Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan/Series 1/Volume 3/Part 1/Useful Minerals and Metallurgy of the Japanese (2)
USEFUL MINERALS AND METALLURGY
OF THE JAPANESE.
COPPER.
By Dr. Geerts, of Nagasaki.
Read before the Asiatic Society of Japan on the
18th November, 1874.
———o———
- LITERATURE: Kaempfer’s.—History of Japan I Book.
- Meylan.—Geschiedkundig overzicht van den handel der Europezen of Japan. (Transactions of the Batavian Society, Vol. XIV., 1833, p. 140.)
- Siebold.—Nippon Archiv. vom Japanischen Handel, page 67.
- Burger.—Beschryving der Japansche Kopermynen in the Transactions of the Batavian Society, Vol. XVI., 1836, page 3, 28.
- Stan. Julien et Champion.—Industries, &c., Paris, 1869, page 49.
- Geerts.—Japan in 1871, in the “Gids” 1872, No. 8.
- Martin.—Transactions of the “Gesellschaft für Natur und Volkerkünde Ost-Asiens;” No. 4, 1874, page 5.
- Gowland.—Third Annual Report of the Director of the Imperial Mint in Japan, in the Japan Weekly Mail, November 7th, 1874.
- Japanese Technology.—San-kaï meï-butsu Dzu-kuwai, 1st Vol.
- Japanese Mineralogy.—Seki-hin-san-sho-ko.
According to the Japanese naturalist Ono Ranzan, copper was melted in Japan for the first time in the year 698 A.D. at Inaba in the province Suwo, whilst ten years later—in 708—the first Japanese copper-money “Wa-do-kai zeni” was cast in the province of Musashi.[1]
The different ores of copper in Japan which have come to our knowledge, are:
First.—Copper Pyrites, the most important of all Japanese copper-ores. It varies greatly (2-14 per cent) in the quantity of copper which it contains. Several samples, which we collected in different parts of Japan, contain much less copper than the good copper-pyrites from Devonshire. With few exceptions, the quality of the Japanese copper-pyrites cannot be said to be excellent; the enormous quantity, however, in which this ore is found in nearly every province of this country, makes a worthy compensation. We rarely saw bright brass yellow ore, but often yellow-grey amorphous masses, containing a considerable amount of iron—and arsenical pyrites. The Japanese names for this ore are: Do-ko-seki or Haku-ishi, Syn. Akagane-no-arakane. It forms with the three following minerals the source of all Japanese copper. Besides these there are also several other copper-minerals in Japan, but these are not, or very seldom, used in copper smelting.
The Japanese Copper pyrites of some provinces (Sado, Dewa; Iwami, Tazima, &c.,) contains a little gold or silver or both metals, which the Japanese know very well to separate by a liquation-process [see later under silver.]
Second.—Copper Glance occurs in many places with copper pyrites, and is used with the latter ore in the copper-metallurgy. The specimens which we have received constitute amorphous masses of a dark grey colour and are of good quality. The Japanese know very well that copper glance gives a much richer copper-slag than copper pyrites. They melt it often with the latter ore together, because it promotes the fusibility of pyrites and gives a better kind of copper. The scientific Japanese name (Sinico-Japanese) for this ore, we have not been able to find out, it is ordinarily called “kuro-do-seki” (black copper-stone). It is not found in such large quantity as copper pyrites, but still it is fav from being rare. It is found in large quautities in the province of Dewa at Akita.
Third.—Variegated Copper Ore or Peacock Copper. Seems to be rarer in Japan than the two former ores. Burger (l.c. page 10) states that it occurs in large quantities in Sendai, Nambu, mount Monoko, where it is smelted together with copper pyrites. I was not able to learn the exact Japanese name and did not find a description of this ore in the above mentioned Japanese sources. In many pieces of copper pyrites out of different provinces, I saw an admixture of peacock copper. In Iö and Toza especially it occurs in considerable quantity mixed with copper pyrites.
Fourth.—Grey Copper Ore or “Fahlertz,” a very compound mineral, containing variable quantities of sulphites of copper, iron, arsenic, antimony, lead and often silver. This ore is not rare in Japan; we have seen good specimens from Satsuma, Hiüga, Cho-shu, Toza, Iö, Setsu, etc. Grey copper ore and copper-pyrites are the chief ores of Sumitomo’s large copperworks at the mountain Besi-san in the province Iö (Shikoku) where the silver is also extracted by a process of cupellation.
These four ores are the sources of Japanese copper; the two first named are the most important for copper metallurgy. The last named is also of value in gold and in silver smelting. These minerals have produced the enormous quantities of copper smelted in Japan since the 10th century; they formed the chief trade of the Dutch and Chinese at Nagasaki during the period 1609-1858. The quantity of copper exported by the Dutch during that time amounts at least to more than four millions of piculs, whilst the Chinese undoubtedly have exported a still larger quantity. Besides the use of copper in daily life for all kinds of household goods, doors of godowns, ornaments, temple-furniture, mirrors, smoking utensils, bronzes and especially copper money, has been for many centuries and is still so common and general, that it may be just called “the national metal of the Japanese.”
