Japan Heritage story
Michinoku gold: where Japan's gold story began
みちのくGOLD浪漫
In 749, gold dust found in the far north of Japan, then called Michinoku, overturned the belief that Japan had no gold. It gilded Nara's Great Buddha, paid for the golden hall of Chusonji in Hiraizumi, and kept miners busy for more than 1,250 years.
Key facts
- Theme
- Sea and waterside, Forests and timber, Mines and minerals
- Era
- Nara, Heian
- Region
- Tohoku, Kansai
- Official name in Japanese
- みちのくGOLD浪漫
- Official subtitle in Japanese
- 黄金の国ジパング、産金はじまりの地をたどる−
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 宮城県（涌谷町、気仙沼市、南三陸町、石巻市）／岩手県（平泉町、陸前高田市、大船渡市）
The story
In the Nara period people believed there was no gold in Japan. Then, in 749, gold dust was found at Wakuya in today's Miyagi and sent to gild the Great Buddha of Todaiji in Nara. Emperor Shomu was so delighted that he renamed the era. Gold panning spread to the rivers and coasts of the region, which became one of Asia's great gold producers, and mining went on until the late Showa period.
Gold was more than wealth here. In Hiraizumi, the Oshu Fujiwara clan built the Konjikido of Chusonji, covered in gold leaf and inlaid with rosewood, ivory and shell bought through far-reaching trade, as a vision of a peaceful paradise. They looked after the gold areas that paid for it, and temple ruins and sutra mounds on Mt Tatsuka still look out over them.
What to see
- Koganeyama gold site and shrine: where Japan's first gold was found, with a golden torii and a poem stone by Otomo no Yakamochi.Google Maps 黄金山神社 涌谷町 (opens in a new tab)
- Chusonji Konjikido: the gold-covered hall of Hiraizumi.Google Maps 中尊寺金色堂 (opens in a new tab)
- Mt Tatsuka: a sacred mountain with temple ruins looking over the old gold areas.Google Maps 田束山 (opens in a new tab)
- Iwaisaki: a coastal cape where you can see the rock layers that guided gold hunters.Google Maps 岩井崎 (opens in a new tab)
Plan your trip with the Miyagi prefecture guide and the Iwate prefecture guide, and see more temples and shrines.
Good to know
- Look closely in the streams by Koganeyama Shrine: gold dust is still found there.
- At Konjikido, look past the gold leaf to the fine inlay and lacquer work.
- Combine Hiraizumi with the Sanriku coast to follow the gold from mine to temple.
Questions travellers ask
Where was Japan's first gold found?
At Wakuya in today's Miyagi, in 749. It was used to gild the Great Buddha of Todaiji in Nara.
What is Konjikido?
The golden hall of Chusonji in Hiraizumi, covered in gold leaf and built by the Oshu Fujiwara clan.
Where it comes from
More heritage stories from the same area
- Aizu's 33 Kannon pilgrimage: faith with a day out
- Asuka: the women who shaped the birth of Japan
- Date Masamune's dazzling culture in Sendai and Matsushima
- Gyoda: the town of tabi storehouses
- Hida no Takumi: 1,300 years of master woodworkers in Takayama
- Iga and Koka: in search of the real ninja
- Izumo: the sacred land where the sun sets
- Kamenose: crossing the landslide heart of the Tatsuta Kodo
- Katsuragi Shugen: where mountain asceticism began
- Mount Takao and Hachioji, the city of silk
- Nyonin Koya: the temples where women prayed instead of Mount Koya
- Oyama Mairi: the Edo people's pilgrimage and day out
Local foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.