Quartz Collection House(Registered Tangible Cultural Property)

Quartz Collection House(Registered Tangible Cultural Property)
The Quartz Collection House was built in 1927 as aspecimen room to house quartz crystals which weredonated to the Yamanashi Normal School in 1920 by apharmaceutical trader named Yasuyoshi Momose. Mr.
Momose was involved in the collection and appraisal ofminerals, and the quartz crystals he donated were
extremely valuable both academically and as crafts.
The Collection House is a one-story building with a total
area of 40m², and was made of reinforced concrete,which was rare at that time. The building was designedin the image of a quartz crystal, with hexagonal pillars that represent the ideal crystal shapeof quartz, and on the front of the building are rough crystals and decoration inspired by
Mizugamori*, an area of Yamanashi which was a production center for quartz. During WorldWar II, the area was struck by air raids and all of the school buildings were burned down,
but teachers and students covered the Quartz Collection House with bamboo andprotective walls, and camouflaged it with straw and cow dung so that the quartz crystals
would not be requisitioned by the GHQ after the war. At the risk of their lives, they saved
this historic building.
In 1949, the University of Yamanashi was established, merging three schools including
the old Yamanashi Normal School. In 2018, to honor Dr. Satoshi Omura, the 2015 Nobel
Prize Winner in Physiology or Medicine who graduated from this university, the Satoshi
Omura Museum was built, and the Quartz Collection House was relocated next to themuseum, where it stands to this day.
●Mizugamori is located on the border of Kofu City and Yamanashi City in an area formerly called Makioka Town. The area
is comprised of mountains, hills and plateaus in the southwestern part of the Chichibu Mountains.

Yasuyoshi Momose and the Quartz
Collection House
Originally Yasuyoshi Momose just collected quartz crystals as ahobby, focusing his energies on his pharmaceutical career. However,after succeeding in enhancing the beauty of the quartz using aquaregia (a liquid mixture of hydrochloric acid and nitric acid), he became
an enthusiast.After that, following the advice of Dr. Tadatsune Kochibe,a prominent geologist, he began to collect quartz not only fordecorative purposes but also as academic reference material, and hecollected many crystals with high academic value.
Distinguishing excellent quartz crystals is a very difficult task, and soMr. Momose adhered to the policy of keeping the crystals that many
people wanted or that experts had their eyes on close to him. Mr. Momose categorized hiscollection into four groups: 1) quartz crystals that are perfect, with no artificial addition; 2)great crystals; 3) crystals which fully demonstrate the characteristics of a certain quartz
production area; and 4) crystals which amateurs would find interesting. Desiring that thecrystals in groups 1 to 3 remain in Yamanashi Prefecture not as personal treasures but asobjects that can be used widely for academic purposes, and in order to keep the entire
collection together, he donated it to the Yamanashi Normal School in 1920 (Taisho 9).

History of the Quartz Collection House

August 17, 2020
Tangible Cultural Property Registration● Aug.2020
Registered as a Tangible Cultural Property

June, 2018
Relocation of Quartz Collection House● Jun.2018Just before the opening of the Satoshi Omura
Museum in July of 2018, the Quartz Collection
House was relocated adjacent to the museum

April, 2005
Quartz Crystal Exhibition RoomAfter a plan to relocate crystal exhibits waspromoted in 2004, an exhibition room wasopened on the second floor of thestorehouse in April 2005

September 2000 Exterior renovation●Apr.2005● Sep.2000

In September of 2000 exterior
construction was done, leading to theredesign of the exterior facing Y Building.

1975 Quartz Collection House
retained its opening image

Jun.1975●April 1965
Quartz Crystal Exhibition Room view

From 1927, the quartz crystal design building hadbeen standing at the north entrance (currently themain gate) of the Kofu campus, reminiscent oftimes gone by with its pale majesty.

● Apr.1965

Quartz crystals in theexhibition room are fromthe time of donation,including large crystals.