We will now mention some other Japanese copper-minerals, which are not used in copper smelting, but find, nevertheless, some useful applications in other branches of industry or in daily life.
Fifth.—Malachite (green) is found mostly scattered with the former ores, but seems not to be found in any large quantity. It occurs in irregular stalactitic aggregates of a radiate, fibrous structure with a silky lustre on the fracture and also in amorphous masses. The Japanese names for it are Roku-sho or Iwa-roku-sho, Syn. Seki-roku, Hitsu-seki, Kon-ron-roku. The best kinds are found in the coppermines of Ota in the province of Setsu, Ani in the Dewa province, Yamashire-yama in Choshu, Ashiwo-yama in Kotsuke, Kusagura in the Aidsu district of the province of Sendai, etc., although very fine kinds of malachite used as a drug and paint were formerly imported by the Chinese at Nagasaki.
It is used in the Japanese porcelain-industry as a green porcelain-paint, and also as an ordinary painting or drawing stuff. It can be found in the drug shops and is also used as an external medicine against some diseases of the eye and skin. For the use of painting, powder of malachite is mixed with chalk and water; from this paste small half spheroïdal grains are made, which are known under the name of Tama-roku-sho or Mume-roku-sho (Bean-malachite), and which are sold in every drug-shop. An impure, sandy variety of malachite-sand, which is much cheaper, will be found under the name of Suna-roku-sho and a greenish-white coloured kind of silicic-malachite (earthy variety), is sold under the name of Haku-roku.
Sixth.—Blue Malachite or Chessylite (earthy variety), [Erdige Kupferlasure or Bergblau] occurs in amorphous earthy masses. We did not see any fine chrystallized specimens. It is dissolved easily in acids, with evolution of carbonic acid. It should be found—according to Ono Ranzan—in coppermines—the Ani in Dewa, Ota in Setsu, Ashiwo-ynma in Kotsuke; at Uweno in the province of Sagami an inferior kind is said to occur. It bears the names: Ku-sei or Iwa-konjo, Syn. Gen-seï, Seki-seï, Tai-seï, and is used in Chinese medicine as a caustic against some diseases of the eye and malignant ulcers. But the chief use is as a drawing and painting material.
It should be observed that the name Kon-jo is a common name used by the common people for the most different blue dyes, and principally for the Japanese indigo (Dye of Polygonum tinctorium Lour.) This latter substance has, however, its own proper name, namely, Rai-den or Ai-no-ori. True Kon-jo is blue copper-malachite.
A sandy variety of this ore is found also in Japan and is called Heng-sei or Suna-konjo. It should be known that, after the introduction in Japan of European Ultramarine, the name Suna-konjo is also given by Japanese drug-merchants to this latter substance. Real Suna-konjo is mountain-blue.
Seventh,—Blue Vitriol, Blue Stone (sulphate of copper) is found in several Japanese coppermines either as an earthy aggregate, or in solution as “blue water,” both being disintegrating products of copper-pyrites formed by a long continued action of air and water. The Japanese also know how to prepare this salt by roasting copper-pyrites with free access of air and treating the roasted mass with water. This salt is, however, very impure. It can be found in every drug-shop under the name of Tan-pan or Seki-tan, Syn. Sei-seki-shi, Ao-ishi-no-ko. Since the earliest times it has been used in Chinese medicine as a caustic in eye-disease, blennorrhœa and bites of snakes and other animals. Its conserving properties for wood are also known to the Chinese and Japanese. Tan-pan is prepared either out of the mineral, or by evaporation of the “blue water” in Akita province of Dewa; Tokoro-no-kuchi in Noto; Satsuma; Ashiwo-yama in Kotsuke and many other places.
The preparation of cement copper out of the “blue water” by means of precipitation with iron or zinc, seems to be unknown to the Japanese.
Eighth.—Metallic, dendritical copper (copper mass) seems to be rare in Japan, according to Burger l. c. page 8 and Martin l.c. page 5. We have never seen it ourselves. It is said to be found in Iwashiro.
Nineth.—Red copper ore (cuivre oxydulé, Hauy) is also found in Japan in company with ochre (brown, ochry haematite) and copper green (mountain-green). We have seen several specimens from Hiuga, Satsuma, Nagato. The quantity in which it is found, seems, however, to be small, although it occurs in several mountain ranges. It constitutes the mineralogical guide for the Japanese miners, for they consider it as the chief criterion for good copper ores and learn from this mixture of coppergreen, iron-ochre and red copper where to construct mines. The Japanese call it Yaké. The experts of mines believe they can determine à priori the quality and quantity of the copper ore which will be found in the mountain, if they have examined the colour, the grain and other properties of yake. Thus the directions in which the mines are to be laid out, and the degree of declivity of the mine-roads, are chiefly determined by the occurrence of this mineral.
