Photo/Illutration An exhibit at the Iwami Ginzan World Heritage Center shows how silver was extracted. The center provides a comprehensive introduction to the history of the silver mines. Visitors can learn about the lifestyles of the workers and how the silver mines led to trade with Europe. (Photo by Lisa Vogt)

Iwami Ginzan, a historical ensemble of a silver mine site and mining towns in a seemingly sleepy part of Shimane Prefecture, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

But let’s be real, what’s so special about silver? It’s shiny and used for jewelry, but is it really worth all the hype, especially when it’s so heavy and tarnishes so easily? The answer is a resounding yes, and it was mined here from 1527 to 1923.

Long ago, an astonishing one-third of all the silver in the world was mined in Japan and most of it came from here in Iwami Ginzan. Really. I found this incredible.

In the mid-16th century, the production of silver took off in South America and Japan, and European maps showed many silver mines scattered about Japan. Spanish missionary Francisco de Xavier, in a document he wrote in 1552, called Japan the “Isle of Silver” in Spanish.

In the early Edo Period (1603-1867) when Iwami Ginzan was operating at its peak, about 200,000 people lived and worked here. The silver mining industry was a significant economic and cultural driver not only of the region, but of the country.

The site’s preserved structures and landscapes provide a glimpse into the life of the administrators, merchants, miners and their families.

The visitors’ zone is divided into three sections, a good hour’s walk from end to end. View the magistrate’s area (with the former office now a museum), a residential sector with historic homes and shops, and a mining district where people can visit the preserved mine shafts.

Until the silver was depleted in the 19th century, it was a well-organized operation, from digging to refining and shipping. The silver would systematically be transported to the ports and loaded on ships bound for other parts of the world.

Portuguese and Dutch traders took high-quality Japanese silver to Europe via China and India, trading it for European goods for feudal lords who controlled the silver mines. The mines played an essential role in international Nanban trade with Spain and Portugal when silver was the ruling currency.

“What would you do, Ieyasu?” Ten days after Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) won the battle at Sekigahara in 1600, he secured Iwami Ginzan.

He placed it under his thumb, which helped lay the foundation of the shogunate’s finances, uniting the warring states under an umbrella of peace and establishing a central government in Edo.

Without Iwami Ginzan’s silver, the current “taiga” period drama aired by Japan Broadcasting Corp. (NHK) wouldn’t be featuring the founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate, which ruled Japan from 1603 to the dawn of the Meiji Era (1868-1912).

Silver is indeed a big deal.

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This article by Lisa Vogt, a Washington-born and Tokyo-based photographer, originally appeared in the June 18 issue of Asahi Weekly. It is part of the series "Lisa’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Japan," which depicts various sites of outstanding universal value across the country through the perspective of the author, a professor at Aoyama Gakuin University.

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