Memories and Displays of Japan's Early Industrialisation through the Production of Silk: Tomioka Silk Mill, Nomugi Pass, and WWII Propaganda

Tomioka Silk Mill, a World Heritage site since 2014, is the oldest modern silk reeling factory in Japan, contributing to the exporting sector of Meiji Japan due to a high demand of Japanese silk in the West. Established in 1872 four years after the Meiji Restoration, female workers were recruited from all over Japan. Although the factory was one of the most modernised places to work for young women with basic skills, child labour, long working hours and their private lives heavily regulated by factory managers led to trauma that demonstrates the dark side of Meiji Japan’s shining export industry.