These are the Japanese copper-minerals known to us. We will now describe the metallurgy of copper, since the 16th century such a valuable branch of industry in this country. It will in future remain an industry of the highest interest for Japan. It is true, many of the very old mines, worked for several centuries, commence to be exhausted or at least give, by their long mine-roads, so much trouble in bringing the ore to light, that they do not pay the cost of working. But in a country like this where copper-ore, and, especially, copper-pyrites, is found in nearly every province, new mines can be opened after proper borings and mineralogical surveys. The exhaustion of a few very old mines does not by any means involve the exhaustion of the Japanese soil. Exaggerated as were many of the old accounts of the enormous wealth of Japan, the opinion that the sources of copper-ore are also exhausted is equally erroneous. The relatively large quantity of copper exported by the Dutch and Chinese from 1600 to 1858 is small when compared with the immense quantity of ore existing in different parts of the country. We think, however, that for giving practical results and pecuniary profit to the explorers of new mines, three principal changes will be necessary in Japan.
First.—Better ordinary roads throughout the whole country.
Second.—Liberal mining laws on the same basis as those in Western mining countries.
Third.—The introduction of Western knowledge, Western experience and Western machinery in working the mines, in removing the mine-water and smelting the ores.
The first point is so clear to every European that it is unnecessary to dwell on it. It would seem, however, that the Japanese Government is not yet convinced of this truth. What is the advantage of a few miles of railway for the thirty millions of an agricultural people, if even provinces so fertile as Kiusiu remain without good ordinary roads on which the numerous products of agriculture, the fisheries, mining and commerce can be transported on wheeled vehicles? A great many products cannot now be brought to market, because the cost of transport by means of pack-horses, oxen or human labour costs so much money and time. In Kiusiu, one of the most fertile and prosperous islands of the Japanese Archipelago, the roads are generally in a deplorable condition, and have become much worse since the abolition of the daimiates. To convey ores or metals over considerable distances good roads or canals are matters of vital necessity.
The second point should also be a question of serious consideration with the Japanese Government, because the present mining laws are inimical to the interests and welfare of the country. There is no good reason why mining companies should not be formed from the union of Japanese and foreign capital, if these companies work under the supervision and control of the Government, so far as the stipulated royalty or percentage on the net proceeds is concerned.
The third point we believe also to be necessary in order to secure good practical results. It is true that the Japanese methods of mining, but especially of smelting are, in a high degree laudable and practical, considering it is only lately that they have acquired any knowledge of chemistry and scientific mineralogy. But their methods are defective when compared with those at present employed in Europe, and if we also compare the quantity of metal obtained with that which could be obtained. Much metal always remains in the slag and stones which are castaway. Even until the year 1600 the Japanese did net separate the gold and silver from the copper ores which contained these metals.
Bürger has already described with much accuracy the manner in which the Japanese work their copper mines (l. c. page 14-99). Every one who has seen a Japanese coal-mine may learn from this how all other ores are dug, for, in Japan, for there is no difference between the processes. On a greater or less, though generally on a moderate, incline, the Japanese miner digs at the foot or in the middle of a mountain his chief entrance, and is guided by his omnipotent yake as to the direction of the subterranean incline. As soon as he meets with veins of proper richness, he follows the direction of these veins. If the veins seem not rich enough, he digs steadily in the first or in another direction to meet with the main lode of the mine. Perpendicular shafts are not sunk by the Japanese in search of the ore. If the mine has a considerable length and depth, they construct small perpendicular ventilating shafts, as the air is not sufficiently renewed if there is only one opening. These air shafts, which unite the inclined road with the top or side of the mountain, cause a better draught of air and are therefore called shaku-hachi (a kind of flute) or kase-mawashi (wind wheeler). In small mines these air shafts are often wanting, and in these cases the miners suffer much in health from the noxious gases emitted. The quantity of carbonic acid is sometimes so great that the flames of the small open mining lamps are extinguished. The greatest labour of the Japanese miner, however, is spent upon the removal of the water from the mine. The means resorted to for this purpose are very primitive and insufficient, and the daily and nightly labour of more than a hundred men is often required to keep this enemy at bay. It sometimes happens that the whole mine has to be abandoned, when the water, especially in April and June, has flooded the mine unusually and demands excessive labour and expense to remove it. A number of defective bamboo pumps, together with small hydraulic foot wheels, constitute the only machinery for removing the water. The combined system of sucking and forcing pumps, used in Western mines, is not known in Japan, whilst the use of steam as a motive power has as yet been introduced in but very few cases.
