Karatsu coalfield

A coalfield in western Saga Prefecture. Coal production has been zero since 1973, but in 1960, coal production of 2.722 million tons accounted for 5.2% of the national total. Most of the coal mines in Saga Prefecture are located in the Karatsu coalfield of the Tertiary Ouchi group, and some of the Sasebo group around Imari Bay belonged to the Sasebo coalfield. The Karatsu coalfield is further divided into the area along the current JR Karatsu line, including Kitahata, Ouchi, Kyuragi, and Taku, and the Kishima area along the current JR Sasebo line, including Kitagata, Omachi, and Kohoku, and the latter was also called the Kishima coalfield. Mining began in earnest around the Bunsei era (1818-1830) along the Matsuura River, which flows into Karatsu Bay. At the end of the Edo period and the beginning of the Meiji era, it became Japan's largest coal-producing area and was incorporated into the Navy Reserve Coalfield. In the mid-Meiji era, the center of coal mining in Japan shifted to Chikuho, but from the late Meiji period to the Taisho era, major companies such as Mitsubishi and Kaijima entered the Karatsu coalfield. Mitsubishi, which gained control of the large coal mines of Ochi and Yoshitani, accounted for 50% of the total coal output of the prefecture in 1912 (Taisho 1). Karatsu Port, where coal transported via the Karatsu Line was loaded, was bustling. In the early Showa era, the Kishima coal mine, owned by locally-owned Takatori Mining (Kishima Coal Mine Company), rose to become the largest coal mine in the prefecture. Then, before the energy revolution, the mines in this coalfield, which lacked raw coal, closed one after another. In 1960, there were 47 coal mines in the prefecture, but they all disappeared in 1972 with the closure of the Shin Meiji Nishiki Mine and Shin Meiji Saga Mine. Materials on the Karatsu coalfield are on display at the Karatsu City History and Folklore Museum and the Taku City Local History Museum.

[Shigeru Kawasaki]

"The History of Coal in Saga Prefecture" by Ide Issei (1972, Kinkado)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

佐賀県西部にあった炭田。1973年（昭和48）度から出炭皆無となったが、1960年度の出炭高272.2万トンは全国の5.2％を占めた。佐賀県内の炭鉱は大部分第三系相知(おうち)層群の唐津炭田にあり、一部佐世保(させぼ)層群の伊万里(いまり)湾周辺地域が佐世保炭田に属していた。唐津炭田はさらに北波多(きたはた)、相知、厳木(きゅうらぎ)、多久(たく)など現JR唐津線沿いの地域と、北方(きたがた)、大町(おおまち)、江北(こうほく)など現JR佐世保線沿いの杵島(きしま)地方とに大別され、後者は杵島炭田とも称した。唐津湾に注ぐ松浦川筋において文政(ぶんせい)年間（1818～1830）ごろから本格的に採掘され、幕末、明治初期には日本最大の産炭地となり、海軍予備炭田に編入。明治中期には日本の採炭中心は筑豊(ちくほう)に移行したが、明治後期から大正時代にかけ三菱(みつびし)、貝島など大手資本が唐津炭田に進出した。相知、芳谷(よしたに)の大炭鉱を手中に収めた三菱は、1912年（大正1）には県下総出炭量の50％台を占めた。唐津線で運ばれた石炭を積み出す唐津港はにぎわった。昭和初期には地元資本高取(たかとり)鉱業（杵島炭礦会社）の杵島炭鉱が県下最大炭鉱にのし上がった。その後、エネルギー革命の前に、原料炭に乏しい当炭田の炭鉱は相次いで閉山した。1960年当時、県下全域で47を数えた炭鉱も、1972年には新明治西杵(にしき)鉱、新明治佐賀鉱の閉山を最後にすべて姿を消した。なお、唐津市歴史民俗資料館、多久市郷土資料館で、唐津炭田の資料展示が行われている。

［川崎　茂］

『井手以誠著『佐賀県石炭史』（1972・金華堂）』

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