1934●

1934 Quartz Crystal Donation Monument
A stone monument was erected to commemorate thedonation of quartz crystals by Yasuyoshi Momose.

1920●

1920 Donation of Quartz Crystals
The crystals were originally donated to Yamanashi
Normal School, which became part of the Universityof Yamanashi.

Items in the Quartz Collection House Collection

Roughstones

Rough stones of quartz in the collection include quartz clusters andJapanese twin crystals from the Takemori, Otome, Mt. Hachiman,Mukoyama, Kawahake and Suisho (Crystal) Pass mines. Amethyst
production is minimal, although the Kurobera and Otome mines andthe areas around Suisho (Crystal) Pass and Mt. Ogawa are recognizedslightly for amethyst production. Most of the parallel intergrown
matsutake mushroom-shaped quartz (scepter quartz) was mined at theKurobera mine, Matsuki Ridge, and Kobushin mine, while topaz,
apatite and scheelite are typically products of the Kurobera, Otome andMt. Hachiman mines.

Suisho (Crystal) Pass quartz clusters
Long columnar quartz clusters mined in 1934.

Giant quartz
This is one of the few large quartz crystals in the world with perfectly
shaped hexahedral crystal faces. The finding was published by Dr.
Tetsugoro Wakimizu in The Journal of the Geological Society ofJapan in 1918. According to this publication, the crystal length is 97
cm, the maximum width diameter is 30 cm, the circumference is 80
cm, the maximum width of the column surface is 18 cm, the weight is77.5 kg, the crystal is translucent, and the column surface is polished.

Sagenitic quartz
Characteristic of Mt. Odaka, in Miyamoto Village of Nakakoma
County (presently part of Kofu City), this large and beautiful
crystal (sagenitic quartz) contains epidote. During the formationof the crystal, epidote and other minerals came to be included inthe crystal.

Japanese twin quartz
This large Japanese twin quartz is comprised ofquartz of the highest quality.

Crafts

Many crafts were produced using quartz. There is one quartz crystal
ball from the end of the Edo period. Items from the Meiji period
include daily necessities such as vases, inkstones, combs, hairaccessories and handles for canes, and rabbit and Mt. Fuji figurines.
From the Taisho period are necklaces, obidome, prayer beads andseals. From the early Showa Period, practical items such as combs,eyeglasses, seals, prisms, and a rounded bar for X-rays can be seenalong with carved Mt. Fuji and rabbit figurines and a five-story
pagoda with back carving.

Quartz Ball
It is very rare to find works made usingquartz in the Edo period that still exist. Thisball shows the high level of processing
technology at that time.
*On display at the Yamanashi Jewelry Museum

Quartz Comb
Although it was made in the Meiji era,extremely advanced technology wasused to create this Japanese comb. The
width is 8.0 cm and the length is 3.0 cm,
and each tooth of the comb is finely
finished and beautifully polished.
*On display at the Yamanashi Jewelry Museum

Quartz Vase
Crafted in 1873
Processed by the master craftsman
Toshizo Shioiri. On the inscription plate itis written that one bale of emery sand foruse in processing cost several hundred
gold, over a million yen at the present-dayrate.

Quartz inkstone
Crafted in 1873
Made by the master craftsman Toshizo Shioiri
using a single piece of quartz from theTakemori Mine, this inkstone is a transparent,
high-quality product which contains tourmaline
in part.

*On display at the Yamanashi Jewelry Museum

Five-story pagoda figurine withback carving
Crafted in the early Showa period, this fivestory pagoda was made by making notches
in the edge of the quartz crystal, taking
advantage of the triangular shape of therough crystal used. The carving creates athreefold optical illusion, maximizing theeffect of light on the pagoda.
*On display at the Yamanashi Jewelry Museum

Quartz Rooster and Hen PairFigurines
A product of the early Showa period, therooster has a width of 5.2 cm and aheight of 6.2 cm, while the matching hen
has a width of 6.0 cm and a height of 4.0cm.
Made of rose quartz, the pair show
detailed carving and careful finishing.

