The history of the coal mine of Arao City

The construction of the Manda Pit began in 1897 for coal mining and water management in the mine cavities. Mitsui put its full-scale effort into the development of the Manda Pit to make it the model of the coal mines in Japan. The cutting of the No. 1 Shaft began in November 1897 and after gruelling construction work, the Tower construction began in October of the following year. The Pit started its operations in 1902. The cutting of the No. 2 Shaft Tower began in 1898. Although non-stopping groundwater was problematic, Takuma Dan solved the problem by introducing British Davey Pump. The Pit started its operation in 1908. Each Vertical Shaft Pit had a different function: the No. 1 Shaft was for coal output, air intake and drainage, while the No. 2 Shaft was for exhaust and drainage. When the Manda Pit started its full-scale operation around 1908, the No. 1 Shaft had the winding engine house, the Tower, Davey Pump house, the blacksmith’s workshop, etc. The No. 2 Shaft originally had the Tower, the fan and boiler houses, and the winding engine house was completed a year later. The boiler house was the only power source for the Manda Pit and each facility used steam power sent from the boiler room. The boiler room had a ‘Red Chimney’ with a height of approximately 49m and 310,000 bricks, the symbol of the Manda Pit at that time.

During the Taisho era, more effort was put into expanding the facilities built in the Maiji era, and introducing and developing new technologies in order to increase the coal production. Around the No. 1 Shaft Pit, the blacksmith’s workshop, the foundry and the welding station were added and the whole system completed. Around the No. 2 Shaft Pit, a Rateau-type fan was introduced and a Mitsui-Miike Machinery made pump replaced the old imported pump. While it had been steam powered until then, an external powerhouse was built in the Taisho era and the power source slowly shifted to electricity. At the end of the Taisho era, approximately 3,500 people were employed and the daily coal production was 2,000 tons plus a few hundred tons at the Manda Pit.

Expansion of the Manda Pit facilities reached its peak during the Showa era with the highest recorded coal production. Instead of the Davey Pump, which had been used for drainage since the beginning of operations, an exhaust turbine pump and a duplex pump were introduced. When the mine pit expanded, existing ventilation facility became insufficient, therefore a new vertical shaft pit especially for ventilation was cut. However, the working conditions and transport efficiency inside the mine cavity worsened. The Manda Pit was integrated with the Yotsuyama and Mikawa Pits in September 1951 and its mining ceased. Unnecessary facilities and buildings were demolished after that but the Manda Pit was used for mine cavity maintenance and drainage for another 50 years until its closure in March 1997.

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