Miike coal mine

Miike coal mine (三池炭鉱, Miike Tankō), also known as the Mitsui Miike Coal Mine (三井三池炭鉱, Mitsui Miike Tankō), was the largest coal mine in Japan,[1] located in the area of Ōmuta, Fukuoka and Arao, Kumamoto, Japan.

Miyahara Pit is one of the main mines in the Mitsui Miike Coal Mine from the late Meiji period to the early Showa period. The hoisting machine room (brick building) of the second shaft constructed in 1901 (Meiji 34) and the vertical shaft turret (made of total steel) are left in perfect condition and designated as an important cultural property and historic site of the country. ..

History

Mining began in the region during the Kyoho era, with the Miike mine under the control of the Tachibana clan.[2]

The mine was nationalised in 1872[3] by the Meiji government.[4] The Mitsui zaibatsu took control in 1899.[5]

The mine closed in 1997,[6] with devastating effects on the local economy.[1]

POW Camp

During World War II the mine was used as a prisoner of war camp, referred to as Fukuoka 17. The prisoners were used as slave labor to mine coal.

Labour dispute

From 1960 to 1962 the mine was involved in a much-reported labor dispute led by Itsurō Sakisaka which divided the workers and involved violent strike-breaking actions.

Incidents

In 1963 an458 people were killed by the explosion or by carbon monoxide poisoning caused by an explosion. 839 others were injured by the blast or carbon monoxide poisoning. Many of the poisoned survivors suffered severe, permanent brain damage.[7][3]

On January 18, 1984, an explosion at the mine claimed the lives of 83 workers.

Legacy

The Miike mine was the subject of a Japanese documentary, Echoes from the Miike Mine (2006), directed by Hiroko Kumagai.[8]

References
  1. Karan, P.P. & Stapleton, K.E. (1997) The Japanese city p.181 University Press of Kentucky ISBN 0-8131-2035-7 Retrieved January 2012.
  2. Norman, E.H. & Woods, L.T. (2000) Japan's emergence as a modern state: political and economic problems of the Meiji period p.59. UBC Press ISBN 0-7748-0822-5 Retrieved January 2012.
  3. Industrial pollution in Japan Chapter - 5 The Miike coal-mine explosion
  4. Norman & Woods, (2000) p.121.
  5. Karan, P.P. & Stapleton, K.E. (1997) The Japanese city p.9. University Press of Kentucky ISBN 0-8131-2035-7 Retrieved January 2012.
  6. Workers get the shaft in Mitsui coal mine closure Asahi Shimbun, 18 February 1997
  7. Kawabata, Tai, "Film mines rich seams of history", Japan Times, 14 August 2011, p. 8.
  8. Tomoda, Yoshiyuki (November 2010). "Nihon no tankō eigashi to Miike" (PDF). Gengo bunka kenkyū (in Japanese). 22 (2): 21–37.

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