Tagawa City Coal Mining Historical Museum

Tagawa City Coal Mining Historical Museum is located at the former site of Mitsui Tagawa Ita Shaft which was part of the largest coal production in Chikuho Region.
Our museum was opened in 1983 and has attracted attention as a unique museum which mainly focuses on coal mining.
The museum holds about 15,000 coal-related items in its collection and focuses on items which were mainly created from 1868 onwards.
To understand the history of coal mining, we have many exhibits, such as models so that visitors could grasp overview of the Mitsui Tagawa Coal Mine and dioramas of the mining coals. Moreover, in our outdoor area, large machineries which were used in coal mines, a replica of a coal miners’ housing, and a steam locomotive type 9600.
The collection of Sakubei Yamamoto (a former coal miner) became Japan's first Memory of the World registry on May, 2011. 627 items of the collection are part of the collection of the Tagawa City Coal Mining Historical Museum and are permanently exhibited. These include 585 annotated coal mine paintings, 42 diaries and notebooks.