80 Years On: Efforts Continue to Recover Undersea Mine Workers' Remains

   Yamaguchi, July 28 (Jiji Press)--Efforts are underway to recover the remains of workers who died in a 1942 accident at a now-defunct undersea coal mine in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan, aiming to build momentum ahead of next month's 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
   "We hope that the collection of the remains will be successful this year, 80 years after the end of the war," said a member of a civic group for carrying out diving surveys for the remains of the 183 workers--136 from the Korean Peninsula and 47 from Japan.
   At the Chosei coal mine, which opened in 1914 in the city of Ube, a submersion accident occurred in the mine tunnel at a point some 1 kilometer from its portal due to an abnormal water inflow in February 1942. The mine's entrance was closed, with the remains of the victims left behind.
   Founded in 1991, the civic group has asked the Japanese government since 2018 to carry out surveys by opening up the entrance. The government answered in 2023 that it was difficult to excavate the remains as their locations were unknown. The group decided to open the portal and identify the positions of the remains.
   The use of underwater drones was initially considered, but diving adventurer Yoshitaka Isaji, 36, later offered his cooperation. Since October last year, he has dived through the entrance three times to reach a location where many remains are projected to be. However, after reaching a collapsed section about 200 meters inside the portal, Isaji was unable to proceed further.

(2025/07/28-19:39)

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