To bring the ore to light, the Japanese miner goes to the mine in the morning with a primitive kind of Roman lamp, consisting of a shell or small basin filled with oil, and a wick made of the pith of a kind of rush. He detaches the ore with two kinds of instruments, one of which closely resembles our double cutlass, the other being a mining chisel and hammer. The ore is nearly always extracted in small pieces to prevent the falling down of the inside of the mine, though proper care is taken to support it by wooden stays. A straw or bamboo basket receives the ore, but cannot contain more than 80-90 lbs. of mineral. The filled baskets are then dragged along the often long and steep incline of the road by means of a straw rope bound round the body of the workman or of women or children. Sometimes the baskets are carried on the backs of the miners. The wages paid to the miner are mostly according to the weight and quality of the haku-ishi (ore) brought out by him. The ore is cleaned from the adhering stones by hammering, mostly done by women and children. Thus prepared it is ready to be roasted and melted. The roasted ore is then powdered and afterwards melted, till the so called blistered copper (schwarz-kupfer) (Jap. ara-do) is obtained. In former times this ara-do was sent to the imperial copper refining works at Osaka. Here it was lengthened and refined to get pure “bar copper” (tough or poled copper) (Jap. Saö-buki-do.) Lately the art of refining has been better understood in the provinces where the ore has been dug and smelted. This industry still flourishes especially in the districts round Osaka.
The extraction of the metal from the ore in Japan rests principally on the same basis as our Western continental copper smelting. The melting process according to Japanese methods is divided into several sections.
1.—Calcining or roasting the ore to expel part of the sulphur, arsenic, water &c. and powdering in order to obtain the black powder Kudzu.
2nd.—Fusion with silicate to remove the oxide of iron formed by the roasting process, to convert at the same time the oxide of copper, formed by the roasting, into copper sulphide, and to obtain finally a coarse metal (spur stein) Jap. Kawa-do=Sheave copper.
3rd.—Calcination of the coarse metal: a. to convert the still remaining parts of sulphide of iron into oxide of iron: b. fusion with some of the clay of the covering to remove the whole of the iron in the slag: and c. boiling the metal to expel the sulphur as sulphurous acid. Ara-do=Crude copper.
4th.—Refining, to remove the cuprous oxide and bring the copper to tough-pitch. Tough copper, bar copper, Sao-buki-do=Copper melted bar.
1st.—Roasting the ore.
The coarsely powdered ore is calcined in a broad loamy furnace of about 25 metr. in length and 12 metr. in breadth. The furnace is covered with a shed, and, near to the bottom of it, has many openings for the entrance of the air. On the bottom of this furnace a layer of dry wood is placed, then a layer of ore, and thus alternately wood and ore till there are five double layers. Fire is then placed below, and the whole left for a period of 20-25 days. Part of the sulphide of iron is converted into sulphate of iron, by absorbing oxygen at the beginning of the roasting, and this sulphate is afterwards decomposed by a higher temperature, evolving sulphurous acid and leaving oxide of iron. A very small portion of the sulphide of copper is also converted into oxide of copper, so that the roasted ore consists actually of a mixture of oxide and sulphide of copper with oxide and sulphide of iron. During the roasting of the ore dense white fumes constantly escape from the furnace. The Japanese are rightly afraid of this poisonous ‘copper smoke,’ and very seldom resort to the place where the copper is burning, so long as they perceive it. It contains arsenionus acid, antimonious oxide, sulphurons acid, sulphuric acid &c., all more or less poisonous substances, which have an intensely destructive effect upon the vegetation of the neighbourhood. When the fire is extinguished and the furnace cooled, the coarse copper slag is taken away to be powdered and to undergo the second operation. In the powdered state it is called Kudzu. It will be remarked that the roasting process of the Japanese is very rough, and constitutes one of the reasons why they do not obtain as much metal out of their ore as would be possible with better system of furnaces.
2nd.—Fusion with silica of the hearth-ash to obtain coarse metal (Kawa-do).
The roasted slag is sometimes mixed with loam or silica containing stone, if the original ore does not already contain a sufficient quantity of quartz or silicial stone. The whole is exposed to a much stronger charcoal fire in order to get the slag fused. The small quantity of oxide of copper in the roasted slag acts upon the sulphide of iron still present in the ore, forming sulphide of copper and oxide of iron. The quantity of oxide of copper in the roast slag is, however, too small to decompose the whole of the sulphide of iron. This excess of the sulphide of iron now combines with the sulphide of copper to form a fusible compound which separates itself from the slag and runs to the bottom of the furnace. The oxide of iron combines with silicic acid and forms a slag.
