Japanese amber is a type of amber that can be found in the north of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, near the Pacific Ocean. The largest sources of this mineral are located in Honshu. It is similar to Baltic amber and has similar general use. However, Japanese amber is softer and much harder to treat than the Baltic type. Its treatment requires special care and precision because stones can be easily damaged. Its color range varies from many shades of orange to brown. It is characterized by dark spots that can be found on its surface. The opacity of Japanese amber varies from clear to opaque pieces.

Location

Sources of Japanese amber can be found in many different locations all over Japan. They have the whole area of 2800 km, starting from Hokkaido in the North and

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surround ...

in the South. The only still opened mine is the Fuji mine where amber is recovered since the 6th century AD. In 1938 up to 13 tons of amber was recovered there. Two pieces recovered in the mine can be found as a part of a private collection (mass: 19kg, size 40x40x2 cm, recovered in 1927) and as a part of an exhibition in the

National Museum of Nature and Science The is in the northeast corner of Ueno Park in Tokyo. The museum has exhibitions on pre-Meiji period, Meiji science in Japan. It is the venue of the taxidermied bodies of the legendary dogs Hachikō and Taro and Jiro. A life-size blue whale mode ...

in Tokyo (mass: 16 kg, size 40x23x23 cm, recovered in 1941).

Use

Due to its soft and easy to damage surface Japanese amber is not widely used. It can be found in jewellery as a decorative

gemstone A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, ...

or to decorate clothes and utility items. In Kaliningrad, a recovered decorative pillow from the 6th century decorated with Japanese amber was a part of the exhibition.Faya Causey, Amber and the Ancient World, Getty Publications, 2011 Modern artists prefer to use Baltic amber, as it is easier to work with and has similar aesthetic values.

References

{{reflist Amber