The was one of the largest

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

and

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

mines in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The mine is located in

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (''ken''): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains a ...

of northern

in the town of Kosaka,

Akita Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Provinces and prefectures" in ; "Tōhoku" in . Its population is approximately 966,000 (as of 1 October 2019) and its ge ...

. The mine had reserves amounting to 30 million tonnes of ore grading 2.84%

, 8.48% zinc, 1.1 million oz of gold and 177.3 million oz of silver.

History

In 1816, development of gold and silver deposits began under the

Nambu clan The was a Japanese samurai clan who ruled most of northeastern Honshū in the Tōhoku region of Japan for over 700 years, from the Kamakura period through the Meiji Restoration of 1868. The Nanbu claimed descent from the Seiwa Genji of Kai P ...

Morioka Domain 300px, Ruins of Morioka Castle was a '' tozama'' feudal domain of Edo period Japan. It was ruled throughout its history by the Nanbu clan. It was called during the early part of its history. It was located in northern Mutsu Province, Honshū, ...

, with the mine under the control of the Fujita-gumi mining guild. After the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...

, in 1871, the mine was nationalized, and in 1873 the foreign advisor

Curt Netto Curt Adolph Netto (August 21, 1847 – February 7, 1909) was a German metallurgist and educator. He is regarded as a precursor for the industrial utilization of aluminium. He was active in early Meiji period Japan. Biography Netto was born in ...

was recruited by the

Japanese government The Government of Japan consists of legislative, executive and judiciary branches and is based on popular sovereignty. The Government runs under the framework established by the Constitution of Japan, adopted in 1947. It is a unitary state, c ...

was placed in charge of modernizing the mine. In 1884 the mine was privatized, and sold to the Fujita-gumi, which later became

Dowa Holdings is a Japanese nonferrous metals manufacturer. The company is a component of the Nikkei 225 stock index. History Fujita-gumi, the forerunner of DOWA, was established by three brothers from Yamaguchi prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, pr ...

, one of the largest non-ferrous metals producers in Japan. Following 1901, improvements in smelting technology enabled the company to exploit its large deposits of “black ore” (a mixture of copper, zinc and lead). In order to attract workers to the remote location, the company built much of the local infrastructure, including apartments, a hospital, theatre, as well as a railroad to connect the town to the

Ou Main Line OU or Ou or ou may stand for: Universities United States * Oakland University in Oakland County, Michigan * Oakwood University in Huntsville, Alabama * Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia * Ohio University in Athens, Ohio * Olivet Universi ...

railway at

Ōdate is a city in Akita Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 71,558 in 31,634 households, and a population density of 82 persons per km2 (212 persons per square mile). The total area of the city is . Geography Ōdate is loca ...

. By 1907, it was the largest producer of copper in Japan. However, local complains about air and water pollution from the smelter increased dramatically in the 1910s and 1920s, as was the case at the

Ashio Copper Mine The was a copper mine located in the town of Ashio, Tochigi (now part of the city of Nikkō, Tochigi), in the northern Kantō region of Japan. It was the site of Japan's first major pollution disaster in the 1880s and the scene of the 1907 mi ...

. Wilkening. Acid Rain Science and Politics in Japan. Page 62 Mining was interrupted during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

due to gradual depletion of the mineral deposits. However, a new vein was discovered in the 1960s, which allowed mining to resume until 1990.

Status

The

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

Kosaka Mine Headquarters and ''Korakukan

kabuki is a classical form of Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for its heavily-stylised performances, the often-glamorous costumes worn by performers, and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers. Kabuki is thought to ...

'' theatre have been designated Important Cultural Property in 2002. The mine itself is no longer an active mine, and its site is now occupied by Green Fill Kosaka, one of Japan's largest capacity private-sector final waste treatment disposal facilities

References

*Hunter, Janet. ''Institutional and Technological Change in Japan's Economy: Past and Present''. Routledge. (2112) *Norman. E. Herbert. ''Japan's Emergence as a Modern State''. UBC Press (2000), *Wilkening, Kenneth E. ''Acid Rain Science and Politics in Japan: A History of Knowledge and Action Towards Sustainability''. MIT Press, (2004),

External links

Modern Industrial Heritage

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kosaka Mine Former mines in Japan Kosaka, Akita Lead and zinc mines in Japan Buildings and structures in Akita Prefecture Tourist attractions in Akita Prefecture