Former Yokosuka Arsenal’s Steam Hammers

A steam hammer is a machine that forges metals by driving a hammer with steam power. The six steam hammers imported from Scotland via Netherlands in 1865 as a modernization policy of Japan's feudal government were deployed in the shipbuilding yard (referred to as the 'arsenal' at that time) in Yokosuka and Yokohama. However, only these two steam hammers exist today. The workload capacity of the hammer head is 0.5 tons (single frame) and 3 tons (double frame).

These steam hammers had been used for a century or longer and are precious machines that show evidence of the modern history of Japan following the end of the Edo Era.