[ 1 ]  [ 2 ]  [ 3 ]  [ 4 ]  [ 5 ]  [ 6 ]  [ 7 ]

An interview with Mr. Suetaro Ishiga, one who is familiar with the Mine at the time when it was in operation Suetaro Ishiga Born in 1918, resident of Omori Town, worked in the Mine around 1943 as a surveyor. A precious witness who is familiar with the Mine at the time that it was in operation Interviewer:Were you working in the mine? Ishiga:Yes, I started to work in there in 1937. Int:What kind of work did you do? Ishiga:As I was a surveyor, I went in there carrying a transit compass or a level. As there were many so-called branch galleries in the mine, I surveyed them to make a map. Int:What were you mining? Ishiga:Copper. There might be some gold, too, but most of the product was copper. We went into the mine from Kuramotoko Mine Shaft, which is currently used as a source of water supply. As we walked down further in the gallery, we got under Sahimeyama Shrine. There were three-leveled shafts there. We descended by using ladders. Int:How many people were working in there? Ishiga:About 70 to 80 people. Another 30 were working in the office. Int:When was it closed? Ishiga:It closed in 1945, after the flood occurred in 1943. It had been temporarily closed due to lack of ore in the Taisho Period, and reopened out of necessity for copper during World War II. I returned in 1943, shortly before the shutdown. Probably I am the only one alive among those who have worked there. There are other galleries that are much bigger than Ryugenji Mabu. They were so big. Some parts were amazingly wide. Where the machine was set was really wide as well. Int:How wide was the shaft? Ishiga:Not very. About 2 meters square. With a lamp in our hand we descended 30 meters by ladder and proceeded in a gallery, and then descending again another 30 meters, and another 30c 100 meters below was the Main Gallery, which led to Eikyu Gallery. It's behind Yamabuki Castle. We would go all the way down there. There were more than 500 galleries in the Mine and Eikyu Gallery was the longest of all. The length was 1500 meters. It used to lead to Ryugenji Mabu, from which was a shaft descending 100 meters down to Eikyu Gallery. I showed a map of Ryugenji Mabu to the board of education. Int:May I see it, too? cOh, this is the original of the one exhibited in Ryugenji Mabu, isn't it?

[ 4 ] | Next