[M-ZZ48] Geology and culture

[MZZ48-03] Japanese marbles used in some historic western style houses in Tokyo

*Mutsuko Inui¹, Shoji Nishimoto² (1.School of Science and Engineering, Kokushikan University, 2.Nagoya City Science Museum)

Keywords:building stone, marble, historic building

Various kinds of marble had been quarried in Japan as building stone until about the end of 1960's. Marble quarries were active in Japan from the end of the 19th century, though it is not well known nowadays. Those marbles have been used for the interior finishing of many historic buildings in Tokyo. Here we report on the domestic building stones used for the interiors (mantlepieces) in some of the historic western style houses in Tokyo, designed by Josiah Conder. The houses are: the Former Iwasaki Residence, the Former Shimazu Residence, and the Former Furukawa Residence. The construction of the houses was completed between 1896 to 1917. Provenance of the marble of the mantlepieces was identified non-destructively. Marbles from Ibaraki Prefecture, Gifu Prefecture, Iwate Prefecture, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and Tokyo Metropolis were identified. The mantlepieces are the testimonial for the fact that quarrying of those marbles was active during those years. The investigation is significant for understanding the history of the use of building stones in Japan. The hisotric aspect of the marbles is an important part of the assessment of the cultural heritage.