MICROSCOPY TO EVALUATE THE PROPERTIES OF CEMENT AND ALTERATIONS IN HISTORIC MORTAR/CONCRETE OF OLD NOBIRU PORT PROJECT, NORTHEAST JAPAN

摘要

The history of Portland cement in Japan began toward the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate (Edo period, 1603-1868). Construction of the Yokosuka Shipyard in 1865 is said to have marked the beginning of the use of Portland cement in the nation. The collapse of the Tokugawa regime ushered in the Meiji era (1868-1912), which saw the commencement of free trade with foreign countries and a drive to rapidly modernize the nation. This was accompanied by a rapid increase of demand for cement and the rising necessity of domestic cement production. In 1875, domestic cement was produced for the first time at a national cement plant in Fukagawa in Tokyo. Today, Japan has a tradition of domestic cement production that spans a period of about 140 years.