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.
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History
Mining began in the region during the Kyoho era, with the Miike mine being 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]
Labour dispute
From 1960 to 1962 the mine was involved in a much-reported labor dispute which divided the workers and involved violent strike-breaking actions.
Disaster
In 1963 an explosion resulted in the deaths of 458 people, 438 of whom died from carbon monoxide poisoning.[3][7]
References
- ^ a b Karan, P.P. & Stapleton, K.E. (1997) The Japanese city p.181 University Press of Kentucky ISBN 0-8131-2035-7 Retrieved January 2012.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b Industrial pollution in Japan Chapter - 5 The Miike coal-mine explosion
- ^ Norman & Woods, (2000) p.121.
- ^ Karan, P.P. & Stapleton, K.E. (1997) The Japanese city p.9. University Press of Kentucky ISBN 0-8131-2035-7 Retrieved January 2012.
- ^ Workers get the shaft in Mitsui coal mine closure Asahi Shimbun, 18 February 1997
- ^ Kawabata, Tai, "Film mines rich seams of history", Japan Times, 14 August 2011, p. 8.