Iriomote Coal Mine

In 1853 a technician with American Commodore Matthew C. Perry reported the presence of coal in Shioya Bay, Okinawa.

In 1886 a politician, Yamagata Aritomo inspected the site with Masuda Takashi of Mitsui Zaibatsu company, and suggested the use of prisoners to mine the coal.

In 1891, several companies resumed coal mining at Iriomote but ceased their operations shortly thereafter.

The extracted coal was energy rich and was exported to Japan and to Formosa, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

[2] The salary of the workers was under the control of the Kinsaki person or Nayagashira, and given in coupons redeemable at the shops of the company.

Originally Iriomote Island was sparsely inhabited, and the workers were imported from various parts of Japan, Taiwan and China without detailed information of the work they would be doing or the conditions they would be living in.

[4] In 1941, the Pacific War had started and many workers were drafted for military service with the Japanese Imperial army.