The furnace for this operation in small and has a peculiar thick round bottom in which a round cavity is made. This cavity is surmounted by a square chimney of bamboo and loam. The chimney is open on two sides up to a height of 3-4 feet, and closed on the two other sides like ordinary forging hearths. The hearth and cavity (crucible) are formed of a mixture of fire-proof clay, charcoal and buck-ashes. The tube of a pair of bellows is inserted into one of the sides of the furnace at some small distance above the bottom. The powdered roast slag, either mixed or not with loam or silica, is put into this furnace on the ash-earth, the whole covered with charcoal, and heated until the mass is in a state of fusion. The melted black metal, consisting chiefly of sulphide of iron with sulphide of copper is received in the cavity at the bottom. From time to time the silicic iron slag is removed from the surface of the molten metal, the coarse metal is cooled superficially by a little water and taken out of the cavity in the form of discs. In this state it is named Kawado or sheave copper.
3rd.—Calcination of the course metal, fusion with a clay covering, and expulsion of sulphur as sulphurous acid, in order to obtain blistered copper, (Arado.)
The coarse metal of the former operation is now placed with charcoal into cavities (thick crucibles) of fire-proof clay fixed in the bottom of a furnace with square chimnies similar to that already described, and heated. A strong current of air is then directed upon the metal, and the latter is stirred with an iron rod to facilitate the oxidization of the remaining parts of the iron sulphide. The cavity is then covered with a thick plate, made from fire-proof clay and sand. The joints are plastered with a mixture of clay and buck-ashes, and, after drying, the whole is heated strongly. The remainder of the iron is absorbed as oxide by the slag, the latter being produced by the clay and buck-ashes of the covering plate and cavity. The temperature is raised gradually until the heat is as intense as possible and the metal commences—as the Japanese say—“to boil.” This ‘boiling’ is caused by the action of oxide of copper upon sulphide of copper in a strong heat. By this action metallic copper and sulphurous acid gas are formed, the latter escaping with violent ebullition from the molten mass. After the ebullition, the temperature is again raised to ensure the complete separation of the copper from the slag. The metal is finally cooled with a little water and taken out of the cavity in the form of sheaves. It bears the name Ara-do=crude copper (Engl. blistered copper: Germ. schwarz-kupfer) and is now carried from the melting place into the refinery.
4th.——Refining to obtain dry copper (Gaar-kupfer) (Mabuki-do).
The two following operations were formerly practised at the Government Refinery at Osaka only; but are now common in all the provinces.
The blistered copper obtained by the foregoing process, still contains some quantity of iron, sulphur and a small proportion of tin, lead, arsenic, &c. To remove all these impurities about 150 kilogrammes of the metal are placed in cavities of fire-proof clay made in the hearth of a small furnace similar to that already described, the whole is covered with charcoal and air is allowed to pass over the surface of the melted copper. By these means small quantities of iron, tin, and also of copper are oxidized, and form with the silicic acid of the hearth or ashes a slag which floats upon the surface of the melted copper. At the same time any remaining traces of sulphur are removed as suphurous acid. The slag is constantly removed with long iron ladles until the surface of the metal remains pure. Finally, a little water is thrown upon it to produce the solidity of the upper portion, so that a sheave of copper may be taken out of the cavity. This is repeated until the crucible is empty. The cakes of dry copper thus obtained still contain an excess of cuprous oxide which is removed in the following manner. In the stage last described it is called by the Japanese Ma-buki-do=“often melted copper” (Gaar-kupfer).
5th.—Casting the bar copper, (Tough copper) (Saö-bu-kido).
In order to obtain the fine Japanese bar copper, which has a just reputation for its purity, the dry copper of the former process is smelted in quantities of from 30 to 35 kilos in loose crucibles of fire-proof clay. The copper is covered with powder of pure charcoal in order to reduce the small quantity of sub-oxide of copper contained in the dry copper. This portion of sub-oxide makes the copper brittle and must therefore be partly at least removed if copper of great tenacity is required. The whole of the cuprous oxide is not to be removed because copper which is perfectly free from the sub-oxide does not possess the maximum of toughness, a fact which the copper smelters in England fully recognize, taking the greatest care to avoid ‘underpoled’ as well as ‘overpoled’ copper. When the metal is liquefied and all the impurities lave been carefully removed from the surface, it is cast in iron moulds which are divided in 10-12 bar-forms, or sometimes also into square cakes. These moulds are placed in warm water and are then filled with liquid metal. As soon as the bars or plates are solidified, they are taken out of the moulds with a pair of pincers and immediately put for a short time into the vapour of boiling-water. By this means—which is not resorted to in Europe[2]—the copper bars or plates assume the beautiful high red colour characteristic of Japanese bar copper. It now bears the name of Saö-buki-do, i.e. copper melted in bars. If the roasting has not been sufficient, there remain some traces of arsenic in the bar copper which make it brittle and greatly depreciate its commercial value. If the copper ore—ns is the case with many kinds of copper pyrites and grey copper ore—contains enough gold or silver, the coarse metal obtained from the second operation is worked in another manner in the refineries. We will describe afterwards the process of separation of these precious metals, which consists of a liquidation-process, in the “metallurgy of silver.”
