里山みらい館

Satoyama Mirai Museum - Yusenji Copper Mine - Satoyama Miraikan

Useful Information

Location:	152 Ugawamachi, Komatsu, Ishikawa 923-0063. (36.4013863193042, 136.5426795263311)
Open:	All year Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun, Hol 9-15. [2022]
Fee:
Classification:	Copper Mine
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:	self guided
Photography:	allowed
Accessibility:	yes
Bibliography:
Address:	Satoyama Mirai Museum, 152 Ugawamachi, Komatsu, Ishikawa 923-0063, Tel: +81-761-58-2710. 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

1902	Takeuchi Meitaro takes over the Yusenji copper mine.
1917	Takeuchi Meitaro establishes Komatsu Iron Works.
1921	Komatsu Ltd. founded by Takeuchi Meitaro.
1921	mine closed.
MAY-2020	Satoyama Miraikan opened to the public.
2021	Yusenji Copper Mine Story Park completed.

Geology

Description

里山みらい館 (Satoyama mi rai-kan, Satoyama Miraikan) is a mining museum, which was erected in the ruins of the 遊泉寺銅山跡 (Yusenji Copper Mine Remains). The mining museum was built by the locals to tell the tale of the vibrant mining town Komatsu. Exhibits, such as photographs, documents, and commentary panels, show the history of the Yusenji Copper Mine.

The former grounds of the mine are developed as a park named 遊泉寺銅山ものがたりパーク (Yūsenji dōzan monogatari pāku, Yusenji Copper Mine Story Park), A 3 km trail to the remains of the mine shows a brick furnace, a huge chimney, and the remains of a vertical pit. All of them are almost completely deteriorated, so the park is actually more a scenic spot and less an open air museum. The mine was closed in 1921, much earlier than other mines, because the resources were depleted. Before it offered up to 5,000 jobs and was the financial backbone of the town. The owner Takeuchi Meitaro established Komatsu Iron Works in 1917 for this reason. The company produced machinery and offered jobs for people who lost their jobs in the mine. Takeuchi Meitaro was not only a good entrepreneur but also a humanist with social conscience.

Takeuchi Meitaro (*20-MAR-1860-✝23-MAR-1928) was the owner of this mine, and one day he started to make his own mining machines. For this purpose he founded Komatsu Iron Works, which became Komatsu Ltd., named after the town, which exists until today. Komatsu is today a multinational corporation which manufactures construction, mining, forestry and military equipment. The Komatsu Group consists of Komatsu Ltd. and 258 other companies. It is today the 2nd-largest construction equipment maker in the world after Caterpillar. Together with two others he was also the founder of car producer Datsun, which is today known as Nissan.