Sites of Japan’s Meiji Industrial Revolution

What exactly is this? This is Terayama Charcoal Kiln, one of the 23 properties classified as UNESCO WHS last year under the name of Sites of Japan's Meiji Indutrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining.

The card was sent by Phoebe.

Terayama Charcoal Kiln is a traditional japanese style horseshoe-shaped, stone built, charcoal kiln used to produce fuel and reducing agent for the industrial facilities at Shuseikan. The surrounding forest was the source of the raw material for charcoal making. - in: http://www.japansmeijiindustrialrevolution.com/en/site/kagoshima/component02.html

The site encompasses a series of twenty three component parts, mainly located in the southwest of Japan. It bears testimony to the rapid industrialization of the country from the middle of the 19th century to the early 20th century, through the development of the iron and steel industry, shipbuilding and coal mining. The site illustrates the process by which feudal Japan sought technology transfer from Europe and America from the middle of the 19th century and how this technology was adapted to the country’s needs and social traditions. The site testifies to what is considered to be the first successful transfer of Western industrialization to a non-Western nation. - in: http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1484