The newly restored Nirayama Reverberatory Furnaces have been unveiled, as preservation and repair work on the World Heritage site has almost been completed.
A year has been spent since October 2020 restoring deteriorated bricks and repainting steel frames that cover the main body of the furnaces. Located in Izunokuni, Shizuoka Prefecture, the furnaces are recognized by UNESCO as one of the Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution: Iron and Steel, Shipbuilding and Coal Mining.
To preserve bricks that date back to the furnaces' completion in 1857, the degree of deterioration was closely examined for each individual brick.
"I want many people to see the furnaces in their newly refreshed state," said Takashi Higuchi, a site manager at Shimizu Corp., which handled the restorations.
The furnaces will be open to the public from Saturday.
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