わが国の縁辺地域における炭鉱の閉山と単一企業地域の崩壊-長崎県三菱高島炭鉱の事例-

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The restructuring of the Japanese economy in the 1980s caused serious economic depression in single enterprise communities based on industries such as mining, steel and shipbuilding, particularly in those communities located in the peripheral regions of Japan. Takashima is a small island (with an area of 1.2 square kilometers) located in one of Japans peripheral regions, where a coal mine operated by Mitsubishi interests shut down in 1986 in response to Japans economic restructuring. In this article, the author examines the collapse and subsequent reorganization of the single enterprise community on Takashima over the ten years since the closure of the mine.Takashima mine was the first coal mine in Japan to make use of European mining techniques and machinery. Full-scale development of the mine commenced in 1868, through a co-operative agreement between the Scottish merchant Thomas Glover and the local feudal landlord. Control over the mine eventually passed to Mitsubishi interests in 1881. Thanks to the success at Takashima, Mitsubishi then developed other mines elsewhere in Japan and extended its activities into other industrial sectors such as shipbuilding.In the 1960s, when the Takashima coal mine enjoyed its most productive period, 80 percent of all the workers on Takashima were employed by Mitsubishis mining divisions and its affiliates. As a result, Takashima assumed the characteristics of a typical single enterprise community, with a three-tiered social structure based on the distinctions between “managerial staff and technicians”, “miners employed by Mitsubishi” and “miners employed by small subcontractors”.In those days, 75% of total revenues received by the municipality of Takashima were derived from Mitsubishi in the form of property taxes, mining taxes, corporation taxes, etc. Moreover, the mayor of Takashima was a former leader of Mitsubishis labor union, and of the 24 members of Takashimas municipal assembly, 21 were either managerial staff from Mitsubishi or members of the companys labor union. As in other single enterprise communities, the power of Mitsubishi dominated all aspects of the community on Takashima.With the closure of the mine, the community lost 2, 000 jobs directly, and at a single stroke, in the coal mining sector. As a result, the population decreased from 5, 491 at the point when the mine closed to 2, 568 six months later, to 1, 554 two years after the closure, and eventually to 1, 063 10 years after the closure. Over the same period, the ratio of the population aged 65 or over increased from 9 percent at the time of the closure to 37 percent 10 years later. The severity of Takashimas depopulation, and the rate of aging of the population, were both unprecedented in Japan.After the closure of the mine, the municipality of Takashima failed to revitalize the local economy, despite generous assistance from the national and prefectural governments. Mitsubishi interests made little contribution to the recovery effort either, beyond a couple of joint investments with the municipal government in new small businesses. As a result, over the 10 year period following the closure of the mine, 115 new jobs were created by revitalization projects on the island, however, only 23 jobs are available in 1997. The reasons for this failure are as follows: 1) Takashimas poor locational conditions as an object for investment, 2) the hasty emigration of young and middle aged ex-miners with above average skills and educational backgrounds, 3) the recession associated with the restructuring of the Japanese economy, 4) the low wages paid by these new enterprises and by other businesses which were enticed onto the island, 5) the inability of ex-miners to adjust to the manufacturing sector, and 6) a lack of the entrepreneurship required among managers in other sectors other than coal mining to set up new businesses.
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わが国の縁辺地域における炭鉱の閉山と単一企業地域の崩壊-長崎県三菱高島炭鉱の事例-

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