Besshi Copper Mine

A representative copper mine since the Edo period. Discovered in 1690 (Genroku 3), it was opened the following year by Sumitomo Kichizaemon (Tomoyoshi). The large deposit, which intrudes diagonally from an area 1,200 meters above sea level and stretches across the southern part of Niihama City, Ehime Prefecture, the former Niihama City and the former Besshiyama Village, Uma County (incorporated into Niihama City in 2003), is said to be rare even on a global scale. Despite frequent disasters, copper production steadily increased, reaching 1,500 tons in 1698, the largest amount for a single copper mine in Japan in the early modern period. This was a time when the proportion of copper exports increased, and became a major source of revenue for Sumitomo. The shogunate encouraged increased copper production as a national policy, and the Besshi Copper Mine was protected by subsidies and the sale of rice at low prices. However, mines faced the inevitable problems of long-distance transportation of fuel and timber, the deepness of the tunnels and the increase in spring water, and the decline in the quality of the ore, which led to a gradual decline in copper production and rising expenses. With the Meiji Restoration, the mine gradually modernized, introducing foreign technology and machinery, and copper production, which had fallen to 400-500 tons at the end of the Edo period, increased dramatically year by year, reaching 2,000 tons in 1890 (Meiji 23), 200 years after the mine's opening. However, as the mine modernized, smoke pollution became a problem, and efforts were made to prevent smoke pollution, including moving the smelter to Shisakajima, and the problem was solved by completing a neutralization factory. Besshi Copper Mine became the base for the development of various related businesses, but due to the deep mining, the increased risk of disasters and the significant decline in the quality of the ore, it was closed in 1973 (Showa 48).

[Kawasaki Eitaro]

"Japan Industrial History Series 7" edited by the Local History Research Council (1960, University of Tokyo Press)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸時代以来の代表的銅山。1690年（元禄3）発見、住友吉左衛門(すみともきちざえもん)（友芳(ともよし)）により翌年開坑。愛媛県新居浜(にいはま)市の南部、旧新居浜市と旧宇摩(うま)郡別子山村（2003年新居浜市に編入）にわたり、海抜1200メートルの地帯から斜めに深く長く帯状に貫入した大鉱床は世界的にも希有(けう)といわれる。たびたびの災害にもかかわらず順調に産銅を増やし、1698年には近世において一銅山としては日本最大量の1500トンに達した。これは銅の輸出に占める割合が増大した時期で、住友の大きな財源となった。幕府は国策上銅の増産を奨励、別子銅山は助成金の貸与、安値米払下げなどの庇護(ひご)を受けた。しかし、鉱山の宿命である燃料、坑木の遠距離輸送、坑道の深長と湧水(ゆうすい)の増加、鉱石品位の低下に苦慮、産銅は漸減し、経費はかさんでいった。明治維新を迎え、外国の技術、機械の導入など漸進的に近代化を進めて、幕末には400～500トンに落ち込んでいた産銅が逐年飛躍的に増大し、開坑200年の1890年（明治23）には2000トンに達した。一方、近代化に伴い煙害問題が発生、製錬所の四阪島(しさかじま)移転など煙害防除に腐心、中和工場を完成してこれを解消した。別子銅山は関連諸事業発展の母体となったが、採鉱が深部に及び災害発生の危険増大と鉱石品位の顕著な低下のため、1973年（昭和48）閉山。

［川崎英太郎］

『地方史研究協議会編『日本産業史大系7』（1960・東京大学出版会）』

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