Have you heard of an undersea coal mine – Chosei Coal Mine?
A couple of cylindrical vents, looking like grave-posts, are outstanding in the waters of Tokonami (or Chosei) Beach of the Seto Inland Sea, on the eastern coast of Ube city in Yamaguchi pref., Japan.
On the morning of 3 February 1942, Chosei coal mine tunnel beneath the sea collapsed and flooded a kilometer away from the beach, resulting in the deaths of 183 miners. Over 70% of the victims, totaling 136 laboures, were from the Korean Peninsula.
Their bodies remain entombed in the dark and cold tunnels beneath the sea.
About the Under Sea Coal Mine Flooding Disaster
Chosei coal mine was located in Tokonami Beach of the Seto Inland Sea, on the eastern coast of Ube city in Yamaguchi pref., Japan. Chosei coal mine had about 1,000 workers in 1942 of which the majority were Korean forced labourers. Because of this, it was often called the “Korea mine.” Workers had to be recruited from other prefectures and from Korea because locals understood the grave dangers: the tunnels ran perilously close to the seabed, violating safety standards.
At about 6 o’clock on 3 February 1942, mine tunnel inundation started at a kilometer away from the beach. At about 8 o’clock, the tunnel flooded.
183 miners were drowned - 136 were Korean workers.
workers.
Such facts erased from have been erased from Ube city history.
Even to This Day, the Remains in the Deep Sea
In 1991, we organized “Association to Etch the Calamity of the Under Sea Coal Mine Disaster into History”. And we set the following three objectives.
① To build a monument engraved with all the names of the victims
② To maintain the vents still standing out to sea.
③ To collect evidence of the catastrophe and for such data to be properly compiled.
Every year since 1992 the Association has invited the families of the bereaved to hold a memorial service on the anniversary of the calamity to remember the tragedy.
We built the memorial monument, one of the objectives, on 2 February 2013. Taking this occasion, we established new organization “Association for Commemorating the Chosei Coal Mine Flooding Disaster” to realize to remove the remains as more significant challenging.
Recovering the remains is a major challenge.
Our ability is not enough.
We feel that working together with supporters can realize this project as soon as possible.
The Only Ruins : A Couple of Cylindrical Vents
In 90s, there were such ruins as a mine entrance or a maki-yagura. However, these ruins were removed. As a result, nobody knows the mine entrance anymore.
A couple of cylindrical vents stand in the sea. These are the only ruins to prove that Chosei mine existed here in the past.
And victims have been under the cylindrical vents since flooding disaster.
Therefore, bereaved families could say that these vents are grave-posts.
Also, there are not any cylindrical vents standing in the sea nationwide.
We share values of cylindrical vents with many people and preserve them for the future.
