Globe Digester found at the former site of Mitsubishi Paper Nakagawa Mill!

I used to be able to see the Mitsubishi Paper Nakagawa Mill from the Joban Line. I remember that the company name “Mitsubishi Paper Mills” was written in blue letters and that steam was rising from the ducts.

I wondered when the factory had disappeared from view.

I looked it up and found that it was closed in March 2003. But I found out that there is a strange shaped globe digester at the site.

The area around Kanamachi Station, where the remains of the Mitsubishi Paper Line still remain

Exterior view of Kanamachi Station North Exit

Kanamachi (money town) is an auspicious name for the station, and some people used to come to this station to get a hard ticket admission ticket. However, the current premium for an admission ticket from the Japanese National Railways era is about three times. The value does not increase unexpectedly.

Remains of the Mitsubishi Paper Mills dedicated line

I went around the north side of Ito-Yokado and took this photo from the west side, looking toward Kanamachi Station. This is where the dedicated line for Mitsubishi Paper Mills was built. The reason why the wall of the Yokado is rounded is because the building was built along the curve of this dedicated line.

The former site of the dedicated line from the side of Ito-Yokado to Tokyo University of Science, which is now a bicycle path.

The former site of the dedicated line from the side of Ito-Yokado to Tokyo University of Science has been turned into a bicycle path.

A globe digester with a capacity that takes less than a week to reach maximum pressure in a bicycle inflator

At the University of Science, they were holding the Ridai Festival. There were many interesting projects such as making glowing rocks.However, today I came to see the globe digester, so I went to Katsushika Nijikumirai Park, which borders the south of Rikadai.

Globe Digester, a modern heritage site on the site of Mitsubishi Paper Mills’ Nakagawa Mill

Found a globe digester near the west end of the park! The real thing is huge. It has a maximum inner diameter of 4,270mm. It is said that 5 tons of waste paper and 9 tons of water were put into this digester and steamed with steam while rotating once a minute to make recycled materials. The maximum working pressure is 0.49MPa, which is almost the same as the air pressure of a bicycle. Because of its spherical shape, I expected the working pressure to be more than 1MPa, but it was less than that.

Incidentally, it takes about six days to achieve this pressure with a bicycle air container, even if you work without sleeping*.

The Nakagawa Factory of Mitsubishi Paper Mills also produced paper money and other products. I have the impression, however, that the mill made baryta paper, a kind of photographic paper that becomes soggy when it dries naturally, so it is usually applied to wooden panels with water. Incidentally, RC (Resin Coating) paper is a type of photographic paper that does not become soggy when dried naturally.

The photographic paper factory did not like light, so it was completely dark inside the factory. I was told that they were especially careful because if sparks from static electricity flew, the product would not be made.

Mitsubishi Paper Mills’ brand name for photographic paper is “Gekko”. It was less expensive than other photographic papers such as Ilford, so I used it. The name “Gekko” is still used for inkjet paper.

Incidentally, my current favorite inkjet paper for photos is Kokuyo’s “Professional Photo Paper <High Gloss, Thick>”. The black color is much better.

Katsushika Nijikumirai Park may have a spring of water

Is there water flowing in the Nijikura Mirai Park?

There was a pond in front of the globe digester, which was the source of water for the stream running through the park.

The former third and fourth experimental buildings built in 1917

It would be boring to go back to Kanamachi Station at this point, so I decided to walk to Kameari Station.

Anyway, as I approached the Joban Line tracks, I saw two brick buildings. They were the old No. 3 and No. 4 experimental buildings built in 1917. They must have been used for experiments with photographic paper, because there were few windows. I’m sure.

Nakagawa, the origin of the name Keiichi Nakagawa in Kochikame

To get to Kameari Station, you need to cross the Nakagawa River. There is no sidewalk beside the Joban Line bridge. It is about 900 meters upstream to Iizuka-bashi bridge and about 700 meters downstream to Nakagawa-bashi bridge. I decided to cross the Nakagawa Bridge, the closer one.

The view from Nakagawa Bridge looking toward the Joban Line

The sidewalk of the Nakagawa Bridge is narrow and there are many people passing by, so I couldn’t stop to take a picture. I forced myself to take a picture as if I were taking a stream shot, but the clouds came out better than I expected. This is the river that gave rise to the name of Nakagawa Keiichi, the handsome sergeant cop, so I wonder if it would be picturesque no matter who took it.

Is Sgt. Ryotsu Kankichi a real person? Around Kameari Station

Sgt. Ryotsu Kanki appears in front of Kameari Station.

I found Ryosan in front of Kameari Station. There was a man with a microphone next to him, and he said he wouldn’t mind if we put it on the Internet, so I will use it. There are people who volunteer their time to help revitalize the city, aren’t there?

Symmetrical composition with Tokyo Sky Tree in the center

I could see the Tokyo Sky Tree from the platform. The symmetrical configuration, including the power pylons and distribution lines, was a bit interesting to me.

Walking data

Course: JR Joban Line Kanamachi Station -> Mitsubishi Paper Nakagawa Mill Site -> JR Joban Line Kameari Station
Distance: 3.8km
Time: 0h55m

* Time required when using a bicycle inflator

Let r be the radius of the earth’s cauldron and M the ratio of the maximum pressure to the atmospheric pressure.

Find the volume of the gas in the globe digester when it is opened to the atmosphere.

Find the volume of gas at atmospheric pressure that can be pumped per second, v, when 200 ml of atmospheric pressure is compressed to 4.9 atm by one pumping and the number of pumping is 2 times per second.

Therefore, find the time t required for the work.

I feel like Yanagida Rikao from the Fantastic Science Reader when I do these calculations.