Ranzan states that copper is found and smelted in more than 40 provinces of Japan. Our different Japanese sources and my own observations give the following places as the most interesting [vide Japanese Mineralogy. Seki-hin-san-sho-ko, 2 vol, and ko-san-sen-ran-sen or Short Indication of the Chief ore-bearing mountains.]
| Remarks. | Provinces. | Places and Districts. |
| Old and large mines, which produce the best copper of whole Japan. | Yechizeu | Ono and Migure |
| Old and large mines, excellent copper out of pyrites. | Setsu | Tada and Ota |
| Old and large mines, good copper out of copper pyrites. | Sendai | Nambu, Monoko and Aidzu, Kusugura |
| Old and very large mines, good copper out of copper glance and copper pyrites; contains silver and gold. | Dewa | Akita, Ani, Mogami, Murayama, Hosawa-mura. |
| Old and very large mine (the largest of whole Japan) good copper out of grey copper ore and copper pyrites | Iö | Besi-san; Kuma-yama |
| Good copper out of copper pyrites and grey copper ore; contain gold | Hiüga | Magimine, Shibasa Kami-no-mura, Takanabe Tsu-no-kuchi & other places |
| Awa | ju gun, Place? | |
| Good copper out of copper pyrites copper pyrites; grey copper ore. | Toza | Yasuï; Thanokuchi |
| Bichiu | Kanada yama; Yoshiwoka; Ko-idzumi, etc. | |
| Mino | Ni ju ichi gun | |
| Yechiu | Shi gun, Place? | |
| Old and very large mines contain gold and silver in considerable quantity. | Iwami | Kinsan, Shinodano, Sasakura. |
| Yechigo | Shich gun, Place? | |
| Omi | Ju-ni gun, Place? | |
| Good copper out of copper pyrites, contains gold. | Sado | Ka eyama |
| Wakasa | San-gun, Place? | |
| Kai | —? | |
| Kaga | Shi gun, Place? | |
| Out of grey copper ore and pyrites contain gold. | Satsuma | Nisikiri-shima-yama and other places |
| Tamba | Roku-gun, Place? | |
| Bingo | Yoshiwoko | |
| Kii or Ki-shiu | Kaibuki and Udame-mura | |
| Good copper, contain silver. | Iazima | Ikonu |
| Out of fine copper-pyrites, contains some gold. | Chikuzen | Motoyama-guchi |
| Iwashiro | Ku-gun, Place? | |
| Rikuchu | Ju-gun, Place | |
| Inaba | Haci-gun Place? | |
| Hida | Shikama-mura | |
| Idzumo | Idzumori-mura | |
| Isé | Oda-yama | |
| Mimasaka | Tsubo-i, and Sara-yama | |
| Suwo | Yama-hiro-yama Inaba | |
| Musashi | —? | |
| Kotsuké | Ashiwo-yama | |
| Noto | Tokoro-no-kuchi | |
| Shimotsuké | Seki-yama, Ashino | |
| Aki | Haci gun, Place? | |
| Bungo | Hachi-gun, Place? | |
| Out of copper pyrites | Buzen | Nagatsu |
| Higo | Hito-yeshi, Ashikita. |
This list shews at how many different places copper has already been found in Japan. It will not astonish us that copper and also gold and silver have been exported from this country on a large scale since the Japanese first came into contact with Europeans in about 1545. These large quantities of metal must have been found and smelted in Japan, because no Japanese history speaks of the import of these metals.[3] We have endeavoured to estimate the quantity exported out of this country by examining the journals kept by the old Dutch factory at Desima. Although we cannot guarantee the following numbers to be exactly correct, still we can vouch for their being tolerably so.
| Period. | Thousands of Piculs annually. |
Total amount in Piculs exported (Mediums) |
| 1609-1692 | 25 à 30 | 2,310,000 |
| 1693-1713 | 30 à 31 | 640,500 |
| 1714-1720 | 15 | 105,000 |
| 1721-1742 | 10 | 220,000 |
| 1743-1751 | 6 | 54,000 |
| 1752-1763 | 11 | 132,000 |
| 1764-1789 | 8 | 208,000 |
| 1790-1796 | 5 | 35,000 |
| 1796-1819 | 8 | 184,000 |
| 1820-1831 | 11 | 132,000 |
| 1832-1858 | 7 | 189,000 |
| Total in this period of 249 years.. | 4,209,300 piculs. | |
Mr. Gowland in his very satisfactory report (l.c,) of this year, states, that as a rule Japanese copper is exceedingly free from the presence of injurious metals. Out of thirty-eight analyses of different samples of Japanese copper he made the following summary: “Sulphur, silver, lead and iron were present in small and varying proportions, in every case; in one specimen however an abnormal quantity of lead existed. The whole of the samples were remarkably free from the specially injurious metals, antimony and arsenic; antimony being present in only one specimen, and then only in faint traces, while the maximum amount of arsenic only reached 0.057 %, and in 31 cases it was either absent altogether, or the merest traces only were found.”
