※The underground ruins are not open to the public.

This site marks the remains of Japan’s first Western-style blast furnace, built in 1854 by order of the 28th head of the Shimazu family, Shimazu Nariakira.
A blast furnace is a facility used to melt iron ore or iron sand to produce pig iron, which serves as the raw material for casting.

By the mid-19th century, Western-style blast furnaces had been introduced in many regions across Japan. However, in most domains, traditional Japanese iron, wagane, continued to be used instead of pig iron.

Nariakira, however, judged that Japanese iron varied too widely in quality and was unsuitable for casting cannons.

For this reason, he decided to construct a Western-style blast furnace, based on a Dutch technical book on casting methods.

The furnace is believed to have stood near what is now the grounds of Tsurugane Shrine, close to the Chinzo Hall.

According to records left by Senju Dainosuke, a samurai of the Saga Domain who inspected the Shuseikan complex in 1857, the blast furnace measured approximately 6.7 meters in height and 3.3 meters in width.

Raw materials included iron sand from Ei and Shibushi, as well as iron ore from Yoshida, now in Ebino City, Miyazaki Prefecture.

To supply air to the furnace, traditional Japanese techniques were also applied, including waterwheel-powered bellows. This site exemplifies how Western industrial knowledge was adapted and realized through Japanese ingenuity during the early stages of modernization.