Kishima Coal Mine

A coal mine in Kishima County, Saga Prefecture. It closed in 1969 (Showa 44). In 1909 (Meiji 42), local capitalist Takatori Koreyoshi acquired and integrated various coal mines that were then located in Shiku, Kitagata Village (now Takeo City), forming the Kishima No. 1 Pit (main pit) and Kishima No. 2 Pit, and full-scale development began. In 1919 (Taisho 8), the coal output of 586,000 tons accounted for about 27% of the prefecture's total, exceeding Mitsubishi's large coal mines in Ouchi and Yoshitani. In 1929 (Showa 4), he acquired the Saga coal mine in Omachi Village (now Omachi Town) to form the No. 3 Pit, and renamed the Takatori Mining Company, which had been established in 1918, to the Kishima Coal Mining Company, and moved his headquarters from Kitagata to Omachi. In the same year, the fourth mine was opened, literally making it the largest coal mine in the prefecture. In 1943, the fifth mine was opened in Kohoku Village (now Kohoku Town). Omachi, the town's headquarters, rapidly developed as a coal mining town, with a population of 23,340 in 1950. Most of Kishima coal was unloaded at Suminoe, the mouth of the Rokkaku River, which flows into the Ariake Sea, and the danpei-sen boats transporting coal down the Rokkaku River were a famous sight in the past. In the run-up to the energy revolution, the mine underwent rationalization and experienced labor disputes, eventually closing in 1969. Serious mining pollution problems have arisen, including land subsidence in Kohoku Town. In 2004, the second mine entrance of the former Kishima Coal Mine Otsuru Mine was designated a nationally registered tangible cultural property.

[Shigeru Kawasaki]

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

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

佐賀県杵島郡にあった炭鉱。1969年（昭和44）閉山。地元資本家高取伊好(たかとりこれよし)が、1909年（明治42）、当時北方(きたがた)村大字志久(しく)（現、武雄市）にあった諸炭鉱を買収統合し、杵島第一坑（本坑）、杵島第二坑とし、本格的開発が緒についた。1919年（大正8）の出炭量58.6万トンは県下の約27％を占め、三菱(みつびし)の相知(おうち)・芳谷(よしたに)の大炭鉱を上回った。1929年（昭和4）大町(おおまち)村（現、大町町）の佐賀炭鉱を買収して第三坑とし、1918年設立の高取鉱業会社から杵島炭鉱会社と改称し、本拠を北方から大町に移した。同年には第四坑を開坑、文字どおり県下最大炭鉱となる。さらに1943年には江北(こうほく)村（現、江北町）に第五坑を開いた。本拠大町は炭鉱町として急激に発展、1950年には人口2万3340を数えた。杵島炭の多くは有明(ありあけ)海に注ぐ六角(ろっかく)川の河口住ノ江(すみのえ)から積み出し、六角川を下る石炭運搬の団平船(だんぺいせん)はかつての代表的風物詩。エネルギー革命を前に合理化、労働争議を体験、結局1969年閉山。江北町の地盤沈下をはじめ、深刻な鉱害問題が発生している。なお、2004年（平成16）旧杵島炭鉱大鶴鉱業所第二坑口が国登録有形文化財となった。

［川崎　茂］

『井手以誠著『佐賀県石炭史』（1972・金華堂）』

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