In the rectangular cake copper (dry copper, ma-buki-do), Mr. Gowland found, as we did, an excess of cuprous oxide.
We only analysed three different kinds of bar-copper, and found in each of them traces of arsenic, besides some sulphur and iron.
The average composition of Japanese crude copper, made up out of the numerous analyses by Mr. Gowland (l. c.), may be stated as follows:
|
98.940 | ||
|
traces. | ||
|
0.947 | ||
|
0.101 | ||
|
traces. | ||
|
traces. | ||
|
absent. | ||
| 99.9188 |
We must advise the commercial community to make a careful distinction between the different kinds of Japanese copper, there being some of a very impure character, as for instance the copper plate-roofs of Japanese temples, which are very impure and mixed with lead. Bar-copper (Saö-buki-do) is the purest of all Japanese coppers.
The Portuguese from 1550-1639 exported chiefly gold and silver. The total amount exported during this period of 89 years we estimate to have been at least £5912 millions sterling. Meylan,[4] who has written an excellent account of the ancient trade of Japan, estimates the yearly average to have been about £660,000 sterling; whilst Kaempfer[5] and other writers speak of some years in which the Portuguese exported as much as £212 millions sterling annually.
The Dutch exported in the first years of their trade silver and copper. The foregoing table shews the copper export during the period 1609-1858. It will be seen that after the year 1713 a considerable decline in the copper trade took place. From 1640-1671 a considerable quantity of gold (oban and koban) was also exported by the Dutch. For 1671 the export of silver was prohibited by the Japanese Government.
The Chinese exported a nearly equal quantity of copper during this period. It is impossible for us to give an exact account of this trade. We must accept the statements of many former chiefs of Desima and those of Von Siebold, who tells us (1°) that in 1790 the export of copper by the Chinese amounted to 13,000 piculs, at which time the Dutch could only obtain 5,000 piculs as back-freight; and (2°) that the average amount per annum exported by the Chinese may be estimated at 15,000 piculs. According to this estimate the total amount of copper exported by the Chinese was not less than 3,735,000 piculs. We think, however, the estimate of Von Siebold to be too low. The Superintendent of the Government Copper Refinery at Osaka told Von Siebold[6] that the yearly production of copper about the period 1830 amounted to 50 to 60 thousand piculs. We were also informed by Sumitomo, the proprietor of the largest copper works in Osaka, that in that place alone more than 40 thousand piculs of copper were smelted yearly. Since 1859 the export of pure copper seems to have largely declined.[7]
Japanese Bronzes.
The Japanese name for bronze is Kara-kane (Chinese metal) and shows that the art of smelting this alloy was originally taken from the Chinese. Japanese bronzes contain copper and tin as the chief constituents, together with a little lead or zinc.
Although Chinese bronze must have been known in Japan for a very long time, still the art of casting bronze guns and muskets must undoubtedly have been learned by the Japanese from the first Europeans with whom they came in contact, (the Portuguese, English and Dutch.)
The Japanese historians[8] without exception, give to the “Nan Ban Jin” (Europeans) the honour of inventing fire-arms and contradict the common report in Europe that the Chinese were the first to discover gunpowder and fire-arms. The prince of Bungo was the first one in Japan who possessed fire-arms, a few being presented to him by the crew of an European (Portuguese?) vessel, which happened to come to Funai in his province. In the year 1543 the manufacture of gunpowder and the handling of fire-arms was taught to the Japanese by the crew of a Portugese ship which happened to anchor near the island of Tanega-shima. It is probable that this is the same vessel in which Ferdinand Mendez Pinto came to Japan. The Japanese, however, speak in their history of two Portuguese named Mura-shuku-sha and Krista Mota[9] as the persons who first brought in the knowledge of gunpowder and fire-arms. There still exists among the Japanese a kind of fire-arm called “Tanegashima.”
The clever pilot William Adams who came to Japan in 1600 as first mate of the Dutch ship de Liefde, and who died in 1621 after having lived 21 years in this country got an appointment as ship-builder and gunnery-instructor from the Shôgun’s Government. Later on, (from 1643-50) a Dutchman, W. Byleveld by name, and three Dutch marines (A. P. Spelt, H. Van Elsfort and J. Scholten) lived in Yedo, and instructed the Japanese in the manufacture and manipulation of guns, muskets and gunpowder. The following table gives the result of our analyses of four different gun-bronzes. These old guns were admirably cast, and shew the cleverness of the Japanese in being able to found such large pieces of metal without the aid of western machinery.
