In common with much of Eastern Asia, as a rice based rather than a wheat
based culture, Japan does not have much of a history of using the power of
the wind for grinding. Similarly it's not had a great need for windpumps
for drainage either.
However, in comparatively recent times, a matter of the past 10 years or so,
the Japanese fondness both for theme parks, and also for
recreating the
outside world with their borders, has led to the construction of a
surprising number of authentic looking, and occasionally mechanically
accurate working windmills. The majority of these draw on the long
tradition of association between Japan and the Netherlands, though
other windmill traditions such as
Cape Cod
and Denmark get a look in too.
A Dutch drainage mill, made in the Netherlands, then shipped and
assembled in 1994-6 by Verbij Hoogmade BV. The mill was built for the
40th anniversary of Sakura City, and as a landmark for the Sakura
Furusato Square, serves also as symbol of the goodwill between Japan and
the Netherlands.
The 15.6m high tower brick tower contains 4 floors of reinforced concrete,
and the sails have a diameter of 27.5m. The mill is located alongside the
railway linking Tokyo to Narita airport, so is seen by a good proportion
of visitors to Japan - not a typical Japanese sight at all! In spring,
the fields around the mill are full of flowering bulbs.
A replica of the Dutch mill from Farmsum,
with some adaptation for local materials (the smock is tile covered rather than thatched). Constructed in the early
1990's by Verbij Hoogmade.
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