Kamaya Mabu - Kamaya Mabu

... In the mid-16th century, with the arrival of Chinese and Portuguese ships, foreign trade flourished along the Kyushu coast, but silver was the main export. At that time, other large silver mines had not yet been developed, so Iwami silver was mainly used for this purpose. In the latter half of the 16th century, annual silver production is thought to have reached around 2 tons, but when Chang'an became magistrate, silver production increased dramatically, and it is said that the annual silver tax from Kamaya Mabu in Hontani, operated by the prospector Yasuhara Tomotane, reached 13.5 tons. Entering through Zosenjiguchi, the main entrance to the silver mine, was Ginzan-cho, which continued to Sakaneguchi at the western end. ...

*Some of the terminology that refers to "Kamayamabu" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…　16世紀中ごろ中国船，ポルトガル船の来航により，九州沿岸を取引地とする外国貿易が盛大となるが，輸出の中心となったのは銀であり，当時他の大銀山の開発はまだ見られず，石見銀が主としてこれに充当された。16世紀後半には1ヵ年の産銀は2t内外にも達したと思われるが，長安が奉行となったころより産銀が激増し，山師安原知種が稼行した本谷の釜屋間歩（まぶ）からの運上銀が1ヵ年に13.5tに及んだという。銀山の表入口の蔵泉寺口を入ると銀山町があり，西端の坂根口までつづいた。…

※「釜屋間歩」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報