Most of the large bronze guns which were placed in former times on the fortifications of many harbours in order to keep away the feared foreigners, have now been removed and sold as old bronze to European merchants, so that this metal will now very likely have been metamorphosed into different kinds of western machinery and steam-engines. New European steel-made guns have taken the place of the large bronze guns in Japan.
The constitution of old bronze guns cast in Japan after the year 1600 is as follows.
| Ingredient per cent. |
Large gun Battery. |
Long and small gun. |
Very long gun. |
Large gun. | ||
|
87.3 | 88.8 | 88.7 | 88.9 | ||
|
9.8 | 7.2 | 7.1 | 7.1 | ||
|
1.5 | — | — | — | ||
|
1.4 | 2.6 | 2.7 | 2.3 | ||
|
Traces. | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.7 | ||
The amount of iron is very probably due to impure copper. Lead and zine are perhaps added purposely, although it is possible that the tin used for smelting, contained these metals, as Chinese tin is often impure.
The Japanese bronze does not differ much from the old European bronze, as can be seen by the following table, representing the constitution of some European kinds of gun-metal.
| Copper | Tin. | ||||||
| Old |
|
|
9.9 | ||||
| Old„ |
|
|
9.1 | ||||
| Old„ |
|
|
8.26 |
The slight difference proves that the formula for casting Japanese guns has been given by the above named Europeans. A French chemist, Roux, has analysed Chinese gun metal and found
| Copper. | Tin. | Zinc. | Iron. | Lead. | |||||
| Old China Gun | 71.2 | — | 2.4 | 1.4 | — | ||||
| Old Mortar from Cochin China | 88.1 | 3.2 | 7.1 | 1.6 | — | ||||
| Old Gun from Cochin China | 77.2 | 3.4 | 5.0 | 1.2 | 13.2 |
It will be remarked that the Japanese gun bronze resembles much more our old western metal than the Chinese alloys.
Another French chemist, M. Morin, published lately also several analyses of Chinese bronzes and obtained nearly the same results as M. Roux. (See Bulletin de la Société Chimique de Paris, 1874, No. 11, page 519.)
We have also analysed specimens of old Japanese bronze from vases and ornaments and found:—
| 1st. | 2nd. | 3rd. | 4th. | |||
|
85.3 | 83.70 | 71.00 | 73.48 | ||
|
8.9 | 5.38 | 5.50 | 7.18 | ||
|
4.7 | 7.80 | 20.35 | 13.07 | ||
|
1.1 | 0.65 | 1.84 | 1.10 | ||
|
traces. | traces. | … | traces. | ||
|
… | 1.85 | 1.34 | 5.18 |
The relatively large quantity of lead is perhaps added to promote the malleability and plasticity of the alloy.
Japanese Brass.
Brass (Shin-chiu) was formerly made in Japan by smelting copper, zine and zincblossom (a kind of very pure zinc ore imported from China.) Ranzan gives the following formula:—
|
70 | ||
|
50 | ||
|
48 | ||
| 168 |
We have analysed a specimen of yellow Japanese brass and found Iron traces.
|
67.1 | ||
|
32.9 | ||
| 100.0 |
At the presence time brass is always obtained by founding only copper with zinc (without zinc ore.) Probably there are in Japan several varieties of brass with variable quantities of copper and zine. Some few weeks ago there were rumours current in the mercantile community that the old Japanese zeni (cash) contained a considerable quantity of gold. At the request of a mercantile firm we analysed two kinds of cash, one being 150 and the other 100 years old. We did not find a trace of gold, but on the contrary a considerable amount of impurities in them, consisting of sand and clay.
The oldest zeni contained:—
|
82.0 | ||
|
7.0 | ||
|
5.6 | ||
|
4.1 | ||
|
0.2 | ||
|
1.1 | ||
| 100.0 |
- ↑ Wa-nen-kei or chronicle of Japan, translated from the origin by Prot. Hoffmann in Siebold’s Nippon Archiv.
- ↑ In Europe a very small admixture of lead is sometimes used in order to obtain a fine red colour for the bars or plates.
- ↑ With the exception of some silver ducats imported in 1769 by the Dutch, and some very old copper cash imported in ancient times by the Chinese.
- ↑ Meylan, Handel der Europezen op Japan. Trade of the Europeans in Japan 1833.
- ↑ History of Japan. Book II. Cap III.
Valentyn. Ouden nieuw O. Indie; Beschryving van Japan V. dsel II. afd.
Siebold. Nippon Archiv. VI. - ↑ Nippon Archiv, VI., page 68.
- ↑ Excluding of course the bronze of old Japanese guns, &c., &c.
- ↑ Tsu-kai bu-yo-ben-riyo. Manual of military art, &c.
- ↑ In Siebold’s Atlas will be found a copy of a Japanese print where these two Portugese Diego Zeimoto and Chistoval Borallo are represented with their muskets.