of Silver in the Innai Silver Mines : The Structure of the Silver Mine Town

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