Quartz Mother-and-child pen nameseal
Crafted in the early Taisho (1912-1926) era
Features: Large square seal with polishedhemisphere head*On display at the Yamanashi Jewelry Museum

Quartz Glasses
Crafted in the early Showa (1926-1989)
era
These round polished lenses, with adiameter of 4.2 cm, show high-levelprocessing technology.

Yamanashi Prefecture and Quartz
Igneous rock, formed by magma that cooled and solidified, is widely distributed in the geology ofYamanashi Prefecture. Among the many varieties of igneous rock, in the area from the Kofu Basin toKawakami Village in Nagano Prefecture much granite can be found. Granite is classified as plutonicrock, rock formed when magma slowly cooled and solidified. In particular, giant granite known aspegmatite is scattered in high altitude areas, centering around Mt. Kinpu.
Most of the quartz is found in pegmatite and in hydrothermal veins that occur in granite. Large,
high-quality crystals can be found in pegmatite, because it was the last part of the magma that cooledand solidified deep underground over a long period of time. Geodes, pockets of air lined with crystal,
are also formed near the boundaries between granite formations or near points of contact around thegranite, because granite is a heat source for hydrothermal veins, and as the granite slowly cools,
remaining gas becomes air pockets as the surrounding liquid begins to crystallize.

Quartz Mines
Yamanashi Prefecture is surrounded by mountains. To thenorth is the Chichibu Tama Kai National Park, with a wide
distribution of Kofu granite known as Mikage stone around Mt.
Kinpu, the highest peak. This granite is known to produce
beautiful, high-quality quartz with large-sized crystals, which israre in this country.
For years, quartz deposits have been actively developed in
Yamanashi Prefecture, and many crystals have been mined.
Alongside this, the polishing and jewelry industries havedeveloped around Kofu City, laying the foundation of local
industry. Even today, crystals and crystal crafts are specialty
products at tourist destinations in the area.
On the other hand, as industrial use of quartz products has
increased, research and development of artificial quartz has
also been carried out, centered at the University of Yamanashi.
Equipped with some of the world’s most advanced technology, industrialization of this local industry
has advanced dramatically.
The Quartz Collection House is packed with the history of these precious crystals, preserved withcare for generations.

Past quartz crystal producing areas and how regional
crystal characteristics were described
Quartz Mine

Location

Description of crystal formation shape, etc.

Otome

Mitake Town, Kofu City

Kawahake

Minamisaku County,
Nagano Prefecture
Sutama Town,
Hokuto City
Enzan, Koshu City

Columnar, flat plate, double-headed parallel twin crystal, Japanese twin
crystalColumnar, columnar parallel twin crystal, Japanese twin scepter (matsutakemushroom) quartz, sickle-shaped quartz
Large columnar single crystal, flat Japanese twin crystal

Mt. Hachiman
Takemori

Columnar single crystal, minute group crystal

Suisho (Crystal)
PassMukoyama

Kurobera Town, Kofu City

Columnar single crystal, pyramid single Japanese twin crystal

Kurobera Town, Kofu City

Columnar single crystal

Kurobera

Kurobera Town, Kofu City

short and columnar

Museum Information
Hours : 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Closed : Tuesdays
Summer holidays (when the University is closed)
New Year’s holidays※The Museum may close on a temporary basis. See theofficial website for information.
Address: 4-4-37 Takeda, Kofu City, Yamanashi Prefecture, JapanThe Quartz Collection House is located next to the SatoshiOmura Museum

4-4-37, Takeda, Kofu-city, Yamanashi Prefecture, JAPAN 400-8510
Tel : +81(0)55-220-8059 Fax : +81(0)55-220-8378
https://omura--museum.yamanashi.ac.jp/
mail omura-museum@yamanashi.ac.jp※表紙の写真の素材は人工水晶の表面模様※写真・文章の一部は水晶図録から抜粋、その他の写真・文章の一部は角野謙聾氏による