旧三井田川鉱業所伊田竪坑櫓

Ida Shaft Headframe - Mitsui Tagawa Mine Headframe

Useful Information

photography — **所伊田竪坑** (Tokoro-Ita Shaft or Ida Shaft), Japan. Public Domain.

Location:	Coal Memorial Park, 〒825-0002 2734-1, Ita, Tagawa-shi. (33.641430, 130.814940)
Open:	no restrictions. [2022]
Fee:	free. [2022]
Classification:	Coal Mine
Light:	n/a
Dimension:	H=28.4 m.
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Tagawa City Coal & History Museum, Mitsui Tagawa Mine Headframe, 〒825-0002 2734-1, Ita, Tagawa-shi, Tel: +81-947-44-5745, Fax: +81-947-44-5745. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1478	coal discovered in the area.
18th century	coal used for salt production in the salt fields of the Seto Inland Sea.
1900	Mitsui Mine acquires the Ida and Yugeda mine from the Tagawa Coal Mining Group.
1909	construction of headframe begins.
1910	headframe begins operation.
1918	company renamedn Mitsui Tagawa Mining Co., Ltd..
1964	Mitsui Tagawa Mine closed.
1970	Yama mine closed.
02-OCT-2007	headframe and chimneys declared a
15-OCT-2018	Chikuho Coalfield Ruins designated a national Historic Site.

Geology

Description

In Japanese it is called 旧三井田川鉱業所伊田竪坑櫓 (Former Mitsui Tagawa Mining Works Ita Vertical Pit Tower). We translated this: it's the headframe of the abandoned Mitsui Tagawa Colliery. As it sits on top of the Ida Shaft its name is accurately 所伊田竪坑櫓 (Ida Shaft Headframe). The headframe was the tower built on top of the shaft which hosted the hoist or elevator. The motors driving the elevator where located nearby, the cables run from the motors diagonally to the top of the tower, around a huge wheel and down into the mine. The elevators were operated with a steam engine, which used the mined coal. The building and the engine are gone, but the two almost 50 m high chimneys are still there.

Such elevators normally had two cabins on both ends of a long cable. So when one goes up, the other goes down. As a result the motors do not have to lift the cable and cabins, because they are in an equilibrium, only the content. This saves a lot of energy.

The grounds of the pit are today the Coal Memorial Park, which is a euphemism for open air part of the coal museum. The former ground of the colliery exhibits numerous buildings and machines of the abandoned mine, but the headframe is obviously the mot prominent one. There are fences around the feet of the headframe, but otherwise it is freely accessible. You can visit it at any time and for free, the former colliery is now a public park. Quite impressive is the huge mosaic which depicts the nearby chimneys, and looks like a colourful shadow. There are also numerous sculptures and monuments dedicated to the mining past on site.

The colliery was operated by the 三井田川鉱業 (Mitsui Tagawa Mining Co.).