Prewar history Coal was discovered in this area by a farmer in 1469; however, commercial scale exploitation did not begin until 1721, when the
karō of
Miike Domain received permission to open a mine. In pre-industrial Japan, the main market for coal was for use in salt production in the
Seto Inland Sea; however, in the
Bakumatsu period, the importance of coal as a fuel for steam engines became increasing evident, and in 1872 the
Meiji government nationalised the mine. The
Mitsui zaibatsu took control in 1899. Almost immediately,
prison labor began to be employed both inside and outside the mine. In 1876, the
Mitsui & Co., Ltd. was established to exclusively handle the transportation and sales of coal from the mine. In 188, when the mine was privatized, Mitsui won a fierce bidding competition against the
Mitsubishi zaibatsu for ownership.
Dan Takuma, an official of the Mines Bureau of the Ministry of Industry who had studied mining and metallurgy in the United States, was assigned to oversee the Miike Coal Mine, and eventually rose to become Director-General of Mitsui. The mine operations were greatly expanded and gradually modernized. The use of convict labor was abolished in 1930, long after it had ceased to be used in other mines in Japan.
POW camp During World War II the mine was used as a
prisoner of war camp, referred to as
Fukuoka #17 - Omuta. Approximately 1,735 American and Allied prisoners were used as slave labor to mine coal and work in a Mitsui zinc foundry. It was the largest POW camp in the Japanese Empire. 138 prisoners died, of disease, accidents, and abuse.
Postwar history In 1958 Nippon Steel Mining began development of the Ariake Coal Mine in neighboring Takada Town; however, development was suspended due to ingress of spring water. The mine was acquired by Mitsu in 1972, and coal production was resumed in 1976, with a shaft connecting the Ariake Mine with the Miike Mine completed in 1977.
Labor disputes In 1960, the mine became the center of a protracted
labor dispute that evolved into the largest management-labor dispute in Japan's history. The resultant clashes between miners, police, and right-wing gangsters escalated into violence. Ultimately, the protesting miners were defeated, and returned to work without achieving their demands, dealing a significant blow to the Japanese labor movement as a whole.
Incidents On November 9, 1963, 458 people were killed by an explosion and the resulting buildup of
carbon monoxide. 438 of the deaths were due to
carbon monoxide poisoning, and 839 others suffered from the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning, which can cause brain damage. In July 1967, 66 housewives from the Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Patients Family Association staged a sit-in at the bottom of the Mikawa mine from the 14th to the 20th of the same month to protest failure of the company to provide compensation. On January 18, 1984, an explosion at the mine claimed the lives of 83 workers. == Legacy ==